Sustainability Health Check

Everyone likes reducing their energy bills - especially as the price of electricity and gas keeps rising - but above all you want to reduce energy consumption to increase the efficiency and comfort of your home. But what do you prioritise? And what improvements and upgrades will give you the most bang for your buck?

Architects study building science and work with the approaches and products that make a tangible difference to your energy bills and your indoor comfort. We can explain passive solar design, double glazing, shading for different orientations, insulation, heating and cooling systems, heat reflectance, acoustic insulation, reflective films, air-tightness and how to get off gas and go fully electric.

Often, big impacts can be made with low-tech and incremental interventions.

(Did you know that double glazing is often less effective than draft-proofing, for example? And draught-proofing is a LOT cheaper and you can do-it-yourself?)

We look at all of the possibilities thoroughly and holistically, and in the specific context of your home and site.

As architects, we intrinsically understand passive solar design - using the sun and wind to keep your home cooler in summer and warner in winter - and we can determine from a floor plan (and photo or two if you have them) whether a house is optimised for energy efficiency, year-round comfort and health.

Poorly sited homes can result in problems arising from mould and condensation, which can lead to serious health issues. And homes that don’t make the most of passive solar design can be expensive and difficult to heat and cool.

We can help you optimise your plan and then make strategic upgrades - by adding insulation, or shading windows appropriately, or installing new windows - to improve the thermal performance and comfort. We’ll help you draw up a plan to stage the works, so you can make incremental improvements over time as your budget allows.

A pre-workshop Questionnaire to understand your environmental goals and drivers.

A 2 hour workshop at your home, or nominated address, where you’ll get:

• The undivided attention of your Architect GP

• A workshop agenda to structure the discussion and enable you to prepare, so you get the most out of it

• A prepared Architect GP who has read your questionnaire, done desktop research, and is ready to work

• A non-judgemental Architect who will tour your home with eyes only for what matter (piles of laundry and the mess of life are no big deal)

• You provide printed copies of floor plans and other information - such as building inspection reports, energy efficiency ratings, etc - that you have on hand

• Custom templates to record information for objective and sensitive analysis

• Tim Tams, brought by your Architect GP, to keep our brains alert!

• Architectural sketches to show passive solar design principles, design strategies and/or approaches for achieving ESD integration. This is about showing and working with you to identify the likely best strategies for your unique home and site

• Discussions of your budget (yes, cost!) and the impact that might have on your decision making

• The reassurance that comes from knowing that your decisions are based on real data and knowledge, having explored various scenarios and future potential for improvements

• A verbal summary of the key outcomes and next steps

• **Some architects have training in infra-red imaging or other analytical technologies. This is not available in all locations.

After the workshop, your Architect GP will send an email report of the workshop, including follow-up on any other consultants they may consider useful referrals for you.

• The value is you can act on the energy and momentum created by the workshop and start to implement the advice

$1,680 +GST

You can book additional consultations with your dedicated Architect GP anytime via the Architect On-Call booking window.