In Australia, we don't know, what we don't know. (BLOG)

Recently, I have been wondering….

Why are so many of my clients & new enquiries coming from people who grew up in, or have lived in Europe for a long time?

So, I decided to ask them, as part of the learning process we initially go thru when meeting with a potential new client,

why do they want to build the types of homes we specialize in?

European Union map with flags of countries. Europe.

Preventing Attack. Caring mother giving asthma inhaler to sick child at home

And the most common answer was....

that they can’t understand why in Australia, we are so willing to suffer through living in such poorly performing homes. When back home “in Europe” it is not an acceptable way to live & build.

They want their new home or extension to be more like the homes they grew up. Basically, a much more Comfortable & Healthy home than the common Australian house most are currently living in.

Freezing cold in the Winter, sweltering hot in Summers, mould growing on the plaster, open gaps throughout the house & little to no insulating properties, seems to be just part of living in a home in Australia.

They also raised concerns about the health issues of their families since living in such homes.

Constant feedback about increased hay-fever, allergies, eczema, cold & flus, recuring headaches, dry skin & asthma were of major concerns for a majority of the families.

Which in turn got me once again wondering….

Why are we in Australia willing to put up with this?

And I think it comes down to this…. We don’t know, what we don’t know.

If you grew up in a fairly typical Aussie family like me, your options really came down to putting as many clothes as possible on & sitting under a doona while freezing in the middle of winter, or maybe you would sneak the heater on before mum or dad would tell you ‘turn the bloody heater off, we ain’t millionaires’.

Then would come the scorching summer, sweating through sleepless nights with no other option than to ‘just toughen up’ (another mum & dad quote I’m sure you are probably familiar with from childhood).

Many Australians are unfortunately still building these poorly performing homes.

Why? They don’t know, what they don’t know.

So, if you are considering building a new home or extending soon, you now have all the info you need to build you & your family a better living environment than you thought was available in our great country.

Do some research on High- performance homes & builders, Passive houses & their 5 principals, Solar Passive design, Biophilic design & a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips on similar subjects via the internet.

Maybe even go a step further, talk to those who now live in these higher performing homes, or even see if you can stay at one thru an Airbnb (or similar) the next time you go for a weekend away to experience the difference a home like this could provide.

And then,

Once you know, what you know

It is unlikely you can go back to where you started.

Thanks so much for reading, please feel free to tell me about your thoughts on this subject.

Jared, Green with Envy Homes