Service
Sustainable and energy-efficient home builders
Building to run on less — better envelope, better orientation, and in some cases no gas connection at all.
- Licence checked
- Insurance sighted
- Solvency re-checked
When this is the right path, and when it is not
You are prepared to spend at design stage on envelope and orientation rather than on appliances later.
It goes wrong when performance is bought as equipment at the end, or when the builder has not detailed for airtightness before.
How the job actually runs
- 01Start with orientation and envelope
Insulation, glazing, airtightness and which way the living areas face do more than any appliance. They are also nearly impossible to retrofit.
- 02Understand your energy rating obligation
New homes must meet a minimum energy rating. Going beyond it is a choice, and the marginal cost falls the earlier you decide.
- 03Decide all-electric early
Removing the gas connection changes the appliance schedule, the switchboard and sometimes the solar and battery sizing.
- 04Model before you build
Thermal modelling shows what actually moves the number for your design on your block. It routinely contradicts intuition.
Where these jobs go wrong
The four things that most often cost people money on a sustainable homes job specifically.
- Buying appliances instead of envelope
Solar on a leaky house is money spent in the wrong order. The envelope comes first, every time.
- Treating the minimum rating as a target
The minimum is a floor, not a goal, and the cheapest time to exceed it is at design.
- Forgetting summer
Australian designs fail more often on overheating than on winter heating. Shading and cross-ventilation matter as much as insulation.
- Choosing a builder without the detail experience
Airtightness and thermal-bridge detailing are craft skills. A builder who has not done it will build to the drawing and miss the performance.
What moves the price
No figures — a number without your site and your specification is a guess. For a sustainable homes job, these are what actually move it.
- Insulation and thermal bridging detail
- Glazing specification and shading
- Airtightness and mechanical ventilation
- Solar, battery and switchboard
- All-electric appliance schedule
- Thermal performance modelling
Where we cover this, and what the planning data says
Mapped constraints is the control that most often decides how a sustainable homes job runs. Read from state planning data.
| Suburb | Council | Mapped constraints |
|---|---|---|
| Bowral | Wingecarribee Shire Council | 4 |
| Mittagong | Wingecarribee Shire Council | 3 |
| Mudgeeraba | City of Gold Coast | 8 |
| Palmwoods | Sunshine Coast Council | 4 |
| Woombye | Sunshine Coast Council | 4 |
| Worongary | City of Gold Coast | 5 |
| Cygnet | Huon Valley | 7 |
| Gisborne | Macedon Ranges Shire Council | 10 |
| Healesville | Yarra Ranges Council | 8 |
| Woodend | Macedon Ranges Shire Council | 9 |
| Denmark | Shire of Denmark | 0 |
Suburb-level, read from state planning data. Not a report on any individual block.
What to ask a builder about a sustainable homes job
Specific to this kind of job. The general list is in questions to ask a builder.
- Have you built to an airtightness target, and do you test it?
- How do you detail thermal bridging at slab edge, junctions and openings?
- Who does the thermal modelling, and can I see the results before we lock the design?
- What is your experience with all-electric — switchboard, appliance schedule, solar and battery?
- Can I speak to an owner of a house you built to this standard a year or more ago?
Related
Questions people ask
Does a sustainable home cost more?
Upfront, generally yes; over the life of the house the calculation changes. We will not put a payback figure on it, because it depends on your design, your climate zone and your energy prices.
What is an all-electric home?
One with no gas connection — induction cooking, heat-pump hot water and reverse-cycle heating. It removes the supply charge and pairs well with solar.
Is passive house achievable in Australia?
Yes, and there are certified examples in most states. It is a rigorous standard and it needs a builder who has done it, not one who is willing to try.
The mechanism
One recommendation, not six quotes
We are a builder broker. Licence checked on the state regulator's own register, insurance sighted rather than self-declared, solvency re-checked on a schedule, and confirmed they take on sustainable homes work in your suburb specifically.
Find sustainable and energy-efficient home builders — free →
Free · about 3 minutes · no obligation · your details are never sold
The obvious questions
Why is this free to me?
Builders pay a success fee, the same rate across the network, and only once you sign. There is no premium placement to buy, so there is nothing for a builder to pay for beyond the work itself.
What if you don't have anyone for my area?
We say so, rather than send you someone we have not checked. The builder lists on our area pages are visibly empty where the network is empty.
Do you sell my details?
No. Your brief goes to the builder we match you with and to nobody else — not to a panel, not to a lead broker, not ever.
Am I committed to using them?
No. You get a recommendation and the reasoning behind it. There is no contract with us and nothing to cancel.
I already have a builder in mind.
Then check them yourself before you sign: the licence register for every state, and how to confirm they are still trading. Both take about five minutes and we would rather you did them than not.
More on how we are paid, what happens to your details, and how to check a builder yourself.
Sustainable and energy-efficient home builders near you
Tell us about the job and where it is. We'll find builders who do this specific work in your suburb — or say plainly that we can't yet. Free to you: the builder pays us, and only if you sign.
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