Welcome to
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About

AdaptWest aims to assist residents of Western Adelaide to be ready, to respond and build resilience to the present and future challenges of climate change.

Our homes are one of the biggest investments we are ever likely to make. Whether you own your home, are renting, or are planning a future home, there are things you can do to make it more resilient to a changing climate, reduce the on-going running costs, while increasing comfort.

My Cool Home provides simple and valuable tips to make your home more environmentally friendly, comfortable and climate resilient, all while looking to save you money.

The tool is designed to prompt you to think about sustainability and is one of the many ways AdaptWest is helping residents in build a healthier, climate resilient community.

Read more about buying, building, and renovating here: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/buy-build-renovate

Before you start

Use this worksheet to record the information.
And this step-by-step user guide as reference.
You may find this glossary useful.

The tool is designed to prompt you to think about sustainability and is one of the many ways AdaptWest is helping residents in build a healthier, climate resilient community.

The information you will need includes:

• The compass direction that the front door faces
• The size (in metres square) and compass direction that each of the windows and glazed doors face
• The type of material used in the window frames (e.g.: are they timber or aluminium)
• The window glazing (e.g.: single or double)
• The type of insulation installed in the house (if known)
• The roof type

The R value of the insulation type (if known) (R value is the resistance to heat flow) If you do not have plans for your home, you can easily measure the area of the windows and the direction they face.
Measuring the size of your windows is easy, you just need:

• a tape measure,
• a compass (your phone should already have one install in the system utilities) and
• a calculator (again your phone should have one installed)
• the below equation.

Measuring windows

Go around your home and measure the width and height of each window in metres (m) and use the below equation to calculate the size in meters square:

Width m x Height m = size m²

For example, if your window is 2.37m wide by 0.50m high the calculation is:

2.37 x 0.5=1.185m²

Now use your compass to determine the direction that the window faces (in this example the window faces NW and is 1.185m2)²

Repeat these steps for each of the windows in your house.

Hint – you might want to give your windows a unique identifying name (like “bedroom 1”) so that you can refer to them later.

Remember to also include all glazed doors such as sliding doors, patio doors etc!

Use this worksheet to record the information.