Passive House builders across inner Melbourne
We're inner Melbourne specialists. We don't spread ourselves thin across the whole city, because knowing an area well matters, and we don't think driving right across the state is a very sustainable way to build.
Tap an area to see the suburbs and the homes we've built there
Inner west
Our backyardMatt grew up in Williamstown and we built our own Passive House in Yarraville, so we know these suburbs and their character homes intimately. The inner west is full of weatherboard Victorians and Edwardians that are beautiful but cold, draughty and leaky, exactly the kind of home that comes alive as a Passive House or EnerPHit retrofit.
Inner north
A stronghold for high performanceWe work right across the inner north, one of the strongest pockets in Melbourne for high performance building. We recently finished a project in Preston, and we've got more coming up across the inner north, several targeting full Passive House certification.
Inner arc
North west of the cityThe band running north west of the city, and a busy patch for us. We've got certified Passive Houses in Ascot Vale and Flemington, a high performance home in Ascot Vale that hit 1 ACH50, and plenty of scope across the area for new builds and high performance homes.
Inner south and east
Bayside and the inner eastWe also work across the bayside and inner east, where larger blocks and architect led designs make for some of our most ambitious projects. If you're in this part of town and building to a high standard, we'd love to talk.
We know how these suburbs actually behave
That matters more than it sounds. Building a Passive House in inner Melbourne means working with the ground, the weather and the councils, not just the drawings.
The soil
Reactive clay that moves with the seasons and dictates how you approach a slab and footings.
The weather
The bay winds, the orientation of tight blocks and the way the weather really behaves street to street.
The councils
Heritage overlays and the quirks of building in suburbs full of century old weatherboard.
The houses
Years of learning how period homes are put together, so we can bring them up to performance without losing what makes them worth keeping.
We prove it, we don't promise it
Every certified Passive House and high performance home we build is blower door tested, fully electric and verified to perform before we hand it over. Our own certified Passive House in Yarraville tested at 0.26 ACH50, our tightest result yet. That gap is the difference between a draughty, expensive house and a quiet, healthy, efficient home.
Air changes per hour at 50 pascals, lower is better. CSIRO figures are averages from its 2015 and 2024 airtightness studies of Australian homes.A home that just feels better, every day you live in it
A Passive House holds a comfortable temperature all year with almost no heating or cooling, filters the air you breathe and costs a fraction of a standard home to run. In a city of cold winters, hot summers and rising energy bills, that's a big deal.
of our time is spent indoors, so the air and comfort inside your home matter more than almost anything else.
Where we work FAQ
Where does Carland Constructions build?
We build across inner Melbourne: the inner west, from Williamstown and Yarraville to Footscray and Sunshine, the inner north, from Northcote and Brunswick to Fitzroy and Clifton Hill, the inner arc, from Essendon and Ascot Vale to Flemington and North Melbourne, and the inner south and east, including Albert Park, Port Melbourne, Hawthorn, Kew and Brighton.
Do you build Passive Houses outside inner Melbourne?
We focus on inner Melbourne because local knowledge of the soil, councils and housing stock shows up in the build, and because driving across the state isn't sustainable. If you're just outside our areas it's still worth a conversation, and we'll be honest about whether we're the right fit.
Can you turn a weatherboard Victorian or Edwardian into a Passive House?
Yes. Inner Melbourne's period homes are beautiful but cold and leaky, and an EnerPHit retrofit can bring them up to the Passive House retrofit standard without losing their character. Our Retrofit Rifle EnerPHit in Williamstown went from an estimated 30 plus air changes to 0.43 ACH50.
Do you work in heritage overlay areas?
Yes. Much of inner Melbourne sits under heritage overlays, and we've built certified Passive Houses behind heritage frontages, including Parade Passive House in Ascot Vale and our own home in Yarraville.
Not on the list?
If you're just outside these areas, it's still worth a conversation. We take on a limited number of projects each year, and we'd rather have a chat and be honest about whether we're the right fit than turn you away over a postcode.