Eccles
Modest 150sqm house - cost equals $375,000. I have a problem with that. My budget is nowhere near that. Suppose I will have to live in a tent. Should be ok if I have a really big heater.
Love to see the report that shows power saving of $100K - $150K plus over say 20 years.
Some architects and builders clearly do not aim to supply the mass market. And thats fine. However need to recognise that the mass market is where main energy savings will be made - not in the Grand Designs.
Love to see the report that shows power saving of $100K - $150K plus over say 20 years.
Some architects and builders clearly do not aim to supply the mass market. And thats fine. However need to recognise that the mass market is where main energy savings will be made - not in the Grand Designs.
Bring on the $1000/m2 7.5 star houses!
I sympathise with you Eccles. We had the privilege of a custom build at $1800/m2. We looked at cheap volume build designs but so many of them are built to an aesthetic rather than any attention to orientation or passive solar design. The industry needs to change but the mass market needs to be educated and demand that change.
There is an eco-architect, Max Pritchard who has collaborated with a huge volume builder in Adelaide. His intention is to produce a set of energy efficient designs for the low cost market. Hopefully this takes off. They may not be the pinnacle of ESD but my opinion is that having 10 seven star houses are far better for the environment than 1 ten star Grand Design.
The equation of payback should compose both $ payback and embodied energy payback. A cheap build may not be a low-embodied energy build and vice versa. I believe our house while expensive has attempted to reduce embodied energy compared to the average home.