Building Better Homes for the Future
The first of the three BBH forums was held in October 2022 – an industry forum about building homes in a more sustainable way.
A robust discussion of the opportunities and barriers was explored on the night, including practical ways to source and use more sustainable materials, and ways in which the planning process can help or impede building housing that is more sustainable.
One of the key messages that came out of the forum was the need to educate the community about what is needed to make our homes more sustainable.
Keynote speaker Paul Haar’s presentation
Paul is a practising architect and Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne School of Architecture and Building. He helped steer environmental and architectural outcomes for Mullum Creek - a peri-urban eco-housing development in Donvale Victoria that has generally been considered best practice sustainable development.
The second forum - Achieving 7 stars and Net Zero Homes - was held at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute in April 2023 -presented by Jeremy Spencer Director of Positive Footprints and founding member of Builders Declare.
Jeremy walked attendees through the big ticket items and illustrated the benefits and costs of building a carbon neutral home Click Here to view the video.
Jeremy Spencer: I do think that it's important to explain the 7 star rating and whole of house approach given its release in Vic later in the year [2023]. I'll outline how to achieve a great outcome cost effectively. My focus as always is on practical achievable outcomes.
The third forum, My All Electric Home, was held on 2 July at Mercure Ballarat with guest speaker, Lloyd Heathfield, Project Officer with the Yarra Energy Foundation.
Lloyd, who comes from a background as a solar installer, gave an enthusiastic and detailed account of the economics, technicalities and compelling reasons to transition to an all-electric homes.
With the Victorian government committed to turning off the gas by 2035 this transition is something we should all be planning for. The upside being that there are terrific cost savings to be made, particularly for those with lots of rooftop solar. New smart electric technology including hot water heat pumps and induction cooktops use a fraction of the energy of their conventional counterparts. Gas, as we now know is not a cleaner option than coal, as was once widely promulgated. Switching it off and going all electric is probably the best thing we can do for the environment. On this theme Friends of the Earth have an online pledge - Getting off gas - that people might like to support.