Today we speak to Alison Scotland, Executive Director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) about why electrification is so important and the pathway to achieving a fully electric home.

ASBEC is a CEO leaders-level forum (peak body of peak bodies!) that operates with sustainability front of mind and is a champion for change in the built environment.

Alison shares ASBECs biggest recent win - some fantastic evidence-based research to get energy efficiency front and centre of the National Construction Code. She explains that their work covers all levels, across city, community and infrastructure levels.

Why is electrification important? Alison explains that the national energy grid is on a trajectory to be fully electric, however, this does not solve the fact that gas will still be connected at a household level. Gas is an unrenewable resource, and also has some serious health side effects. Alison explains that there needs to be a push from households to move to electrify their homes in the coming years.

Alison explains heat pump technology and a report that ASBEC will soon be releasing on this technology that reveals it as the most rapid and least expensive option to decarbonise buildings (even with the current high price tag).

Often when you’re asking for new technology, tradies will push back and advocate for the old way of doing things. We discuss the need for more interaction and discussion between trades and the need for upskilling and reskilling in new, electric technologies.

We also discuss what a just transition for fully electric homes look like, the challenges of retrofitting, and the importance of well-designed houses to reduce energy consumption overall. We also consider the point that the energy performance of a home will play a much larger role in purchasing decisions moving forward.

For this transition, we need informed consumers, informed tradies and a really powerful government-led program to drive the transformation. It’s super inspiring to know that people like Alison exist to help drive the change.

LINKS:

Your Home website and book

My Efficient Electric Home (Facebook group)

Connect with Alison Scotland:

Website:    http://www.asbec.asn.au/

LinkedIn:    https://au.linkedin.com/in/alison-scotland

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• EME Website:            https://emedesign.com.au/
• Buy our new book:        BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website:        https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram:        @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook:        Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call:         https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we are talking to Sophia Macrae about her really interesting journey, from constructing a sustainable house, to working in the Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) sector through to her current job working in government on policy to improve energy efficiency outcomes. What I love most is how Sophia’s passion drives her career and life choices.

As a single parent, Sophia is driven by security for her son, sustainability and affordability. Sophia shares how she constructed her own first home, to achieve an as-built 7.7 NatHERS rating for $200,000. Sophia managed to increase this rating to around 8 Stars with a really interesting and (positively!) kooky post-construction installation of wine-bottle walls.

Sophia has a good base of knowledge through her town planning degree but she also taught herself a lot about how to build efficiently. She shares how the Renew and Sanctuary Magazines, as well as the Your Home publication, helped her on her journey. She also recommends that working with an energy efficiency professional early on makes a big difference.

Sophia shares how she started out considering Structural insulated panels (SIPs) panel and the issues and concerns she faced using these that meant she had to abort that building method.

She talks us through why she chose to install double-glazed windows that are thermally broken and the difference these have made in her home.

Sophia shares that in the future there will both be more support and more requirements for homes to be more energy efficient, and recommends everyone is on the front end of the curve when it comes to sustainability. She also reveals that there will be significant resources coming out on both the State and Commonwealth levels of government to support professionals move to more sustainable solutions.

Sophia proves that sustainability is affordable and achievable!

LINKS:

Renew & Sanctuary Magazines

yourhome.gov.au

Your Home book

Green Magazine

My Efficient Electric Home Facebook group

Connect with Sophia Macrae:

Instagram:    @affordablesustainablehouse

LinkedIn:    https://au.linkedin.com/in/sophiamacrae

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• EME Website:            https://emedesign.com.au/
• Buy our new book:        BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website:        https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram:        @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook:        Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call:         https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m joined today by Tamsin O'Neill from Green Magazine, a magazine devoted to sustainable architecture and landscape design. Since its beginnings in 2007, Green Magazine has grown to 120,000 readers and it’s still expanding. 

We’re talking today about creating a sustainable home that contracts and expands to your needs - one that is less about quantity and more about quality. 

Tamsin shares some of the trends she is seeing with homeowners wanting to be more energy efficient, and the spiked interest in the life cycle analysis of materials. We talk about the resurgence in the crafting process of building a house and how more people are focusing on making their homes more flexible, and being able to meet the needs of different families in smart and sustainable ways. 

Having recently sold her family home and purchased an open woodland block, Tamsin talks about her design process and how she is building in a very intentional way. She describes how her home will be passively designed, not needing any heating or cooling, sourcing the most sustainable materials with a focus on getting the fundamentals right. It will be a modest yet beautiful home that will last for generations to come. She also talks about how she is navigating the fire risk requirements, trying her best not to touch the land too much. 

Tamsin also shares her tips for others starting out on the path to building a sustainable home and encourages us to research, research, research. Find an architect who will be willing to do less and follow your passion - remember, it’s about quality over quantity! 

LINKS:

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• Green Magazine Website: https://greenmagazine.com.au/
• Green Magazine Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenmagazine/
• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we have the lovely Jessica Murray, Director of Cooper and Blake Architecture. Jessica specialises in designing high-value sustainable homes on smaller footprints.

