Sources of Useful Information to Make a Start on Your Project
- Ryde Passive House
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8
There is so much information about energy-efficient home building around today. These are the references that homeowners said they found useful, plus a couple that I would recommend.
Your Home Website
This is an excellent resource to start with. It has plenty of practical information, free architecturally designed house plans, case studies and an excellent section on affordability. www.yourhome.gov.au
Renew Magazine & Sanctuary Magazine
The flagship magazines of Renew, a membership-based, not-for-profit organisation that works to transform homes Australian homes for climate and energy resilience. Both magazines are searchable.
Renew Magazine https://renew.org.au/renew-magazine/
Sanctuary Magazine https://renew.org.au/sanctuary-magazine/
There is a detailed explanation of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR or HRV) available in the renew magazine here https://renew.org.au/renew-magazine/buyers-guides/mvhr-buyers-guide/
Sustainability Victoria
A Victorian Government website that addresses a broad range of subjects related to transitioning to a circular economy. It has a very good section on building or renovating for energy-efficiency, including a sample of questions to ask your builder.
My Efficient Electric Home Facebook Group
This group often focuses on electrifying existing homes and provides peer-to-peer advice in a Q&A format. It’s worth a look if you are comfortable with using Facebook.
Undercover Architect - Podcast
Even if you have no intention of mapping out a floor plan or elevations for a project, take a drive into the basics of good planning and design with this series of podcasts by Architect, Emilia Lee. This would be good knowledge to take into a design briefing meeting. Later series also deal more specifically with Passivhaus and high-performance homes.
Books
Tim Forcey (2024) My Efficient Electric Home
YouTube
This channel complements the Renew magazines in many ways. In particular, it is a good index of Sustainable House Day virtual open house videos.
Efficiency Matrix – https://www.youtube.com/@ecoevo
This channel provides practical advice, testing details and performance information for new builds, retrofits and Passive Houses. This video of a Victorian high-performance home where builder and homeowner collaborated to achieve a very good outcome is particularly interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRXsumjJbNE
Passive House Specific
Australian Passivhaus Association
The APA website is a source of information specifically about the Passivhaus building standard, consumer information and a member directory where you can search for a designer, builder, certifier, etc. They also hold bi-annual open house days, where you can visit a passive house in your community. Building Sustainable Futures: The Australian Passivhaus Association
International Passive House Association
This is the mothership and the scope is vast, but there are links to website of the international institute and a resource called Passipedia.
Books
James Traynor (2019), EnerPHit: A Step-by-Step Guide to Low Energy Retrofit, London
Australian Passivhaus Association (2020), Passivhaus in Australia
Podcasts
Renovation Collaborative
Passivhaus and high-performance design in your climate zone, an insightful interview with a passive house consultant and certifier about the roles that these professionals play in a project, homeowners’ experiences and more. The topic index can be filtered to passive house. Podcast | Renovation Collaborative
If you are interested in expert opinion on broader issues…
Passive House Accelerator
Coverage of wider topics by various experts from the Australian passive house community. The link should take you to the search results for Australia.
YouTube
Penrith City Council hosted Mark Davis from Mark Davis Design who presented a thorough overview of passive house design, building and retrofit. It is a few years old now, but still very relevant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I1Yucoo-qk
Image credit: Ovidiu Timplaru https://www.vecteezy.com
