How do you design affordable, sustainable homes that are also bushfire resistant? Andy Marlow and Dick Clarke from Envirotecture tell us.

Balancing affordability and sustainability can be challenging when building and renovating.

Add in bushfire resistance, and it can be extra tricky.

Both Andy and Dick have such great knowledge to share, and I’m really looking forward to sharing their wisdom with you.

This episode is Part 1 of my conversation with Andy Marlow and Dick Clarke from Envirotecture.

This conversation is packed full of fantastic advice and insights into how you design a home that is affordable and sustainable, and what to do if it also needs to be bushfire resistant as well.

In this episode, I ask Andy and Dick questions such as:

• How do you balance sustainability and affordability? And then also the incorporation of Passivhaus into that process as well, in terms of working on your projects and working with your clients?

• How are you helping your clients and their budgets to get this affordability, sustainability and bushfire resistance in their projects?
• How does the building form help with sustainability and bushfire resistance?
• How they approached the design of a bushfire resistant home, and the use of hempcrete as a building material.
• Whether creating homes that are lower cost and more ‘disposable’ is a better solution in bushfire prone areas.

At Envirotecture they will help you create the family home you have always envisioned. A home that works well, feels good, is kind to the environment, culturally appropriate and reduces energy and running costs. 

Andy and Dick are both Directors of Envirotecture, which is based in Sydney, NSW.

Dick Clarke is principal of Envirotecture, is an Accredited Building Designer with over 35 years experience, focusing exclusively on ecologically sustainable and culturally appropriate buildings, as well as sustainable design in vehicles and vessels, and has received many Design Awards.

He holds a Master of Sustainable Futures degree (by research at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS), on the topic of the effect of state and local planning instruments on the sustainability of the built environment.

He is Director of Sustainability, and Past President of the NSW Chapter of Building Designers Australia (BDA). He is a Past President and Board Member of the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA).

Dick has a plethora of other accolades and roles he has contributed in the industry over his career. He has been design director of many hundreds of projects over 35 years, with sustainability as the major driver over that whole period (with the ever-changing understanding of what sustainability is). He is often called on for expert comment on sustainable design and, due to his experience as a rural firefighter, bushfire resilient design as well.

Andy Marlow is a Director at Envirotecture, holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture, is a certified Passive House Designer and has extensive experience in sustainable design at a variety of scales.

Andy is driven by a desire for all people to live, work and play in buildings that make them happier. He believes that good design should be accessible to and benefit all, not just those who commission it.

Andy is currently a Board Member of the Australian Passive House Association. He speaks regularly at conferences and events on sustainability issues; design principles, materials specification, community engagement and the future of our cities including the national conferences of both the Planning Institute of Australia and the Green Building Council of Australia.

Mudgee Hempcrete House by Envirotecture

And recently, they started a new business, Passivhaus Design and Construct. 

Frustrated by the big challenge many experience in their new home journey – that is, creating a sustainably designed home that can be delivered on budget, they decided to marry together the design and construction in a total delivery model. 

Currently NSW based, with plans to extend over Australia, Passivhaus Design and Construct delivers complete quality, cost effective design and build solutions. They design healthy, comfortable homes built to work efficiently from the day you move in and for decades into the future. 

You’ll enjoy cost certainty, quality design, an excellent build and a certified passive house… because it’s their passion to make homes that are better for everyone.

So, let’s hear more from Andy Marlow and Dick Clarke now.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

Envirotecture
https://www.envirotecture.com.au/

Passivhaus Design and Construct
https://passivhausdc.com.au/

Articles researched and mentioned in the interview
Window of opportunity: Costing the benefits of bushfire design
Bushfires and how to negate them
On the drawing board: Analysis of a bushfire loss
Hempcrete House 2 – Mudgee
Bushfires: Canberra smoke blamed for 31 deaths this summer

Houses of the Future
See all the house types here >>> https://architectureau.com/articles/housing-the-future/
The Cardboard House >>> http://www.peterstutchbury.com.au/cardboard-house.html