Sustainable home builders in Melbourne, and what that actually means
Everyone's a sustainable builder these days. We build certified Passive Houses, EnerPHit retrofits and high performance homes, and we can show you the numbers behind every one.
Three tiers, one obsession with the detail
Whatever level you're building to, the building science and the care don't change. What changes is how far we take the numbers.
Certified Passive House
The gold standard. Modelled, blower door tested and independently certified to prove your home performs as designed.
See our certified homesHigh performance
Effectively a Passive House without the certificate. Same physics, same modelling and same testing, with all eleven of our minimum standards met.
Our minimum standardHigh efficiency
Built for durability first. Better materials and better details give you a home that doesn't rot, leak or fail, so it doesn't have to work hard to stay warm.
Why durability comes firstFour things sit under everything we do
Get these right and the rest follows.
Health first
A home should look after the people in it, every time. Clean, filtered air, no mould, no damp and comfortable in every season. We build for the lungs and the long term, not just the photos.
Prove it, don't promise it
We don't guess that a home will perform. We model it before we build and test it after, with real numbers like airtightness results you can see. Evidence over marketing, always.
Honest from the start
No black box of costs and no surprises down the track. We price early, we tell you the truth, and we'd rather lose a job being straight than win one being vague.
Built to last generations
If a home doesn't last, it isn't sustainable, full stop. We use building science that protects the structure from the inside out, so your home is still performing in 50 years the way it did on day one.
What a truly sustainable home does
A few solar panels and a recycled timber deck don't make a sustainable home. To us, it has to do all six of these. Tap through them.
Draws on building science
Building science tells us how to put a home together, not habit or what has always been done. We model it in PHPP, manage heat, air and moisture through every junction, and test the result.
Designs for the energy it will use, and where it comes from
A home uses energy every day for decades, so we design it to need very little and make sure what it does use is all electric, with solar sized once the building itself is right.
Is a healthy place to live
A sustainable home has no adverse effects on the people inside it. Fresh filtered air around the clock, no condensation, no mould and low toxicity finishes, so it looks after your family rather than the other way round.
Limits its impact on the world around it
Less energy drawn from the grid, less heating and cooling plant, and materials chosen with care, so the home asks as little as possible of the systems and environments outside its walls.
Performs for multiple generations
Durability is sustainability. Walls that stay dry, insulation that stays put and details designed to last, so the home keeps performing long after we've handed over the keys.
Thinks about demolition, now and in the future
The most sustainable building is often the one you don't knock down, which is why we love EnerPHit retrofits. When we do build new, we think about how that home will age and what happens to it at the end of its life.
We choose our projects as carefully as you choose your builder
We only work with architects, designers and clients who share the same goal of building better, and we take each project on its own merit because every one has its own challenges. Everyone calls themselves a sustainable builder or a sustainable architect, but is it a non negotiable for them? For us, it is.
We're a great fit if
- You want a home that's healthier, quieter and cheaper to run, and you want proof
- You see Passive House as the gold standard, even if you don't certify
- You're happy for your builder to join the design team early
- You'd rather have honest numbers than a nice surprise later
We're probably not for you if
- You want something that just looks good in a magazine
- The project can't meet our minimum standard checklist
- You're after the cheapest price on a minimum standard build
- Sustainable is a nice to have rather than a must
A lot of builders guard what they know. We do the opposite.
Everything we've learned about Passive House and high performance building, we share with our clients, other builders, architects and anyone who'll listen. At the Australian Passive House Conference we spoke on the builders panel, presented Retrofit Rifle and hosted a builders forum, we co-host The Mindful Builder podcast, and we tell the real stories behind our projects on Instagram, including the bits that went wrong.
Teaching keeps us sharp. You can't explain airtightness or moisture management to a room full of people without understanding it cold yourself.
The Australian building industry needs to lift, and it won't if the people doing it well keep quiet. We'd rather drag the whole industry forward than sit on what we know and call it a competitive advantage.
A better home, every time we build
Actually, we want to see everyone build this way.
- Keep pushing what's possible in high performance and Passive House construction in Melbourne
- Retrofit old buildings that urgently need a performance upgrade, so our clients can extend the life of the home they love
- Keep learning building science and sharing everything we learn
- Push the envelope in mixing Passive House with beautiful architecture
- Design and build more homes under one roof, without ever dropping below our standard
Sustainable builders Melbourne FAQ
What does a sustainable home builder do?
A sustainable home builder designs and builds homes that use very little energy, are healthy to live in and last for generations. At Carland Constructions that means certified Passive Houses, EnerPHit retrofits and high performance homes, every one modelled before it's built and tested after.
Do you only build certified Passive Houses?
No. We build across three tiers: certified Passive House, high performance and high efficiency. Every tier uses the same building science and attention to detail, and we'll tell you honestly whether full certification is worth it for your project.
Can you upgrade an existing home?
Yes. We specialise in EnerPHit retrofits, the Passive House standard for existing homes. Our Retrofit Rifle EnerPHit in Williamstown took a 1993 brick veneer volume built home to 0.43 ACH50 without removing a single brick.
Do you work with my architect or designer?
Yes, as long as we share the same goal of building better. We've built with Altereco Design, Hè Hè Design and Gruen Eco Design, and we love joining the design team early. We can also design and construct the whole project for you.
Where do you build?
We're a Melbourne based team building across Melbourne's inner west, inner north and inner city, from Williamstown, Yarraville and Footscray to Northcote, Brunswick and Ascot Vale.
What makes you different from other sustainable builders?
Everyone calls themselves a sustainable builder. We publish our minimum standard, model every project, blower door test every high performance and Passive House build, and we live in a certified Passive House ourselves.
Building better starts with a conversation
Whether you're a homeowner trying to make sense of it all or an architect looking for a builder who speaks your language, come and have a chat.