House profiles
Local support
A small, energy-efficient family home perched above NSW’s Kangaroo Valley prioritised the use of local materials and skills, contributing to community sustainability.
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Sanctuary: modern green homes is Australia's premier magazine dedicated to sustainable house design.
House profiles
Suburban beach house
With standard materials, a modular design approach and careful attention to detail, this Canberra couple have created a high-performing family home that’s a haven in the suburbs.
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House profiles
Gone boating
Innovative eco-friendly composite materials and prefabricated construction are the hallmarks of this airy Queensland home, designed by a master boatbuilder.
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Design workshop
Design workshop: new house from the old
On Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Lisa Hartmann and Kurt Weinert are planning to deconstruct their ageing, inefficient house and use the materials to build a sustainable new family home. Experienced in the use of recycled materials, Peter McArdle of ptma Architecture gives the couple some pointers.
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News
Sanctuary magazine’s COVID-19 update
This is an unsettling and uncertain time for all of us. We hope all our readers are staying safe and comfortable as possible.
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Building a 'suburban beach house'
Watch our webinar with building scientist Jenny Edwards of Light House Architecture and Science, whose Canberra house is featured in Sanctuary 50. We hear about how she and her partner achieved a high-performing family home on a budget, using standard materials, a modular design approach and careful attention to detail. Subscribe to Renew on YouTube to keep up with our future videos.
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Research
Evaluating The Cape
Research by Renew alongside RMIT looked at the performance of highly efficient homes built in the eco-village at Cape Paterson, Vic pre- and post-occupancy. The research includes interviews with occupants as well as analysis of energy use and home temperatures.
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News
Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions for 2020
This year, why not make a resolution to alter your impact on the world and environment at large?
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Research
The Value of Higher Efficiency Homes
The rise of rooftop solar, high efficiency electric technology and low cost thermal efficiency can lead to substantial energy and financial savings for new homes.
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Submission
Consumers speak up on new building standards
Renew and our community partners have responded to options for efficiency improvements for new homes
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Ideas and advice
Ideas & Advice
Where there’s smoke: Protecting yourself from air pollution at home
Traditional approaches to good indoor air quality centre around materials that don’t off-gas, indoor plants and an abundant supply of fresh external air – but what if it’s not so fresh? Building scientist Jenny Edwards looks at what you can do when the outside air is hazardous, as was the case in many parts of the country this past summer.
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Ideas & Advice
Ask our experts: the Living Building Challenge
Fittingly, the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre premises at NSW’s University of Wollongong is the first building in Australia to be certified under the Living Building Challenge (LBC) framework for sustainable, regenerative buildings. We asked the centre’s director, Senior Professor Paul Cooper, what the LBC is all about and how they achieved it.
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Ideas & Advice
Nurturing nature
There’s a lot you can do to promote biodiversity when you’re designing a new home or renovation, with clear benefits for you and your family as well as for the natural environment. Ecologist Sarah Bekessy and her colleagues explain what’s possible.
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Sustainable design events
Design workshop
Design workshop
Design workshop: new house from the old
On Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Lisa Hartmann and Kurt Weinert are planning to deconstruct their ageing, inefficient house and use the materials to build a sustainable new family home. Experienced in the use of recycled materials, Peter McArdle of ptma Architecture gives the couple some pointers.
Read more
Design workshop
Design Workshop: Garage to granny flat
Alicia Brown and Marc Horler are planning to retrofit the red brick garage in their backyard as a temporary living space for their family during house renovations, with an eye to creating a useful ‘granny flat’ for the future too. Building designer Elizabeth Wheeler of Future Focused advises them on a workable layout and what they can achieve with their budget while complying with local regulations.
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Design workshop
Design workshop: Connecting indoors and out
Libby Kartzoff and her husband Gary Fry are planning a renovation of their 1950s home on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
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House profiles
Trial by fire
After a painstaking design process, this modest and energy-efficient modern beach shack survived a devastating bushfire on the New South Wales south coast.
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House profiles
Right as rain
Over several years, this Brisbane couple have renovated their home and ethical clothing studio to be space and resource efficient and able to weather Queensland’s storms.
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House profiles
Gone boating
Innovative eco-friendly composite materials and prefabricated construction are the hallmarks of this airy Queensland home, designed by a master boatbuilder.
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