The story begins as all good stories do.

​

Once upon a time~

​

There was a child named Billie, who loved stories and was captivated by the heroic myths and mystical legends from across the world as well as their ancestral folklore and songs.

 

This curious child knew that life was precious.

 

Billie was grateful for the abundant gifts of our planet, and didn't want to be wasteful. Billie grew up loving kin, caring for the earth, in awe of the beauty of all living things, believing in magic, wishing upon stars and understanding that dreams really could come true.

 

Time passed as time always does.

 

Over time, Billie learnt more about the wonders of the world which led to a love for research and for science. Excelling in their education with a focus on analytics and data, Billie slowly forgot about their magical childhood as they became very successful in their professional and personal life. Soon, Billie had a family to love and care for.

 

They wanted to build a family home.

 

A home in which they could all thrive and that would be the best money can buy. With a passion for numbers - Billie knew that efficiency was key. Embarking on this journey, Billie was confident they knew the answers they sought and would soon be living in their dream home!
 

It's not easy being green.

 

Over the next decade or so, Billie built a new green home in almost every capital city in the country for the family. They travelled throughout the country following both opportunity and adventure. For after all, the child is never truly gone. On a quest for a greener and more sustainable home, the star-rating was increased each time in an effort to be more efficient, and to do the right thing.

​

But these homes didn't quite live up to their expectations.

 

Billie’s ageing parents who lived with them struggled with impractical accessibility, their young children suffered from respiratory complaints, and energy bills were still high. The modelling for these designs told the story that these homes were 8 stars and more, but the reality of living in them was telling a different story. Billie was someone who had always trusted numbers, but...

​

Something wasn't adding up.

 

Through experience, Billie had discovered how vastly different the climates were. The star-ratings they had been striving for with their design for an energy-efficient home were not equitable in these locations. There were different construction costs in each state, and the availability of locally-sourced and low-carbon materials could be challenging. 

 

Billie became increasingly concerned that their code-compliant homes did not seem to address the health of their family. They realised that there was a performance-gap in their expectations of some of these thermal modelling tools, and this gap was causing harm to both their family and the environment. As someone who loved efficiency, to learn that all this time, energy and money had all been wasted…

 

It was heartbreaking.

 

One stormy day when the dark skies seemed to reflect their mood, Billie shed a few tears in frustration as the rain fell. This synchronicity did not go unnoticed, and aligned with the universe was felt for a fleeting moment, before remembering their predicament.

All Billie wanted was a small, sustainable, comfortable, beautiful and affordable home, that didn't leave a huge environmental footprint, that would be healthy for their family and for the planet.

 

Was it too much to ask for?

 

As Billie reflected on this, the sun suddenly appeared from behind the clouds and a glorious rainbow appeared. Billie immediately felt a sense of nostalgia at this beautiful sight and memories of their childhood stories came flooding back. Words from a childhood song appeared in their head, “Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me”. 

It was such an overwhelming sensation - a true "Eureka!" moment. Billie had been trying to reach an end-goal that appeared so mesmerising and beautiful, but had never truly existed in the first place.

 

They were reaching for the stars, but were chasing rainbows.

 

This realisation was just what Billie needed to reflect and reset. They still believed in chasing their dreams, and they still wanted to find their treasure. But their priorities had shifted once they remembered what was really important, and they now knew which direction to go. Their brief was clear - they wanted a home that would not waste time, waste money, waste energy, waste resources or waste love. Life was too short and Billie was not getting any younger! 

 

So they set out on a new quest, to build a home they could trust. 

 

Billie began meeting lots of helpful folk who were equally as passionate. This led Billie to discover that they could still trust in science and measurable, quantifiable data - if they used the right design tools that ensured the desired outcomes aligned with their intentions.

 

Their new home design had a modest 120sqm of floor area, yet was very spacious and still had enough room for their multi-generational living arrangement. It was universally-accessible for ageing in place. It was very functional and had plenty of storage. It felt light and bright, and had great connections to the garden for indoor/outdoor living. It was a beautiful home with creative design features to enable moments of joy throughout the day. 

 

A home with a beauty that was more than just an illusion.

 

Once the family had inhabited their new home for a while, they continued to measure the Operational Energy which was very low (with minimal heating and cooling required). This was no accident - it was designed and tested to be this way. Billie was pleased that bills were low too! The family enjoyed comfortable indoor temperatures and humidity levels all year round, with improved indoor air quality unlike any home they'd experienced. They chose to build their home from bio-based materials that were low in Embodied-Carbon (locally-sourced timber, straw and hemp) and minimised the use of concrete and structural steel. Whilst Billie loved numbers, they had found the process for trying to attempt to calculate Embodied-Carbon was more akin to 'creative accounting' (with so many arbitrary decisions to input into the calculations for each material with many inconsistencies ) and that this process was not at all 'measurable' and therefore not really 'science' either.

​

Was it too good to be true?

​

Would this fairytale have a happy ending after all?  When Billie's new home was certified following the rigorous methodology of an international high-performance Building Science standard, they were over the moon, and all their neighbours were envious too!

​

Everyone wanted this ‘home of the future’ that was being built today.

 

News soon spread about this magical house that had achieved 'True Net Zero', and somehow it seemed to brighten up the whole street, and a new sense of community emerged. Billie wanted to leave a legacy, and share their love for their home with others - to help prevent others from taking the same long and arduous journey that they had! They collected all the data so they could share the story all they'd learned, after all - 

 

Everyone deserves to live in a home like this.

 

Their story went viral, their home became colloquially known as the:

 

"Little Pot of Gold" 

 

And so a new narrative about the 'Great Australian Dream' was born, and soon these homes popped up all over the country! You can see examples of these on this website. Billie followed (& found) their bliss instead of being burdened by bills, and they all lived happily ever after. 

 

The End.