It’s time to create change
As a builder, we are forever making decisions - all day, every day. We are constantly put on the spot with our trades and clients seeking answers to what may seem like an impossible task ahead. Over time you learn to think on your feet and become decisive as well as relying on those around you to also make tactical decisions. Sometimes, not everyone agrees with the decisions we make, however, we always have a good reason for making them.
Over the past year, like everyone else I have had time to reflect on a lot of things. One thing that was constantly on my mind was ‘what stamp do I want to leave on the building industry?’ I know I'm a small duck in a pretty large pond, however, I know that I can create some positive change.
For anyone that has spoken to me over the last few months, you probably would have heard me talk about my passion for high-performance homes, specifically surrounding the Passive House movement. Some of you might’ve already heard about it, but if you're considering to build and have not heard about it, I highly recommend doing some research on this topic - you can read more about it in my previous blog post. The more I keep learning about the value of Passive House, the more it makes sense. This has led me to make a decision on where I want to take my business and what footprint I want to leave on the building industry.
From today, I am only going to be taking on new clients that are looking to build a Passive House or high-performance home. I have a passion for building to a high quality beyond what you see in the final product and this is the only guaranteed method to achieve that. I believe we are so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to quality in construction and that there is a tonne of greenwashing occurring within the Australian building industry. You only have to look as far as our National Construction Code to see that change is required. We simply cannot continue the path we are on with the way we build homes in Australia as it's only going to hurt those who decide to build with the current building standards.
We don't want to wait for change and would rather start improving our standard of building today. Change in the wider industry may occur, but this will be a reactive response rather than being proactive approach. I know this may mean that I miss out on a number of opportunities because I’ll be limiting myself to a specific niche, but the opportunities that will present are going to be even greater than I could imagine.
Some people may question or disagree with this move and I will live with that. Not only is it a tactical decision, but it's one that will create healthier, more comfortable and better places for future clients to live. It eliminates so many problems that we face in our current homes (read my blog post on mould!) but also in the near future, whilst others still build to an outdated code and model.
We have not only made this decision because we believe it's the right thing to do, but it’s also in our clients best interest to pursue a healthy home. As much as building passive requires you to think differently, we challenge everyone else to do the same. To put it simply, who wouldn't want a home that has better air quality, is well ventilated, runs 90% more efficiently, is future-proofed, extremely comfortable and can be achieved with any design.
If you would like to learn more or are interested in building a Passive House or high-performance home please reach out. We’d love to hear from you!