Jessica combines healthy home practices, passive design principles and the philosophy of wabi-sabi to create spaces that prioritise quality over quantity.

Our mental well-being and physical health are incredibly influenced by the design of our homes. Having a home connected to the environment, that incorporates high quality and low toxicity materials and considers aspect and access to sunlight impact the quality of our lives and the way we function day to day. Jessica talks us through how orientation, airflow and intentionality can help create a home that optimises health and wellbeing.

Jessica talks us through the philosophies of her practice, and how she takes clients on a journey from the pre-design stage. She explains the Project Roadmap offering from Cooper and Blake that is aimed at providing advice and guidance on creating a more sustainable project before you even reach the design phase. Jessica believes that careful consideration of both the motivation and expectations of a client ensures the success of a project and allows informed decisions to be made early on. This ensures sustainability is embedded in the project, rather than being expensively retrofitted at the end.

There is a dance that homes provide and we discuss how worthwhile it is to interrogate our use and intentions for spaces to ensure they meet our needs and allow us to live our lives in the way we desire.

Jessica also talks us through the benefits of a smaller footprint, considering both sustainability and liveability. A smaller footprint not only reduces material costs but allows for larger garden spaces, impacting water permeability, cooling the site overall and allowing for even more connection with the natural environment. 

We also discuss the evolution of homes and the concept that what we build now will outlive us. This brings a whole new meaning to the concept of sustainability and quality!

Jessica reminds us that sustainability can be added on early, and if it is, can lead to much better outcomes for both the home and the client’s health and well-being. She really smashes through the perception that being sustainable is expensive, complicated and a luxury add-on.

LINKS:

Connect with Jessica:

Website:    http://www.cooperandblake.com.au

Instagram:    @cooperandblakearchitecture

Email:        [email protected]

Phone:        0466 857 873

Cooper and Blake Architecture Project Roadmap Consultation

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• EME Website:            https://emedesign.com.au/
• Buy our new book:        BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website:        https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram:        @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook:        Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call:         https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m speaking today to Hamish White who is the Director of Sanctum Homes. Hamish is a passive house certified builder delivering energy-efficient, comfortable and healthy homes utilising the principles of passive design. We’re talking today about the passive house building process, from pre-construction through to complete build and how it differs from the typical build.

With a keen interest in sustainable building, Hamish not only works on the tools but also in the greater industry to educate others on the impact of building high-performing homes. Today we explore how Hamish uniquely works with architects and clients to get a great sustainably designed outcome. 

We talk about quality high-performance homes that don’t necessarily obtain the plaque for being a certified passive house but still incorporate the principles of passive design and achieve high performance and livability. 

Hamish explains the approach he takes to deliver really high-performing homes, leaning on building science tools such as thermal modelling in pre-construction. We talk about what this looks like from a client perspective and how each budget impacts the design. 

A big advocate for building a solid relationship with everyone involved in the pre-construction phase, Hamish shares how utilising the expertise of thermal assessors, architects and landscape designers at the beginning of the process feeds into the performance of the home.

With a shift occurring toward energy-efficient and sustainable homes, Hamish shares some of the differences between typical builds and what needs to be done to get a passive house certification. He talks specifically about the external building wrap, windows, mechanical ventilation and shines a light on the education he is doing through Builders Declare.

LINKS:

https://www.yoursanctum.com.au/

Website: https://au.buildersdeclare.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/builders_declareau/

Podcast: Sustainable Builders Yak

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes it can feel like there are only two options around sustainability - you either do the green life perfectly or you choose to ignore it altogether.

Owner-builder Suzanne McConchie is here to bridge the gap between those two extremes and joins us to share her approach to sustainability, which she feels sits in the middle of the spectrum.

While sustainability has always been in the back of Suzanne’s mind, it wasn’t until she started renovating a beautiful bluestone in Melbourne’s Inner West and faced outrageous building material prices that sustainability came to the foreground. Turning to a passive house design kit build solution, Suzanne realised she could address sustainability and save on building material costs.

Suzanne steps us through the renovation process, from the pre-fabricated building panels built in a factory and installed in four days onsite, to managing trades on site and the elements she did herself as owner-builder.

Suzanne shows that sustainability can be done well no matter how much you do. She shares how she reused items and building materials, achieved a smaller energy bill and why having sustainability at the core of her approach made decisions (like whether to get triple-glazed windows) easy.

I love Suzanne’s story. You can start educating yourself and take this approach too and it doesn’t have to be more expensive.

LINKS:

Resources mentioned:

Sanctuary Magazine

Renew Magazine

CarbonLite

Kitchens U Build

Urban Salvage

Suzanne’s house is for sale here!

