Top tips for building an eco-friendly home in Australia

Today, building an eco-friendly home in Australia is more achievable than ever – in this article, we share our top tips.

From materials, to waste, there is much you can do to make your new home more sustainable, without compromising on style or breaking the bank. Here’s how!

Tip #1: Choose sustainable materials

Your choice of materials has a significant impact on your environmental footprint when building, so be sure to select sustainable materials wherever possible.

Mass timber that is sustainably sourced is a fantastic option, that looks stunning and is kind to the earth. In fact, unlike concrete and steel which add carbon to the atmosphere during manufacturing, mass timber can ‘remove’ carbon from the air and safely store it, which means your mass timber home can have a neutral or negative carbon footprint.

Tip #2: Maximise passive design

Maximising the gains from the passive design elements on your block is a must when building an eco-friendly home. This starts with orientation of your new home, with a north-facing aspect the ideal position for your living zone.

This allows you to capture the warmth of the winter sun, while in the warmer months, well-designed shading and overhangs provide protection from the heat of summer. The ability to maximise passive energy in this way will make a big difference to your comfort levels and power usage, so be sure to carefully consider this during the design phase.

Tip #3: Build for energy efficiency

Energy efficient design principles allow you to build a home that maintains a comfortable internal temperature year round, with minimal mechanical heating or cooling required. This can be achieved in our homes thanks to the natural ability of mass timber to capture and store heat through the day, then gradually release it through the night, resulting in a more stable internal temperature with little artificial heating or cooling required in most climates.

Tip #4: Less waste at all stages

At Scandi Homes, our efficient off-site construction process results in far less waste than a traditional build. Our mass timber components are precision cut to size using CNC (computer numeric control) machines, allowing us to carefully plan our process to avoid unnecessary wastage. Excess materials can be easily stored and used for future projects, which is not possible in site built homes. Your home is then delivered to your site in pre-cut pieces that are fast and easy to connect together, allowing for less site disruption and minimal waste generated on site too.

Eco-friendly homes made easy

With Scandi Homes, building an eco-friendly home in Australia is easier than you think. Contact us to find out why our mass timber prefab homes are a smarter, more sustainable way to build. 

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