Sustainable homes are the future of the housing if we want to protect ourselves from climate change and start reversing its environmental damage, says expert in the field, Jenny Edwards.
Ms Edwards’ extensive resume features a Master of Science Degree, she’s an ACT Licensed Building Energy Efficiency Assessor and, since 2011, has been a director of Light House Architecture & Science that builds and renovates energy-efficient, sustainable homes across the ACT.
She says the main reason people should be investing in sustainable housing is for their health. The home is where you spend most of your time with the people you love, and it can have a huge impact on your wellbeing.
Having a home that is physically warmer over winter and cooler during summer just makes for a nicer place to spend your time.
At Light House Architecture & Science, their main focus is on energy efficiency, as well as connecting to the outdoors to create a better quality of life in a relatively simple yet significant way.
Her own home, known as Canberra’s Beach House, has garnered national attention for her innovative use of a skinny 402sqm block to design and build a four-bedroom, 150sqm house with an 8.2-star energy rating.
“With good design, smaller footprint homes feel and function like larger homes with no dead space and a connection to the outdoors,” Ms Edwards says.
“There’s so many favourite parts of my home. Right now, I’m sitting on my front northern deck but just inside from here is my little sitting area that functions as a dining space, study nook, and sitting area with two simple chairs.
“In winter, it’s totally flooded with sun and in summer it’s cool and shaded with a look out to the deck that’s covered in lush grapevines dripping down.”
Throughout her storied career, Ms Edwards says one of her proudest moments was during last year when she received three national sustainability awards.
She also volunteers as an administrator of ‘My efficient electric home’ Facebook group where membership has grown from 3,000 to 30,000 and women now make up 54 per cent of members, which she says is exciting.
“The difference being a woman in this industry is that I’m happy to talk about it and the only way to get the message out there is to talk about stuff,” she says.
“I’ve presented to the National Building Design Conference as a woman, and these types of opportunities have arisen as female representation has grown.”
Renovations are one of her main passions and she’s excited that three-quarters of her work is now dedicated to them, as many people choose to renovate their homes and are taking the opportunity to be more sustainable at the same time.
While she admits some homes do need to be knocked down and re-built instead of renovated due to cost efficiency, she encourages those who can to renovate sustainably before building a brand new home.
“A beautiful example is a house caused Little Loft House that is available online for a virtual house tour for Sustainable House Day,” Ms Edwards says.
“It’s a 1908s house and started off pretty daggy, but we’ve completely transformed it with energy costs dropping by 70 per cent. It’s a cracker!”
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