Design workshop
Design workshop: A higher-performing volume build
Kirsten and James are keen to make the project home they’re planning in Camberwell, Victoria, as energy-efficient and comfortable as possible, and have budgeted for some upgrades. Architect Penny Guild and ESD consultant Erika Bartak give the couple some advice on achievable tweaks to improve their home’s performance.
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Ideas & Advice
Avoiding the winter cold: Housing retrofits as a health intervention
As well as reducing your energy bills and your carbon footprint, upgrading your home’s building envelope can have a positive effect on your health and wellbeing. Health researcher Dr Toby Cumming explains.
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Ideas & Advice
On the drawing board: Testing out 10 Stars
What does it look like to aim for the top of the Star rating scale, and can it be done without costing an arm and a leg? Builder Craig Riddle set out to design and build a very high-performing house using iterative energy rating assessments, careful construction and standard, readily available materials.
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Ideas & Advice
Volume-built wins: Steps to a more sustainable project home
Many people look to volume builders as an affordable option for their new home – but how do you achieve your sustainability goals with this mass-market product? ESD consultant and housing researcher Erika Bartak explains the easy wins, the pitfalls to avoid, and the important questions to ask.
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Outdoors
Nourished by nature: Garden design for mental health and wellbeing
There’s plenty of evidence that connection with nature is beneficial for both mind and body. We speak to the experts about designing gardens for improved mood and wellbeing, and what we can do at home to create green spaces that give back in a therapeutic way.
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Ideas & Advice
A knotty issue: Responsibly sourced timber
While timber is a renewable resource, its harvesting is often associated with deforestation practices that are harmful to the environment. We look at the current state of sustainable timber in Australia, and how to make sure the wood you use for your build is as responsible as possible.
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Ideas & Advice
In the line of fire: Garden design to reduce the threat of bushfire
Increased risk of bushfire may be the new normal in many parts of Australia. Still, there are plenty of things you can do in your garden to give your house a better chance of survival if a fire does hit.
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Ideas & Advice
Closing the performance gap: Passive House for schools
Australian schools are underperforming in terms of energy efficiency and indoor environment quality. We talk to some architects who believe that the rigorous Passive House standard could help turn that around.
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On the drawing board
On the drawing board: Passive House meets multi-residential
The Fern serviced apartments in Sydney’s Redfern are the first Passive House-certified apartments in the southern hemisphere. Architect Oliver Steele explains why he chose this approach for the project, the challenges they faced and what they learned about the potential of Passive House principles for delivering more sustainable multi-residential buildings.
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Ideas & Advice
Better together: exploring collaborative housing in Australia
From a couple of households to large ecovillages with a raft of shared facilities, collaborative housing projects come in many sizes and types, but they all offer the social, financial and environmental benefits of sharing resources and building community. We look at what’s involved in setting one up, and get advice from people around the country already doing it.
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Ideas & Advice
Ask our experts: Life cycle analysis
The Architects Declare Australia movement, launched last year in response to the growing climate emergency (see Sanctuary 49), now has nearly 900 signatories. One of the commitments is the inclusion of life cycle analysis to measure and reduce the carbon impact of design and construction projects; we asked Clinton Cole of Sydney’s CplusC Architectural Workshop to explain what his practice is doing to contribute to positive change in this area in alignment with their pledge.
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