• You can’t put a price on health (actually you could but it is very hard!)

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• There are smarter choices available

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• There are solutions that are healthy for people and planet

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• Focus on quality not quantity

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• Building Science proven outcomes - can you afford to leave it to chance?

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• Operational Carbon can be measured with tools like the PHPP during the design stage, quality assured with blower-doors/thermal-imaging/IEQ monitors and then correlated to actual energy use

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• Embodied Carbon can only be accounted for using creative calculations with unsophisticated and inconsistent calculators 

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• Choose eco bio-based natural materials (locally-sourced timber, straw, hemp)

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• Avoid concrete and structural steel

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• The ratio of total carbon for a building is still much higher with Operational Energy in Australian buildings. However with the move to 7-stars (and beyond to Passivhaus performance drastically reducing carbon emissions due to heating & cooling) then Embodied Carbon becomes a bigger part of the pie. As the grid decarbonises this increasingly becomes so for all projects (even the poor performers)

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• Focus on #efficiencyfirst (& building science) to get the thermal envelope right first. Don’t just put on more Solar Panels (they have a large amount of embodied carbon that we need to avoid!). 

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• Passivhaus emphasis on insulation leads to lightweight construction (Passivhaus & lower embodied-carbon can be perfectly aligned) 

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• Heavy carbon-intensive thermal mass is not required with Passivhaus 

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• Ensure appropriate levels of insulation in walls/roofs/floors - this varies due to location and climate 

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• Understand equity and real cost-differences between states (i.e. generally Sydney construction is more expensive than Melbourne, but to meet Passivhaus it costs more in Melbourne due to extra thick walls….)

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• Building costs vary across the country. Building new houses is a substantial investment. However, the elements that drive thermal performance are only ~25% of the overall cost. Prioritisation is key!

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• Cost of external thermal envelope versus cost of everything inside  

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• Affordability of Passivhaus construction produced at mass scale (no one builds their own car design!)

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