This introductory session in Renews recent webinar series explores where to start when considering sustainable design options for your home. Whether you are just dreaming of a build, in the planning stages, or have one underway, this event explains the wealth of benefits associated with ensuring your project considers things like passive solar design, energy efficiency, renewable energy setups, and resilience for a quickly shifting climate. We also discuss how to set a brief, find sustainable professionals and the importance of getting an iterative energy analysis as part of the design process.

Speakers:

Jenny Edwards is the director and lead scientist at Light House Architecture and Science, an interdisciplinary company focused on smaller, smarter sustainable homes.
Jane Hilliard of Designful in Hobart, a practice that specialises in environmentally sound small builds. Designful’s approach to energy efficiency and sustainability is based around balance: “We believe that the core of sustainability is in finding the right balance between values, size, resource use, environmental impact, financial impact and wellbeing.”
Nigel Bell Nigel is an experienced architect that works from the Blue Mountains (NSW), often dealing with old housing stock (great character but unsuitable for climate) for clients with low budgets but great ideas – and sustainable need. He is familiar with a wide range of housing types, materials, efficiency upgrades and more – building shelter upon what nature provides for free. He’s taught at community level, TAFE and several Universities. A previous Churchill Fellow pursuing sustainable design internationally (1994); he was awarded Blue Mountains Outstanding Environmental Business’(2000) and last year was a national finalist for ‘Lifetime Achievement in Sustainability’.

Sustainable Design 101: Where to start