Are you an Owner Builder? A sustainable design is a long-term investment

If you're an owner builder planning to build or renovate, and you want to ensure that your building plans are sustainable, it pays to get the most professional advice available.

Energy-efficient homes require clever design, sensible specification and meticulous construction, all of which will create a comfortable building that's also cost-effective to live in. It's not always easy, however, and achieving an outcome that meets your expectations and maximises the opportunities requires careful consideration of several major elements:

• Orientation
• Building materials
• Zoning
• Glazing
• Ventilation
• Insulation
• Shading
• Heating & Cooling

Sustainability is more affordable if it's designed into a home at the outset

In an ideal world, all sites have aspects to the north and all home owners have big budgets! Unfortunately, the reality is usually different and even the simple principle of "living areas to the north and sleeping areas to the south" can be difficult to achieve in practice.

Optimising a home to a site is critical to ensure the most energy-efficient building. A '6-star' home on one property can be a '3-star' home on another and simply upgrading the window specifications is unlikely to be the most cost-effective solution to a fundamental design problem. Similarly, a "water-wise" home is more easily and cheaply created during the design process than by adding tanks or grey water re-use systems later.

An Archicentre Accredited Architect can review your plans and give you advice on how to make your home more sustainable.

Archicentre Accredited Architects have been designing sustainable homes for years because they want their clients to have the best possible homes. They understand the importance of orientation, energy efficiency, zoning and construction and can design your new home or renovation to be as water-wise and as energy-efficient as possible. This is why councils are increasingly engaging Archicentre to review and make recommendations on plans drawn up by non-experts.

Archicentre can arrange for your preliminary drawings to be reviewed by the experts to make sure your home will be comfortable to live in, inexpensive to run and cost-effective to build and maintain.......this where you need our expert advice.

With energy and water costs on the rise, it makes sense to maximise the cost savings available from a well-designed home.

Getting an expert opinion before building is CRUCIAL, but even if you have started and need advice we can help at any stage. To keep your new home or renovation on track, don't take unnecessary risks when professional, expert advice is readily available and affordable.

Our Archicentre Sustainability Review Report includes:

• A written report providing both general and specific recommendations for your home
• Discounts on our full range of Archicentre products to help you save money on your future needs.

Archicentre Accredited Architects are:

• The most highly qualified building experts
• Quality endorsed by the Australian Institute of Architects
• Covered by $10 million professional indemnity insurance
• and Archicentre is covered by $10 million public liability insurance

If you are concerned about the sustainability aspects of your design and you want to save by being energy efficient, then get an independent review of your plans by the experts. It's easy! To arrange a Sustainability Review or to get an obligation-free over the phone quote, call Archicentre on 1300 134 513, or submit a Booking Enquiry with your details and we'll call you!