
Sustainable House Day 2025
Sustainable House Day 2025 was held on Sunday, 4 May. THANK YOU to all those who open their homes or volunteered to make this day such a success!
On Sunday 4th May, thousands of people visited some of Australia’s most inspiring green homes to learn from those who designed, built, and live in them.
In 2025, we focussed on retrofits and renovations, to help Australians to make their homes more energy-efficient, cost-efficient and comfortable.
This year’s event featured over 230 homes, with 150+ open for in-person tours showcasing diverse approaches to sustainable living.
We were pleased to partner with twelve Council Partners, and many community groups groups from across the country, including the Australian Electric Vehicle Association who volunteered EVs and members to attend open homes.
Get tickets to our Sustainable House Day Webinar series
You can still get tickets to our series of eight webinars, which will cover everything from how to do budget retrofits to make your house cheaper and cleaner tun, to how we can build smaller to be more sustainable, to discussion about the latest thinking in sustainable design. There will even be a webinar where you can bring your questions along in our ‘Ask the Builder” session!
Find out more on the Sustainable House Day website.
Click herePictured here is Pop-Up House, photo by Alanna McTiernan.
News

Renew joins the call for a better deal for renters
Renew has joined the Healthy Homes for Renters collaboration in urging the Federal Government to provide funding and support to States and Territories to implement mandatory minimum energy performance standards in rental homes.
Read more
Minimum energy efficiency standards would cut bills for Victorian renters
Minimum rental standards in Victoria for energy efficiency - draught sealing, insulation and upgrading to efficient electric appliances - would help tenants to make big savings on energy bills. And laws to make landlords pay for gas connection fees would help ensure tenants are not left behind using inefficient and expensive gas for heating, hot water and cooking.
Read more
How energy efficient is the house you are buying or renting?
How can you tell how energy efficient your new home is? Renew's submission on Mandatory Disclosure outlines why it's a great idea for homes being sold or rented to come with an energy rating.
Read more
National Adaptation Plan must tackle homes
Renew calls on the government to address the future climate resilience of homes.
Read Renew’s submission to the National Adaptation Plan that calls for climate and energy resilience to be embedded in housing policy.
Click hereLatest from Sanctuary magazine

Doing things differently
Grappling with housing unaffordability, two Sydney friends pooled their resources – and tapped into family connections – to realise their home ownership goals.
Read more
A home for generations
With a modest extension and smart upgrades, this Canberra home is now far more comfortable and ready to evolve with the family’s needs.
Read more
On the drawing board: Two homes from one
In Canberra, Jenny Edwards and her team are becoming experts in conjuring comfortable dwellings for two or more groups of people from older homes that used to house just one.
Read moreLatest from Renew magazine

Building a bigger backup
If you have critical systems that need to stay powered in a blackout, you need some sort of battery backup. Lance Turner describes his DIY system for supplying water without mains electricity.
Read more
Simple and cheap composting loo
A composting loo lets you save huge amounts of water each year from toilet flushing, and can extend the life of an old septic by removing most of the solid waste load. Spud Murphy describes a popular design used for decades.
Read more
Lessons from an energy expert
The best way to do energy efficiency upgrades to your home? Call an expert before you start, writes Greg Howell.
Read more