Whether you’ve been looking at display homes in Ocean Grove or new housing developments in Cairns, you can employ a few strategies to ensure your new home is as sustainable as it is stylish. The climactic differences between Victoria’s Ocean Grove and North Queensland’s Cairns are significant. However, the following tips will help you get the most out of a house in either region or, indeed, anywhere in Australia.
1. Partner with a sustainable builder and tradesperson
Even if you’re constructing a tiny home, you’ll likely need to enlist the services of at least a few tradespeople during the construction process. The easiest way to ensure an eco-friendly result is to partner with professionals specialising in sustainable construction.
From your architect and builder to your plumber and electrician, there are construction industry experts all over Australia who can help you make your eco-friendly dream home a reality. So, choose your building partners wisely.
2. Prioritise passive design
Installing solar panels is an excellent step. However, you reduce your need to draw on electricity for heating and cooling by using passive design features in your home. Things like the orientation of the design, insulation, window placement, ceiling height, roof style, and a host of other factors can help you create a home that’s naturally cool in summer and toasty in winter. Elements like double glazing can serve double duty, helping you maintain a comfortable climate within the home while reducing the amount of neighbourhood noise that comes in.
3. Get clever with water
Plumbing and irrigation deserve a lot of planning and care when building a new home. Get it right, and you can avoid wasting even a drop of precious water. For example, your shower and dishwater could go through a filtration system that doubles up as an attractive water feature before being distributed into the irrigation system that keeps your lawn and garden green, healthy, and beautiful.
Indeed, effectively designed sustainable plumbing can even put greywater to use in cooling your home. So, shop around before you settle on someone to manage this vital part of your eco-friendly build.
4. Take advantage of the IoT
From smart meters to intelligent home devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) offers an abundance of opportunities for fine-tuning the eco-friendliness of your home. Since you’ll be building your house from scratch, it’s crucial to work smart devices into the design from the ground up. Not only will this give you more opportunities to improve your home’s energy efficiency, but it will also ensure your property value grows over time.
By working smart technology into your design, you give yourself the power to turn lights on and off via your smartphone and precisely dial your climate control system into your seasonal needs.
5. Prioritise locally sourced sustainable materials
Building your home with sustainable materials is a great first step. However, if those materials have to travel around the world to get to you, this greatly decreases their eco-friendliness. So, focus not just on a material’s general sustainability but also on its origin point.
For example, locally-grown bamboo is far better than imported bamboo. Meanwhile, recycled and repurposed wood will be even better than wood taken from a sustainably harvested forest. Of course, the latter is still a good option if recycled materials aren’t available.
Keep these tips in mind as you plan your build, and you can look forward to a stylish but sustainable home that keeps you comfortable and your utility bills low.
