Posted on 18/10/2022

Passive House: How this revolutionary modern development is changing the way we build

Over the coming decades, Australia’s population is set to swell and by 2050, it’s likely to increase to somewhere between 34m- 41m people. By the same date, Australia has enshrined in law a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Those millions of extra people are going to need somewhere to live — and millions of new homes are going to need to be constructed to house them. On the other hand, the country needs to find ways to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint and embrace a more sustainable way of living.

So, how are we going to get there? A innovative energy-efficient home design called the passive house is helping lead the way towards a lower carbon future.

How has the Australian home changed?

From dark boxes to light-filled living, Aussie homes have come to embrace the great outdoors. Now, there’s another shift underway.

For a country flooded with sunlight, it’s odd that so many traditional homes were quite dark, small and internally focused. However, it makes more sense when you consider the origins of Australian house design – the settler experience. Most homes were simply a masonry box with windows, sitting around a very symmetrical layout with a roof on it.

Things have certainly changed, with light, space and the outdoors now embraced and celebrated in home design. But it has been quite an evolution – and there is more change on the horizon.

The new community rising out of an old cotton mill

We sometimes take it for granted, but almost every built community across Australia was at one point merely lines on a drawing board. Of course, communities are much more than physical structures or institutions — they’re a place where you feel you truly belong.

The best new residential developments are those embraced wholeheartedly by the community. While established suburbs have had years for people to forge connections, for new communities to flourish, property developers need to get the ingredients right from day one.

And if you’re attempting to breathe new life into an area with a rich history like the old Bradmill factory in Yarraville – before you start you need to consult those that it means the most to, the community.