The Importance of High-Performance Homes for Your Health, and the Future
Australian construction is flawed
The average construction standard of Australian buildings is mediocre, at best, in comparison to much of Europe.
We spend a fortune on the “Australian Dream” of owning a house. And then we spend a fortune simply to heat and cool it to the Australian climate. AND, in addition, we commonly spend a fortune on healthcare, for illnesses arising from our buildings.
In this blog, we’ll dive into the common standard of Australian housing, how this affects YOU, why it is critical to design and build better, and how we can do better.
The standard of Australian construction
Imagine This…
You wake up from bed, on a subzero morning in the middle of winter. You get up, in shorts and t-shirt, and barely feel like adding extra layers. Outside is white with frost, yet the house is warm inside. A balmy 20 or so degrees Celsius. And you haven’t even had the heater blaring all night. And your electricity and gas bills are at absolute minimums.
Sound familiar? Most likely, it doesn’t.
That is the reality, the norm, in much of Europe. Specifically, with Passive Houses (or Passivhaus, in Germany); high-performing housing.
But the reality in Australia is, we need to run the heater all night. The second we open our roller blinds, we feel the cold through the single glazing. We feel draughts through every gap.
Simply, our homes cannot stay warm in winter or cool in summer without sufficient energy consumption.
And I’m not saying that Passive Houses don’t require heating and cooling. It is more a situation where it is available, supplementary, in extreme conditions when required. But it is hardly relied on.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a minimum 20 degrees Celsius inside the home for optimum health, especially for the elderly, children and people with health issues.
But most Australian homes require significant heating in winter to achieve this or cooling in summer. And it’s expensive.
We are told that most heating and cooling systems in Australia should be run 24 hours day to be “efficient.” And yes, in that scenario it is true, because the moment we turn it off, the temperature drops (if in winter and we’re trying to heat the house), and then it requires more power to reheat the house.
But, this comes down to poor insulation, thermal bridges (weak points in the construction), ineffective glazing, and more!
And this isn’t a criticism, at all, to Australian builders. It’s much bigger, and exposes the flaws in the Australian construction regulations and standards.
How this is affecting YOU
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently published data outlining, that within the March 2024 quarter, the average Australian home value is more than $959,000.
And statistics also show that the average mortgage size in Australia is over $600,000. On top of this, the cost of living is exponentially increasing. Groceries are increasing. And utility or energy bills are increasing.
We typically live in poorly insulated homes, and Australian homes are regularly rated as some of the coldest in the world by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Dwellings should have a minimum indoor temperature of 18 degrees Celsius to not be classified as “cold” by WHO; that’s the global benchmark (Barlow, Daniel et al. 2023).
In realty, temperatures below this shouldn’t be acceptable. But in Australia we consider it “normal” to have a cold home. And yet we are signing our lives away, for 30 year mortgages, to be a part of the ‘Australian Dream,’ despite it being inferior (and expensive!) in comparison to much of the rest of the world.
What if I told you there was a better way to achieve this dream, and help safeguard your future cost of living?
High-performance homes should be the norm, and not be considered a luxury
It is critical to design & build better, for our health & the environment
‘High-performance homes’ is becoming an increasingly used term. It represents energy efficient and healthy houses, through the use of:
Continuous insulation – current construction has breaks in the insulation to ‘go around’ studwork, duct outlets, and other penetrations.
Minimal thermal bridges - those weak points that also impact the insulation noted above.
Double glazing (if not triple glazing) – Most of Australian homes today have single glazing as standard.
Air tightness – this omits draughts and weak points throughout the home, as well as significantly reducing condensation that is also highly prevalent in Australian.
Energy recovery ventilation – Allowing fresh filtered air 24/7 with approx. 90% heat/energy recovery.
True ‘high-performing homes’ are created using evidence-based design. The facts are real. But, this term is also now being thrown around as a ‘trend.’ Be cautious of green-washing – a sales or marketing tactic where the claims actually cannot be backed up by the business, in terms of how environmentally conscious they actually are.
Passive Houses are next level again. They are high-performing buildings but must adhere to the strict requirements in order to receive a formal certification (to the ‘Passivhaus Institut’).
Heating and cooling in Passive Houses use up to 80-90% less energy than the typical Australian home of today.
Passive Houses aim to provide comfortable, healthy and energy efficient design. This isn’t just about using renewable energy either, such as solar panels.
Passive Houses focus more on the building envelope – how well they’re insulated and sealed, minimising those weak points (thermal bridges), and energy recovery with air filtration. They focus on the thermal performance of the building, and then you can layer on renewable energy like solar power, efficient electrical appliances, etc.
The Paradigm Room offers Certified Passive House Designer services.
What is often overlooked and misunderstood, is that ‘green’ houses are healthy.
When in actual fact, they aren’t necessarily. The health and sustainability of the environment, and the health of you and your family, are two entirely different things. And it’s the latter that isn’t commonly considered in design today.
Many people are now aware of choosing “low VOC” (volatile organic compounds) options for interior paint products, and the like. But in reality, this barely cracks the surface of the toxins we are exposed to. There’s formaldehyde, phthalates, benzene, flame retardants, and so many more. This is something that, at The Paradigm Room, is also considered in all of our projects, from our 10+ years of research on the topic (which includes a post-graduate thesis and published book collaboration (through Elsevier).
So that being said, at The Paradigm Room, we are not architects or building designers. We are interior designers. But, we have the knowledge and experience to create energy efficient AND healthy interior spaces. We can seamlessly collaborate with architects, building designers and builders, to truly create high-performing homes. And, seek certification for Passive Homes too.
When it comes to The Paradigm Room’s projects, interior design for healthier and energy efficient buildings comes down to multiple considerations and processes
These considerations and processes include:
A layout and overall design that supports high-performance and/or Passive House principles (E.g. minimising thermal bridges, efficient space planning, dedicated space for energy recovery equipment).
Specifying energy efficient appliances and fixtures.
Designing to and specifying healthy and low tox materials.
Examining both the short-term and long-term implications of the design, including the materials, from both a health perspective AND the environment.
Designing specifically to each project, so that we can tailor efficient and effective spaces to each and every client.
It truly is a mind field. Yet, it is something we dove deeply into a decade ago, and cannot look back. We are dedicated to designing with both the environment, and your health and wellbeing, at the forefront.
If you are renovating or building a new home, reach out to us to see how we can help you create a low tox, sustainable and high-performing home.
We are committed to encouraging change, one small step at a time.
REFERENCES
Barlow, C. F., et al. (2023). "Cold homes in Australia: Questioning our assumptions about prevalence." Energy Research & Social Science 100: 103124.