Learn more about choosing, designing and building bushfire resistant homes, and how to create climate resilient new homes.

And also learn more about the Fortis homes created to help those building bushfire resistant homes, or rebuilding after bushfires or floods (or in areas impacted by severe weather and climate events).

This is Part 1 of my conversation with Kate Cotter, Bushfire Building Council of Australia (now known as Resilient Building Council).

Hello! This is Episode 258, and in it, I’ll be talking with Kate Cotter, CEO and Founder of the Bushfire Building Council – which has recently been rebranded to the Resilient Building Council.

If you’re building or renovating in an area where bushfire, flooding, cyclones or any other extreme climate event can occur, or you simply want to renovate or build in a more climate resilient way, this episode is going to be super helpful.

I’m really excited about sharing this episode and the next with you, as it will not only give you a framework of principles to consider in creating a more resilient home, especially when building a bushfire resistant home. 

You’ll also learn about Fortis homes, which can give you a great headstart in your project too. 

Now, let’s dive in!

It’s so great to be bringing this episode to you. My guest is someone I’ve been wanting to talk with on the podcast for some time now, and she’s someone who has a wealth of knowledge to share that I know will be really helpful for you.

Let me introduce you to Kate Cotter.

Kate Cotter is the CEO and founder of the Bushfire Building Council of Australia, or BBCA. And, you’ll hear us talk in the Part 2 of my conversation with her in the next episode, that, at the time of recording our chat, they were just going through a rebrand which is now in effect … to the Resilient Building Council. 

Kate Cotter established the Bushfire Building Council of Australia (BBCA) in 2015 to reduce the impacts of bushfire disasters on communities by strengthening the built environment. She established the organisation to develop collaboration between experts, industry, communities and governments to motivate and reward disaster and climate adaptation.

Applying a systems based approach to risk mitigation, the BBCA provides independent expertise for governments, industry and communities regarding; public safety policy, building design, legacy property upgrades, community-wide preparedness, new building standards, resilience certification and financing.

The BBCA is an independent, not-for-profit organisation translating research into tangible action to reduce climate and disaster risk for households, communities, governments and industry.

Their members are independent bushfire resilience experts working to solve complex disaster risk problems with innovative tools.

Prior to establishing the BBCA, Kate successfully advocated on behalf of bushfire prone communities for planning policy reform after regulatory failure led to land sterilisation and poor safety outcomes.

Tune into this conversation and also Part 2 in the next episode, to learn more about building resilience, how to build for the climate challenges we’re experiencing, and the key things to consider when building, renovating and maintaining your home.

In this episode, I ask Kate questions such as:

• How she came to establish the Bushfire Building Council of Australia (BBCA)
• What role the BBCA plays generally in regards to Australia’s bushfire resilience, in their work with government and community?
• The development of FORTIS, a range of bushfire homes, and why and how BBCA created them in response the 2019 / 2020 Black Summer fires.
• The process involved in developing the range of FORTIS homes
• How the designs were chosen and developed for the FORTIS range
• The specific research and engineering principles in FORTIS designs, and why these were specifically chosen, including:

1. Protective Outer Shell
2. Protected Sub-floor
3. Separate resilient shed
4. Aerodynamic roof form
5. Minimal building penetrations
6. Multiple exit points and visibility
7. Non-combustible, robust materials
8. Optimised siting
9. Building ventilation

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

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RESOURCES:

Bushfire Building Council / Resilient Building Council
>>> https://www.bbca.org.au/

Fortis 
>>> https://fortishouse.org/

BBC Resilience Pilot Program
>>> https://www.bbca.org.au/retrofits/

Check out Season 12 ‘Rebuild and Build Better’ for many more episodes on building and renovating in bushfire prone areas, plus navigating insurance, finance and approvals >>>>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast/season-12/

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to get started with your home design with the Happy Home Design mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/happy-home-design

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan