Energy Efficient Home Design

If your home heats up during summer and takes a long time to cool down, or if it is hard to warm effectively through winter, then you have a home with poor energy efficiency. This means that not only are you never quite cool or warm enough, you’re also spending more on bills year round than you need to. On average across Australia, heating and cooling make up 40 per cent of the energy use in the home. A highly energy efficient home design helps to make you comfortable year-round, to reduce your home’s running costs and to reduce greenhouse emissions.

At Maxa Design we specialise in low energy house designs that achieve high energy ratings of 7 star, 8 star, 9 star or even 10 star homes. We are also certified to design to Passive House standards, the European certification scheme for best-practice energy efficient, comfortable homes. Alongside Passive House, we also specialise in sustainable home design, such as water harvesting, black and grey water systems, carbon accounting or prefabricated home design.

With Maxa Design you can achieve the ultimate self sufficient off-grid Passive House certified eco exemplar or introduce a handful of cost-effective, clever interventions to achieve an energy efficient home makeover and improve your family’s comfort year round. Our approach is led by your requirements. Our designs are tailored to your energy efficiency and sustainability objectives.

Do Australian energy efficient homes cost more?

Energy efficient homes don’t necessarily cost more to design and build. This is because we can tailor high and low technology solutions to match your budget and requirements. One of the simplest and most cost effective strategies to create a green building design is to ensure the correct orientation of your home to allow passive solar heating. This means you make the most of the winter sun to warm your home, while shutting out heat over summer.

Introducing energy savings often means a reduction in equipment requirements. For example, effective cross-ventilation may mean an air conditioner is not required, or required less often, saving you these additional expenses.

How does energy efficient house design benefit me?

Our low energy home designs aim to provide you with:

maximised natural light – for a light and bright home
good air flow through your house – easy to cool and plenty of fresh air
lower ongoing energy bills
lower maintenance bills
lower impact on the environment and a smaller carbon footprint

What energy saving actions do we promote?

We use the following design principles and green building products to achieve high energy ratings:

Double glazing or triple glazing
Insulation
Passive solar design
Natural cross ventilation
Solar hot water
Solar power systems
Thermally broken and composite windows
Zoned living so you only heat and cool the occupied areas of the home
Thermal mass (storing heat or coolth as required)
Thermal performance assessments and trials to maximise performance
Rainwater collection and storage for whole of house
Low energy lighting
High performance appliances
Efficient space planning