Building or renovating a property has always involved a lot of decision-making. Aesthetics, functionality, and return on investment have traditionally been key considerations for anyone planning to build or upgrade their home.
However, factoring sustainability into building design is a more recent trend – and it’s important to know where to start.
A good way of thinking about sustainability in building design is that you want to minimise any impact on the environment. Negating any impact altogether is a lofty goal, but generally unachievable. As the Australian government’s Your Home website states:
Most products have a net-negative impact on the environment; however, it’s important to minimise the negative impacts of any materials you choose. When looking at the environmental impact of a material or product, consider all stages of the life cycle — the upstream stage (materials extraction and manufacture), the in-use or operational stage, and the downstream stage (disposal or reuse)
https://www.yourhome.gov.au/materials
Not only is it good for the environment to build with sustainability in mind. It’s also a great way to reduce the costs of energy consumption once the property is built. Nobody enjoys paying for electricity, gas, and water, but as Megan Neil explains, these essential services can be managed well by considering “energy efficient ratings and energy saving features”. Minimising the environmental impact of your property means factoring in the ongoing energy consumption of the site, not just looking at what goes into the construction.
There are many well-established suburbs across Australia. Some property owners may believe that they can’t make their home more sustainable unless they demolish and rebuild. However, as Nicole Cox reported recently, “this practice [is] often counter-productive” and it’s generally better to look at ways of retrofitting the property. This is also likely to add to the market value and buyer appeal of your property, should you decide to sell in the future.
There are many ways that you can upgrade or retrofit your existing property to make it more sustainable. The federal government’s Your Home website contains some excellent guidance on planning home improvements.
For anyone building or modifying a property in Victoria, it may well be necessary to engage a qualified practitioner for certain tasks and you can use the Find a Practitioner tool on the Victorian Building Authority’s website for appropriately qualified experts in a wide range of fields.
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