Doing something new for the first time is challenging, especially when something has never been achieved before. There are plenty of examples of building a new passive house, and even renovating and extending a home, but what had never been done was turning a spec home—built by a very well-known volume builder to minimum standards—into a certified EnerPHit Passive House.

This led to the hypothesis: Is it possible to retrofit the standard Aussie home—a brick veneer home with roof tiles—without removing the external skin of the building, doing everything from the inside to the Passive House standard? Could we prove to the market, where currently around 8million homes don’t reach current energy efficiency targets, that it is possible to retrofit your home to a high standard, without needing to touch the outside of the building!

There is no previous history to draw on, no one we can consult to see what worked and what did not work in the past. It was simply about making the project the goal and bringing in the brightest minds to make this happen.

But the answer is yes, it is possible. We achieved something that has never been done before. Converting a Volume Built minimum standards construction spec home, into a certified EnerPHit Passive House.

We took a home that was over 35 ACH down to .4ACH, one that required 163hWh/m2A to heat the home, all the way down to 32hWh/m2A.

But most importantly we turned this house into a home, one that our clients love and adore, and in these winter months are just loving the constant comfortable temperature inside without having to do anything to maintain it.

Photography by Marnie Hawson