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Project homes are extremely popular these days but one of the key questions is — can you get a green project home and if so — what do you get for your money? Shireen Baguley investigates.
Whether it’s because you’re thinking about future legislative requirements or it’s more of a simple desire to do your bit for reducing green house emissions, a more sustainable home has a lot to offer.
But with rising construction costs, a custom-built home with all the sustainable features can require you to have deep pockets. Fortunately, sustainable project homes offer a range of features to satisfy the greenie in you and at the same time, keep a lid on costs.
We took a look at the sustainable project home companies out there and found they range from small niche companies to much larger ones, so there are endless opportunities to incorporate sustainability into your new home — and the right professionals to help you to do it. Sustainability within a house is achieved through the right building materials, passive and active solar energy efficiency plus the finetuning of fittings and appliances. As a rule of thumb, designing sustainability into a house will add about 10 percent to the cost of your home, but this upfront cost will probably pay for itself as long as you stay in the house for a while.
There are also many other advantages to sustainable design. Ecobodes managing director Fyona Coultan says there are health benefits from the lower toxicity of materials, comfort from more evenly regulated temperatures and the relief of lower utility bills.
Plus, there’s also the investment potential: “These homes should be worth more in the future when mandatory disclosure of energy ratings becomes compulsory,” Coultan adds.
GETTING STARTED
Building a sustainable project home is quite different to building a standard home. To begin with, you’ll need to consider your budget, lifestyle, environmental issues, time frame and planning regulations.
Ultimate Homes Glenn Stannard says, “Budget is the most important thing. Some people may have a limited budget but still want to do what they can — just to make an effort. While others can afford to spend a lot of money and get all the bells and whistles. But it’s through the masses that you really make a difference and it’s all about affordability.”
Matching somebody’s lifestyle, their circumstances and values to their home is also important. “We believe sustainability is a personal thing for people,” Stannard adds. “Some want to be completely self-sufficient or others might want to just help do what they can to make Australia better. Either way, there is definitely a common attitude to make their lives and those of their children better through a little effort now.”
Environmental issues you need to consider include climate, topography and streetscape character. As James Cooper of Sanctum Design Consultants says: “Where project homes have gone wrong in the past is trying to cookie-cut and paste a house on a site that has no consideration for its setting, its climate, external environment, its streetscape, its orientation, and its prevailing breezes.”
“So what we’re trying to do is say, well — here are our base designs. There are a lot of variations within that to accommodate for orientation and topography and those sorts of things,” Cooper adds. “But at the same time we need to take into account streetscape, the microclimate, views, and all the other elements that make a house either successful or unsuccessful in its own setting. So we generally get into a little bit of manipulation of those base designs to capitalise on the site attributes and respond to any site negatives as well,” Cooper adds.
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