2 min read

Australia: Building the World’s Biggest Houses. Again?

By Johnathan Le on Mar 23, 2021 10:36:06 AM

The year is 2009, Australia received the title of the world’s biggest builders of the largest free-standing houses.
Topics: Design news
3 min read

5 Quick Tips for Sustainable Home Design

By Deniro Stocks on Apr 30, 2020 4:12:02 PM

We've found 5 quick and easy tips that will help guide on how to make your decisions in building a sustainable home. 

Topics: Design ESD Glazing Emerging Materials Sustainability Energy Efficiency Climate Residential
3 min read

The Basics of Passive Cooling

By Deniro Stocks on Apr 26, 2020 8:35:24 PM

Passive cooling is the cheapest method of cooling a home, and as an added bonus is incredibly environmentally friendly. No matter the climate you live in, you'll be using passive cooling to some extent throughout the year.

Whether you live in an apartment or a larger home, your home can be built or modified to allow you to take advantage of passive cooling systems to help you achieve greater comfort. If you already rely on mechanical cooling systems (like air conditioners) you can reduce your energy costs by combining these with passive cooling.

Choosing the most appropriate passive cooling strategies for your home should be guided by the climate you live in. We've listed some of the basic strategies below to get you started!

Topics: Design ESD Emerging Materials Sustainability Energy Efficiency Climate Materials Cooling
10 min read

Top 5 Algae-Powered Innovations for your home

By Paulina Solis on Feb 22, 2018 4:00:00 PM

As the reality of climate change inches closer, the need to search for new and innovative ways to power our lifestyles continue.
While the idea of using living organisms as a source of power amd light and light may at first thought sound closer to something out of a sci-fi movie, algae as a source of power could be a real alternative that is both viable and ethically sound.
Algae continually and quickly grow via photosynthesis and have bioluminescence qualities [1]. As the fastest growing organic material on our planet [2], algae is being looked into as a creative and environmentally friendly substitute in the fields of construction and design.

Topics: Design Emerging Materials
3 min read

Social Sustainability and the Public Realm: Designing for the Community

By Ilvy Bonnefin on Mar 28, 2017 4:50:15 PM

With the industry reaching new material heights, creating products which are physically beneficial to the environment, rating tools are now taking the next step towards aiming for totally sustainable and healthy development. Rating tools are now attempting to assess another crucial aspect of the ESD world, that being the social sustainability of buildings. Different from the pragmatic physical aspects of creating an environmentally sustainable development, rating tools such as Greenstar assess the social and psychological impact of buildings and how through considered design the health and wellbeing of the occupant can be taken into consideration.

Topics: Design ESD Sustainability Green Star Rating Commercial
4 min read

Green Architecture: How much is too much?

By Ilvy Bonnefin on Jan 25, 2017 4:37:07 PM

Environmentally Responsive Design and Green Architecture

 

Sustainability and environmental performance goals are presently major contributing factors to design choices. Each new building attempts to take one step further in being even more environmentally conscious than the last. Although this process is extremely beneficial to the environment and surrounding ecosystem, where is this race to create a totally “Green building” heading? Structures are now emerging that look more like nature than building, with towering green walls and sprawling roof gardens disguising any distinguishable architectural element. This raises the question, are we going over board? Surely sustainable design does not mean a building which is literally green.

Topics: Design ESD Sustainability Construction
2 min read

Materials and BASIX: Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC)

By Jamie Bonnefin on Oct 28, 2016 4:20:15 PM

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC)

Being conscious about the amount of raw materials used in building products is a key concept when trying to design efficiently, aiming to reduce the overall embodied energy of materials. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete or as it is more commonly known AAC, is an example of a building material that aims to reduce the overall raw material requirements whilst maintaining as many of the original product's structural and functional properties. This is achieved by creating air pockets within the concrete (aeration). These pockets of air have many benefits besides just reducing the amount of materials required to manufacture it.

Topics: Design BASIX Emerging Materials NatHERS Accreditations Construction
3 min read

Who Do You Want Doing Your BASIX Assessment?

By Jamie Bonnefin on Oct 7, 2016 1:05:07 PM

The BASIX assessment and NatHERS process is an ever evolving practice which requires extensive knowledge of available materials, passive heating and cooling strategies and how to design in an ecologically sustainable manner. Although to complete and sign off on the BASIX process one must be a certified assessor. The assessor’s background does not play a large role in determining their competency in assessing a building’s efficiency. Therefore, the question is raised as to who is the most qualified or most knowledgeable to be completing the BASIX assessment?

Topics: Design BASIX NatHERS Star Rating Accreditations
4 min read

Star Rating: How to Increase Your Star Rating for Free

By Jamie Bonnefin on Jul 1, 2016 10:12:29 AM

The NCC sets a minimum acceptable thermal performance for residential dwellings by specifying a minimum 6 star rating for all new projects in Australia with the exception of NSW who are under the BASIX programme.

Topics: Design BASIX NatHERS Star Rating Accreditations
7 min read

6 Design Tips for a 6 Star NatHERS assessment

By Jamie Bonnefin on Jun 30, 2016 11:12:19 AM

6 Design Tips for a 6 Star NatHERS Energy Rating

 

Topics: Design NatHERS Star Rating Accreditations