Connect with Suzanne:

• Website:            https://hercreationsquad.com.au/
• Instagram:            @hercreationsquad

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• EME Website:            https://emedesign.com.au/
• Buy our new book:        BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website:        https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram:        @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook:        Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call:         https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s guest is award winning architect and Passive House Designer based in Melbourne, Luke Middleton. Luke is the Director of Design by EME and is passionate about sustainability, taking a holistic approach to his designs by combining passive house principles without compromising beautiful aesthetics. 

With nearly 20 years of design experience, Luke’s commitment to sustainability and efficiency has been reflected in numerous awards, and invitations to industry and academic conferences on developing inherently sustainable architecture.

In this episode, we talk about how sustainability and aesthetic aren’t mutually exclusive - it’s absolutely possible to make something more efficient and beautiful at the same time! We talk about some of the passive home principles that make a huge difference to increasing energy efficiency and livability, including being strategic with windows to make use of passive solar, being mindful of thermal bridges and making your home airtight. 

Luke explains how passive homes filter the air to create a healthy environment using hardly any energy, we talk about resilience planning to set your house up for the future and the impact that passive house principles have on your home and the wider community.

This is a jam packed episode as Luke shares loads of information on how to incorporate passive house principles into your home and life without compromising beauty. You’re going to love it.

LINKS:

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• EME Website: https://emedesign.com.au/
• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next special guest for the sustainability series is John Rayner, senior lecturer and director of Urban Horticulture at The University of Melbourne. John was one of my lecturers when I did a course in Garden Design and he joins me today to talk about the benefits of green buildings and how we can use landscaping to our advantage for a healthier, happier life. 

John’s teaching and research interests are focused on the design and use of plants in the urban landscape, in particular green roofs and facades and therapeutic landscapes. He co-led the University’s green roofs research and development program and together with his colleagues, established Australia’s first dedicated green roofs research, education and outreach facility. 

With specific interest in how green infrastructure affects our daily living, John regularly acts as a horticultural consultant, engaging widely with industry and also co-authored the award winning Growing Green Guide, a resource to support green infrastructure design and construction.

In this episode, we talk about the impact that plants and greenery have on our mental and physical wellbeing, as well as the numerous environmental benefits. John shares some of the research evidence and how green roofs can increase the thermal properties of a home in a relatively affordable way. 

Whether it be a green facade, a green roof or a thoughtfully designed landscape, there are so many benefits to putting more effort into your garden. If you’re keen to bring some green into your project, John shares some insights to help you work alongside your builder and architect throughout the design process. 

LINKS:

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

Download the Growing Green Guide here

• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My first guest for the sustainability series is Alec Woolley from Napoleon Energy and he joins me to talk all things energy ratings and what the new rules mean for the building industry. 

Napoleon Energy is a sustainability consultancy, established to work with clients across the whole value chain of the property sector, including architects, engineers, builders, project managers, property developers and homeowners. As a registered NatHERS accredited organisation and a member of the House Energy Raters Association of Australia, Napoleon has a passion for sustainability and delivering high performance homes via their sister company, Napoleon Developments.

In this episode, Alec and I discuss the importance of partnering with an energy rater early on in the design phase and how the rules around energy ratings and certification are changing. With an ambitious target for Australia reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Alec shares what some of the implications will be on the building industry moving forward. 

Alec outlines what makes the biggest impact from a certification standpoint, including zoning, orientation, windows and insulation and why it’s so important for home owners to advocate for more sustainable building options. 

We also dive into the question we’ve all been asking…what does the change from a 6 star rating to a 7 star energy rating mean?

LINKS:

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• Email Alec Woolley: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.napoleonenergy.com.au/
• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are at the beginning of our 10-part sustainable mini-course here on the podcast (hooray!). For the month of November, we’ll be honing in on the important topic of sustainability. We’ll be sharing conversations with industry professionals whose work focuses on sustainability practises and homeowners who are embracing passive design principles. We’ll also be talking with an energy assessor about the 7-star energy rating changes coming up and what this means for the building industry.

It’s going to be a jam-packed month! So in this episode, I’m sharing a quick overview of what sustainable design is and how you can incorporate sustainability into your home in practical ways.

I talk about the principles of passive design and how elements such as orientation, airflow, material choices, and water impact the sustainability of a home. From a builder's perspective, I also talk about reducing waste and designing the home in more efficient ways to reduce the carbon footprint. 

Most of the sustainability work we do is done at the planning stage of the build. So if you’re looking to build or renovate, now is the time to start researching and planning how you can incorporate sustainable practices into your design. 

Sustainability is a HUGE topic and it’s absolutely the way forward. By the end of this series, you’ll have a great overview of what to look out for and be informed as to how you can incorporate these principles into your home.

LINKS:

Join our Renovating and Building for Profit event here 

• Buy our new book: BuildHer, A practical guide to building and renovating
• BuildHer Website: https://buildhercollective.com.au/
• BuildHer Instagram: @buildhercollective
• BuildHer Facebook: Women who Design, Decorate, Renovate & Build
• Register for a call: https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.