Author: Brian April 7, 2014

When the stricter energy standards came in the big builders all complained that it would make houses more expensive.

Well a recent CSIRO report ‘The Evaluation of the 5-Star Energy Efficiency Standard for Residential Buildings‘ has found it can actually be cheaper to build a sustainable house.

Here are three reasons why a more sustainable house can be cheaper to build:

• Smaller Windows Plain brick walls are more energy efficient than single glazed, or even double glazed windows. The plain brick will be about a third the cost of double glazing. (See this link: Smaller Windows for more information)
• Shape A more rectangular shape is simpler and cheaper to build and can have 10-15% less wall area for a given floor area. See how the walls and floor areas change for variations on a basic house shape in the sketch below:

 

• Right Sizing Builders try to sell you the biggest house they can and you often find there are rooms that you will hardly use. With Project Builder cost/sqm ranging from $1,100 – $1,600 saving one room can drop the cost by $10,000 – $15,000. See How Much House to plan how much space you need

Don’t forget that the sustainable house will also be saving you thousands of dollars every year!