Get It Right with Undercover Architect

Hello! This is Episode 414. This is Way #14 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. And this episode completes Section Three: Sustainable Services and Infrastructure. It may seem strange that we’ve taken a while to get here, given this is where many homeowners will start in their sustainability choices for their project. ‘Let’s make sure we put solar on the house w...

Hello! This is Episode 413. This is Way #13 of the ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’ series. And we’re still in Section Three: Sustainable Services and Infrastructure, and reviewing our hot water supply. For many homeowners, their decisions about their hot water unit can come in a flurry, and simply be based on what they know. Sometimes it can be handed to the plumber, as...

Hello! This is Episode 412. This is Way #12 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. We’re continuing through Section Three: Sustainable Services and Infrastructure. In Episode 411 , we looked at where household water goes, especially in indoor use, and how to reduce consumption through fixture selection and design decisions.  In this episode, we’re looking at the ot...

Hello! This is Episode 411. This is Way #11 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. We’re continuing through Section Three: Sustainable Services and Infrastructure, and today we’re looking at water. In the last episode, we covered Way #10: reducing your energy use through your selections. In this episode, we’re looking at water efficiency. Where does water really g...

Hello! This is Episode 410. This is Way #10 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. And with this episode, we also begin Section Three: Sustainable Services and Infrastructure. If you’ve been following the series from the start, you’ll know that Section One was about designing for climate and site: orientation, breezes, passive heating and cooling, and climate zone.&nbsp...

Hello! This is Episode 409. This is Way #9 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. This episode also closes out Section Two: Sustainable Design Strategies. In this episode, we’re finishing Section Two with Way #9. Way #9 is: Improve Your Indoor Air Quality. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com...

Hello! This is Episode 408. This is Way #8 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. We are in Section Two: Sustainable Design Strategies. The ways I include in this section are about the strategic design decisions that have consequences well beyond the immediate project, and Way #8 is a strong example of that. Way #8 is Future Proofing Your Design with Accessibility. [For all resourc...

Hello! This is Episode 407. This is Way #7 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series, and we are continuing through Section Two: Sustainable Design Strategies. The ways in Section Two are about the bigger-picture decisions that shape a project from a strategic level, before we get into the detail of specific systems, materials, or construction. Way #7 is Creating an Efficient Structura...

Hello! This is Episode 406. This is Way #6 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series, and the second episode of Section Two: Sustainable Design Strategies. In Episode 405, we covered Way #5: Designing a Smaller, Smarter Home. The case for asking what is enough, and building to that rather than to the status quo that drives a bigger home with more in it. Way #6 is choose an aligned team...

Hello! This is Episode 405. This is the first episode of Section Two of the 44 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home series. Section One, which we completed in the last episode, covered the foundational climate and site strategies: orientation, breezes, passive heating and cooling, and climate zones. We are beginning Section Two with Way #5: Design a Smaller, Smarter Home. [For all resources mentioned...

Hello! This is Episode 404. This is Way #4 in the ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’ series. It’s also the last episode of Section One, which takes you through Designing for Climate and Site. Over the past three episodes in this ‘44 Ways’ series, we have covered orientation, natural ventilation from breezes and protection from harsher winds, and how to design a...

Hello! This is Episode 403. This is Way #3 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. Over the last two episodes, we have discussed designing for your site’s orientation, and considering how your home is positioned to work with the movement of the sun and prevailing breezes, and how your home is designed to maximise natural ventilation, whilst protecting you from harsher wind eve...

Hello! This is Episode 402. This is Way #2 of the 44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home series. In Episode 401 we covered orientation, and understanding how the sun moves across your site and how positioning your home to work with that movement can transform its comfort, help it feel amazing to live in day-to-day, and reduce its energy use and requirements for artificial heating and cooling. In...

Hello! This is Episode 401. And we are beginning something on the podcast that I’m really looking forward to sharing with you, especially if you’re wanting to build or renovate in a more sustainable way, but feeling curious, confused or even overwhelmed about what that might mean. This is the first episode of a podcast series called ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’...

Hello! This is Episode 400 - can you believe it? How exciting! And so I want to take the opportunity to celebrate a little, and share something a little different in this episode. Whilst we’ve done more than 400 actual episodes on the podcast, I do believe that hitting Episode 400 officially is a big milestone. That’s over four hundred conversations. Me talking directly to you. Me talk...

Hello! This is Episode 399, and in it, I’m continuing my conversation with HOME Method members Jan and Landon, who are building a new home and granny flat as a Passive House in Sydney’s north. As a reminder: Jan and Landon are building on a site that has been in Landon’s family for over 70 years.  Their new build project has been driven by clear goals around ageing in place,...

Hello! This is Episode 398, and in it, I’m speaking with HOME Method members Jan and Landon, who are back to share an incredibly exciting construction update on their passive house new build in Sydney’s north. This is the fifth instalment of Jan and Landon’s journey on the podcast. They’ve been sharing their story with us across Episodes 338, 339, 367 and 368, and if you ha...

Hello! This is Episode 397, and in it, I’m going to talk about staging your project. Whether you’re building new or renovating, for a range of reasons, you may be thinking you don’t want to do everything all at once.  And so, in this episode I’m going to share the things you need to consider, how to avoid mistakes, and what’s involved in getting it right when sta...

Hello! This is Episode 396, and I want to talk about something that comes up at the very beginning of almost every project I hear about. It usually sounds like one of these questions. "Should I add a second storey, or extend out the back?" Or… "Is it worth renovating what we have, or should we just knock it down and build new?" Or… "We've got a blank block - do we go with a volume bu...

Hello! This is Episode 395, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with HOME Method member, Tanya, about the renovation of their Melbourne home that they’ve now been enjoying living in for a year, and experiencing the results of their efforts in how it functions and performs. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect....

Hello! This is Episode 394, and in it, I’m talking with HOME Method member, Tanya. Tanya lives with her husband and daughter in Melbourne. They worked within the existing footprint of the home of the 100-year-old double brick home, undertaking a renovation that dramatically improves how it feels, functions and performs.  [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloada...

Hello! This is Episode 393, and in this episode, I want to talk about one of the most common and most misleading phrases I hear homeowners use when they’re planning work on their home. And it’s this: “We’re just doing a small renovation.” [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/393 ] Now...

Hello, this is Episode 392, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with HOME Method member, Michael, about his recently completed new build in regional Western Australia. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloadable PDF transcript, head to www.undercoverarchitect.com/392 ] In the last episode, we spoke about the journey from lock up through to handover, the detailing decisi...

Hello, this is Episode 391, and in this episode, I’m welcoming back HOME Method member, Michael, to share an update on his new build journey. Now the home is complete, and they’ve been enjoying it for a few months, he has lots to share about the build experience, completion and landscaping, and enjoying the finished home. [For all resources mentioned in this podcast and a free, downloa...

Hello! This is Episode 390, and I want to give you a framework that will help you understand why you can feel so unsure as you navigate the world of renovating and building. And frankly, it applies any time you tackle something new. If you’ve got 47 browser tabs open, a Notes app full of screenshots, and a partner who is sick of hearing “I don’t know, I just need to think about i...