Sustainability & Energy Efficiency

Energy performance and all-electric building for Melbourne homes. These guides cover what the 7-star NatHERS minimum asks of a design, how Victoria's move away from gas changes a new build and how passive design does the work before any appliance gets switched on.

Low winter sun entering a living area through full-height glazing and reaching deep across a polished concrete floor, with a timber-lined eave shading the opening above

Sustainability & Energy Efficiency15 September 2026

Passive Design for a Melbourne Home: Working With the Site You Have

Passive design is what a house does before anything gets switched on.

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A finished kitchen in pale oak and stone, with a flush induction cooktop set into the rear bench and no gas fittings anywhere in the room

Sustainability & Energy Efficiency11 September 2026

All-Electric Homes: What It Means for a Melbourne Custom Build

Victoria restricts gas in new homes through two separate pieces of law. They were made almost two years apart, they catch different houses and only one is in operation yet.

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A room in a new home under construction, with insulation batts fitted between the timber wall studs, part of the plasterboard lining installed and a large black-framed sliding window in place above a bare concrete slab

Sustainability & Energy Efficiency7 September 2026

7-Star NatHERS Ratings: What Victoria Requires of a New Home

Victoria requires every new home to reach a minimum 7-star NatHERS rating before a registered building surveyor will issue a building permit.

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