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The 20/20 House
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality.
The 20/20 House Part 13 – Designing the Kitchen
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream energy efficient home into a reality. In the last blog I wrote about the catch up I had with our builder and how it got us thinking. Originally, I was always imagining a home with a nice polished concrete...
The 20/20 House Part 12 – Getting The Design Right
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. Over the last couple of months, we kept fine-tuning the design for our own house. Typically, all my ‘actual’ projects are a priority, so I only ever work on the...
The 20/20 House Part 11 – Locating Services
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream for an energy efficient home into a reality. In November I spent 2 weeks doing some further professional development and did the PassivHaus/ Passive House Designer course. Although a lot of the principles...
The 20/20 House: Cost Saving Ideas – Windows
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. Windows are essential for a house and the comfort and well-being of its habitants, as they let natural light and fresh air into the building and enable views....
The 20/20 House Part 10 – Design Challenge: Stairs
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. After several weeks not looking at the plans for our dream home we finally managed to find some time together to work on the plans. As I have...
The 20/20 House: Cost Saving Ideas – Kitchen
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. Kitchen Ideas Life has been a bit crazy again at our house. We had backpackers staying with us. My niece arriving (who will be staying with us as an...
The 20/20 House Part 9 – How big does your house need to be?
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. Again, it’s all about you. Think about you and your family. How do you use the house? Which rooms do you really use? Do you really need a...
The 20/20 House Part 8 – How to put together a Design Brief for your Dream Home
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. When we bought our land/house I was excited and wanted to get started with the design straight away. Well, I did start with some rough sketches. But...
The 20/20 House Part 7 – What to do when you have bought land?
The Gruen Eco Design blog about how to convert your dream from an energy efficient home into a reality. As I had mentioned in the previous post. We were lucky to be successful at an auction and have bought land, or I should rather say a house with land in...
The 20/20 House Part 6 – Why the 20/20 House?
Why the 20/20 House? You may ask yourself: Why the 20/20 House? What does it mean? I guess if you have studied architecture and even more so if you design houses for a living, it is only natural that all that you are dreaming of is designing and building your own...
Sustainable Design blog
Have a read through our latest blogs about sustainable design
Come and Join our team: EXPERIENCED DRAFTER – REVIT SUPER STAR
EXPERIENCED DRAFTER – REVIT SUPER STAR We’re seeking an experienced REVIT draftsperson who is as passionate about sustainable design as we are to join our Gruen Eco Design family. This role is perfect for someone who just loves drafting and REVIT almost as much as...
Key Learnings From The Building Physics Forum, Part 2 – The Invisible Enemy
As I had explained in Part 1, in October I attended the Building Physics Forum in Melbourne, where over 2 days experts from all over the world spoke about healthy and energy efficient homes and the dangers of condensation and mould. The biggest takeaway for me was...
The New Way of Maximising your Town House Development
No matter if you are a seasoned developer or a first timer trying to build a unit at the back of your existing house, we’re all in it for the same reason; to maximise our personal wealth. Whether this is your main source of income or you’re reducing your mortgage with...
Key learnings from the Building Physics Forum, Part 1 – The Invisible Enemy
Today I want to discuss a really important subject: The Invisible Enemy In October I attended the Building Physics Forum in Melbourne. Over 2 days experts from all over the world spoke about healthy and energy efficient homes and the danger of condensation and mould....
Sustainable House Day 2019 Gallery
Here are some images from Sustainable House Day 2019 at our Blackburn house. Thank you to Karen and David for opening your fabulous home and to Amelia Wells for taking such beautiful photos of the day. [gallery...
IS PRIVACY OVERRATED? BUILDING A COMMUNITY
In September my family and I visited Germany and Italy. Obviously, it was great to visit our family and friends and see some amazing architecture. But what had a much bigger impact on me was the community and neighbourhood connections we saw throughout our time in...
How much does it cost to build a passive house?
This is a question I do get asked a lot. Sadly, there is no simple or straight forward answer to it. And no matter who you ask you will get a very different response. Does it cost more than building a normal home? Again, not an easy answer. Does it cost more than a...
Why we import triple glazed windows for some of our projects
A few weeks ago, I shared a 3d image from one of the passive houses we are currently working on and mentioned that we’re importing triple glazed windows. Little did I realise that this would start a huge online discussion about the effects of importing on the...
What would you do with 180 Million? Or: What is your bigger picture, “Your Why”?
Recently I had an amazing weekend with my friends at the hot springs to recharge our batteries and catch up on all thing’s friendship and life in general. One of the discussions we had was about the recent lottery jackpot. And: what would you do if you were to win the...
Why We Love Interactive Online Design Meetings With Our Clients
We get it. Life can get busy. Especially when you have kids and or a busy job. It’s often too hard to leave work early or find someone to look after the kids. Scheduling a time for a meeting that works for everyone can be challenging. When I ventured on my own...