Keen to reduce your carbon footprint? Here are our tips for a more sustainable renovation or new home.

Homeowners are becoming more aware of, and asking for, sustainability when renovating or building a new home.

Factors such as passive solar design and the use of materials with low embedded energy have been high on agendas for some time, and lately we’ve also had requests from clients for the inclusion of solar power with a storage battery or space for a battery to be added later, double glazing to reduce energy use and even inclusion of three-phase power points in the garage in preparation for an electric vehicle in the future. We’ve also been adding water tanks connected to toilets and washing machines to save on mains water use.

With clever design, being more sustainable does not have to cost extra. Here are our recommendations for a more sustainable renovation or new home:

1. Passive solar design
The most important factor in a sustainable home design is the orientation to ensure living areas face north to gain more sunlight in winter and exclude summer sun. Using hard flooring, such as tiles, will increase the solar gain in winter.

Passive solar design leads to a more comfortable ambient temperature in the home year round and reduces energy consumption for heating and cooling.

Strategic placement of trees is also important, for example an evergreen tree outside the western side of the house to reduce harsh sunlight and a deciduous tree on the southern side to allow more sunlight to reach inside in winter.

2. Material choices
Ask your architect and builder to avoid the use of plastics and PVC and select materials with low embedded energy. This means avoiding materials such as bricks, concrete, steel and aluminium that use a lot of energy to produce. When using timber ensure it has been sustainably grown and harvested and
insist on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification, which is the strictest available. Also request timber windows rather than aluminium as, not only are they more sustainable, they also provide better insulation.

3. Insulation
Good insulation will further improve thermal comfort year-round and reduce energy use in a home, as well as reducing external noise pollution.

4. Recycled materials
Incorporating as many recycled materials and elements as possible is another way to make a building project more sustainable.

For a more sustainable renovation, discuss options with your builder and architect right from the beginning of the planning stage. As well as doing the right thing for the environment, you will also have a more comfortable home and save money on energy and water use long term.