More and more clients are contacting us before they engage an architect. Through social media, clients can scope out potential builders and get a clear idea of how they operate, providing a certain level of comfort that we will build their homes correctly and to a high-performing level. Those who are now engaging architects to begin their adventure of designing their homes are at least 12 months away before starting onsite. We find that the average project takes 18 months from when an architect is engaged to when demolition begins. The reality is that good things take time, and this process shouldn't be rushed.

Energy modelling is crucial in designing sustainable buildings that consume less energy and produce fewer carbon emissions. In Melbourne, there are two popular methods for energy modelling: NatHERS and PHPP. While both ways aim to achieve energy efficiency, there are significant differences in their approach and accuracy. This blog will explore these differences and explain why PHPP is a better option than NatHERS.

Australia is currently facing a cost of living crisis, with a significant proportion of the population struggling to keep up with the increasing costs of housing, energy, and other essential expenses. This issue affects people from all walks of life, including low-income earners, retirees, and even middle-class families. Unfortunately, the average house being built will still cost a small fortune to run, but building or renovating your new home to Passive House standards could be a potential solution.

How many times in the next few weeks will we hear the phrase, "oh, this year went so quickly"? It's that time of year when everyone goes crazy trying to beat the Christmas rush. Several years ago, we decided not to hurry clients into their homes before Christmas as we felt that Christmas had become more of a deadline than a holiday.

It's no secret that we have shifted our business to building only high-performance homes or Passive House projects. It's a decision we made nearly two years ago, jumping into it head first (probably a little too quickly), but one that we do not regret for one second.

Green, Environmentally Friendly, Carbon Neutral, Energy Efficient

These are the buzzwords that every company and product are attaching themselves to as they want to be seen as sustainable. Most are doing it for the right reasons, others because they have either been forced to or it looks great from a marketing perspective, whilst some are just greenwashing and misleading the average person.

We constantly get asked by potential clients, current clients, and even friends "how can we build more sustainably?" It's a really hard question to answer because everyone has different needs and budgets. Sometimes it does require deep pockets and can be time-consuming as you can go as far as having a crack at the Living Building Challenge, which is one deep rabbit hole!

However, it doesn't need to be this way. We have identified 10 items that we will list over two blogs that you can implement in your build to ensure you are creating a home that has a positive environmental impact along with one that is healthy and comfortable.

If for some reason you have been living under a rock, it will be news to you that there has been a huge spike in the supply and demand of timber. It has become so hard to get your hands on, that we have been told there is a minimum wait of 5 months for certain timber products! This leaves the building industry in a bit of a sticky situation where projects are being put on hold or severely delayed due to a lack of timber.

Timber, it's a hot commodity at the moment. You have more chance of watching Carlton win than being able to get your hands on it!! For decades timber has been the bones of our house and it's the major material that we use in Australia for residential construction. At the moment there is a huge timber shortage in the country and it’s causing some problems for many builders. For years we could just call up and put in our order, but now we face a lead time of more than eight weeks. It’s forcing us to be extremely organised, however, it does create some problems along the way.

We all want a place that isn't too expensive to run, but that is starting to seem like a fantasy when our energy prices have increased sharply in recent years. As a result, we have seen a push to electrify homes and remove the need for gas in a home. Now, we understand that people loving cooking on gas. They are tied to it and just won't change. People get concerned when change is suggested. They often become confused and stubborn because it's not what they are used to. However, if you're renovating or building new, we highly advise you to build an all-electric home. Not only is this great for the environment, but it's also going to cost you a lot less to run your home! We thought we would run you through the most common gas sources in a home and explain why it makes more sense to be fully electric and remove the need for gas in your home.

If you’re familiar with the building industry, you may have heard the phrase - "Once the plaster is on, no one will see it". For years this phrase has been thrown around on building sites and for too long we have sat back and allowed the ‘minimum standard’ to become acceptable. Since when has it ever been ok to do something just to get by? Do you think cars are built to a minimum standard where they might run the risk of something being ‘just ok’? The answer is no. Every component of a car is thought through and optimised for safety. But why are we not doing this with our homes? Why do we allow our greatest asset and the place we live become such an unsafe place to be?

I recently mentioned comfort a fair bit in my Passive House Series. What I probably failed to address is, what does comfort actually mean?

To me, comfort in a home can be broken down into four categories. All of these are just as important as the other and excluding one could have a major impact on the way you live. It's also something that I feel needs to be spoken about in the early stages of design with your Architect and Building Designer. 

Early in 2019, we were engaged by the amazing team from Altereco Design in Seddon to work through their pre-tender and negotiated tender phase. This process was completely new to us, but in the end, it made the project a lot easier to tender for. We were happy adapting to the plans and balancing items to keep within the client’s budget. It gave us a chance to discuss any potential issues we may face onsite and iron them out early. We felt there was a higher level of trust going into the construction phase between the Builder, Client and Designer - which also made the job run a lot smoother.

As a builder, I get a lot of calls from potential clients who are excited to get started on their renovation as soon as possible and think that they are all ready to go. After a quick chat, I ask them to send through any documentation my way so I can look over their plans and see what's involved in the project.
"Oh, we don't have any plans yet" is a common response I get as most potential clients are new to the building process and are not aware of what is required before any construction begins.