And now, just to recap...

Over the past 12 months, we have gone step by step through the process of turning a vacant block of land into a new home. Now is a good time to take stock of what we’ve all learnt in the process, and reflect on where this exciting journey will ultimately take you. As a dedicated energy efficient builder, it’s part of our exciting journey too. We started with what to look for when choosing a block of land. Not all bare blocks of land are equal. It had to meet some vital criteria — especially so that it didn’t increase your building costs due to poor soil type, difficult and expensive site levels and wrong orientation. Having found the perfect block, we went through the process of designing your ideal home. Most of all it had to suit your land, lifestyle and budget. We also looked at the vital importance of getting your house plan correct and knowing exactly what’s included, or excluded, before signing a contract. Because these articles are all ultimately about improving energy efficiency and therefore reducing your ongoing energy costs, we considered the importance of using renewable building materials, the different types of insulation products, including glass, and how to increase thermal mass in your construction. Getting these factors right has a significant beneficial bearing on the final outcome — your new energy efficient and sustainable home. Continuing on we discussed how the right choice of internal fittings — the likes of kitchens, tapware, lights, window dressings and carpet — also has a bearing on the overall efficiency of your new home. We explored the assortment of hot water systems, photovoltaic panels and battery storages, even landscaping. As our monthly series of brief, home-building articles over the last year have come to a conclusion, I hope you have enjoyed reading and discovering more about how easy it is to build a genuinely energy efficient home. It’s been a pleasure for us too, as it is always good to keep the big picture in view. Sharing with you some of the amazing cost-saving discoveries we’ve made over our numerous years of research into this fascinating subject has once again proven to us that building an energy efficient home should be essential, not merely an interesting option. In fact, we are committed to the view that it will become essential for every new home, as we steadily move toward self-sufficient homes. Therefore in the future, a home designed properly as sustainable and energy efficient will have greater value than one that’s not. Tellingly, the first thing new home owners say after we’ve built them a new energy efficient home is that the process was not half as scary as they thought it could be. They appreciated they were engaging with a local innovative building company, happy to always listen and answer questions no matter how strange they sounded. If you have missed any of these articles, they have all been listed on our website www.geoffgibsonhomes.com.au with the permission of our good friends at Style magazine. This coming year, we are going to delve deeper into the mysteries of each subject, revealing their simple, profound truths.