Free Home Designs

Our free Design For Place home designs will help you create an energy-efficient, sustainable home that suits your climate and lifestyle.

The Design For Place designs:

• are architect-designed and tailored to suit different climates across Australia
• can be customised to suit your needs, lifestyle, block orientation and local requirements
• achieve a minimum energy rating of 7 stars under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme
• include options to improve your home’s energy star rating and in-turn reduce energy bills
• use standard construction materials and techniques to keep costs down

Creating a comfortable home

The Design For Place home designs are a set of three energy-efficient homes that can be used as-is or customised to suit your needs. They have been designed by an architect in collaboration with an energy assessor to create comfortable homes with well-designed and practical spaces.

Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme

Each design comes with a predicted Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) rating. NatHERS is a star rating system that measures the energy efficiency of a home, using key features including design, materials and climate. A NatHERS rating is the most common method used to show that a new home complies with the minimum energy efficiency standards in the National Construction Code.

Design For Place demonstrates simple solutions to increase your energy rating above minimum requirements. Homes with higher energy ratings are predicted to rely less on heating and cooling systems, achieving a comfortable home that is cheaper to run. All Design For Place plans have been developed to achieve a minimum of 7 stars. Find out what the stars mean and how to get an assessment on the NatHERS website.

Costs

Designing and building an energy-efficient home may not be as expensive as you think.

Design For Place helps with affordability by:

• providing free home designs ready to use or adapt, saving on design costs
• specifying common construction techniques and materials that are readily available
• achieving a higher energy rating which reduces the need for heating and cooling-a major contributor to your energy bills
• considering good design and construction principles and incorporating the right approach to passive design, materials, insulation, orientation, windows and shading for each climate
• including key questions to help you get started with your architect, designer or builder
• providing floor plans with versatile spaces and a small footprint

Being well-informed and making the right decisions early on in the process is key to achieving a cost effective home that suits your lifestyle. Costs can vary significantly depending on your location and the site’s conditions as well as between building companies and their availability. Considering your key needs and keeping your home size not too large can assist as construction costs are generally calculated based on a rate per meter squared. Fixtures and finishes can also have a surprising impact on the overall construction cost – carefully consider details and selections such as custom joinery, lighting, benchtops and tiles. For more information, see Affordability.

Homes to suit your lifestyle

Design For Place homes are designed by an architect using best practice in sustainable and energy-efficient design. Choose from 3 homes to suit your lifestyle:

Acacia House – 2 bedroom

Features two courtyards that give lots of natural light and sun-filled living areas. Suits couples, empty nesters and downsizers, with the potential to build side-by-side as a townhouse development.

The orientation of this house places north to the street.

Includes: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 living areas, 123 m² (excluding carport)