Sustainable & Passive Architects
Minimise the environmental impact of your home through sustainable passive design. Our architects specialise in environmentally friendly architecture, we love creating homes that are beautiful to look at and good for the environment!
One of our recent projects was awarded a high efficient star rating of 8.7. Your average home usually rates around a 3 or a 4. Click on the link to see how we can make your residential project so green!
Begin your Sustainable journey today with our Design Advice Service – an orally presented presentation where we can give your project vision some feedback, direction, and ideas you may not have thought of! This is the first step in our design process, and offers a low cost avenue to assess the viability of your project.
Sustainable & Passive architects
Specialising in Sustainable & Passive House Design
It is important to consider sustainability when choosing an architect to design your home. In addition to the far-reaching social and environmental benefits of sustainable home design, it is also financially desirable in the long-term as it lowers the running costs of your home significantly.
It might, however, surprise you to know that not all architects are what you would describe as ‘sustainable architects’. Yes they would have learnt about sustainable home design at an earlier time, but for many it’s not an area that they specialise in. In fact, many architects and building designers choose to do the bare minimum when it comes to considering the environmental impact of your home.
Generally speaking, sustainable home design is a relatively modern concept. This is because we, as a society, have only begun focussing on the importance of water conservation and energy efficiency in the past few decades.
Nevertheless, it is an important concept that we at dion seminara architecture have fully embraced – so much so that we have invested heavily in solar production for our own office. Feel free to check out our solar analytics display here. It will show you our solar production as well as the kilograms of CO2 we save each day.
Given our dedication to eco-friendly green architecture, we have built a stellar track record for designing this type of home across Brisbane. When you choose sustainable architects to design your new home or renovation, you can enjoy all the benefits associated with ‘built-in sustainability’ including lower running costs, healthier living conditions, and lower water consumption to list a few.
The 3 major benefits of sustainable & passive house designs
It’s little wonder that sustainable home designs have become so popular when you consider all the benefits they offer.
Environmental
In a world of ever-changing climatic conditions, environmentally sustainable home design is more important than ever. Our experienced architects will design a breathtaking home for you that is tailored to your local conditions. We will, in other words, harness the unique potential of your property to create a comfortable home that is both economical to run and beautiful to live in.
Social
The measure of great architecture is how comfortable you feel within your home. Great home designs are created around the needs of the individuals. They are built around the types of social interactions that are important to you, the owner. We therefore also analyse your social needs in great detail to ensure that your renovated home truly compliments your lifestyle.
Economical
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of sustainable architecture comes in the form of economic sustainability. Your budget is equally important to us. We know that the design of your home needs to achieve your goals while still catering to your budget. This is why we offer cost estimates very early on in the design process.
Traditional glory
Sustainable & Passive Design was Used in the Early Days
As we noted earlier, sustainable house design is a relatively recent concept. However, this does not mean that it is completely absent from older properties. Many traditional homes boast a number of sustainable features.
For example, large verandahs were once very common features of homes in countries across the southern hemisphere with warmer climates. Traditional Queenslander homes are a classic example of this. However, over time architectural trends changed and people began to demand more interior space.
Eventually verandahs became enclosed or ceased to exist at all. Free flowing breezes were therefore blocked, and the heat protection varandahs offered was lost. Because of this more modern homes typically offered poor climate control in their designs, which caused homeowners to rely on air conditioners and appliances to keep their homes cool in the summer.
Considerations
Architect Designed Sustainable & Passive Homes
Our accomplished architects understand that there is a lot that goes into a successful sustainable home design. At dion seminara architecture we take a number of things into account when designing an eco-friendly home. These include:
- Low-impact building materials
- Energy efficiency design including home orientation, prevailing breezes, shading and insulation
- Design durability
- Water harvesting and recycling
How to
Improve Your Home’s Sustainability & Use of Passive Design
There are a few steps you can take to make your home more sustainable. Although some of these improvements are simple, and can be put into practice immediately, others take longer and can involve elaborate structural alterations. Luckily, home renovations are the perfect opportunity to apply these changes and transform your property into an eco-friendly paradise.
Practical changes for improved sustainability
Insulation
If you have an older home with little to no insulation, now would be a good time to get some quotes. Beyond this, do whatever you can to keep your home insulated. If this is a recent issue for you, consider the possibility of installing exterior blinds or shutters to improve insulation, and/or fit weather-seals to your doors and windows.
Water
Dripping taps, leaking showers, and faulty toilet cisterns can significantly waste water. It is therefore important to fix any leaks as soon as you notice them. It is similarly important to use water sparingly and replace showerheads with the water-efficient, slow-flow type fittings. In fact, a number of free showerhead exchange programmes exist in Australia to help you do exactly this.
Consider saving greywater to use in your garden. This water can, for example, be manually collected from your baths and basins or can be rerouted from your appliances via a reliable diversion system. At the very least, choose garden plants that are resistant to drought and don’t absorb excess water from the soil.
Whats more, your hot water service can also be upgraded with a solar-boosted service. Whether you use a solar water heater or solar powered heat pump, both are efficient and economical, and are one of Australia’s greatest inventions.
Many sustainable homeowners also install water tanks on their properties to catch fresh rainwater.
Electricity
When you buy new appliances, such as washing machines and dishwashers, make sure these have a high star rating.
You can also significantly save on energy costs by switching off lights when you leave a room, or resetting thermostats on all heating and cooling equipment. For one thing, this will esure that you do not constantly draw power from the grid. Don’t forget about swimming pool pumps and heaters as these also use a lot of energy. Finally, we recommend you install low-energy globes for all your lighting.
Got a question?
Ask an Architect
If you have questions about our services or looking for more information about what dion seminara architecture can offer you, we would love to hear from you.
On this phone call you’ll have an opportunity to speak to our team of design experts about:
- Give us an overview of your project.
- Ask questions about the build/renovation process.
- Learn how you will benefit from the best design, quality build, and outcome for your lifestyle.
