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Matthew has over 25 years in the building design industry. He worked in retail for 12 years then moved onto high-end residential towers before finding his niche in quality, sustainable residential design projects over a decade ago. As a building design expert, Matthew has extensive knowledge in all the aspects of creating a modern dream home. He works closely with clients at each stage, from initial concept designing through to working with local councils. His detailed working drawings are carefully created to suit personal needs as well as budget requirements. Matthew has a great understanding of the functionality of a home and the design skills to bring the old and new together.

Author's Name

Matthew Duignan

Phone

0400438295

Web Site

https://www.meshdesignprojects.com.au/

Email

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Energy Efficient + Passive House + Modern Construction Methods = The Way Forward for New Builds

Building homes using a cost-effective, energy-efficient, time-saving, and smarter model isn’t a pipe dream for the future. The building standards and the technology exist and are remarkable, the only thing standing in the way is the belief of many within the building industry that the way it has always been done is the only way to do things. Unfortunately sticking to the way things have always been done means dealing with extensive lead times due to construction and weather impacts, sky-rocketing costs, and then there’s the environmental impact, wastage, landfill, and the use of fossil fuels adding to an already suffering planet amid climate change and global warming.

Mesh Design + Projects have researched a solution to combat these issues while adding the benefit of a healthier interior space, longevity of design and structure, and more manageable ongoing running costs. Our design strategy considers three elements in the design and construction stage: Pre-Fabrication, Passive House design principles and specification, and the all-electric methodology.

Pre-fabrication Construction Does Not Mean Cookie-Cutter Housing

Long gone are the days where pre-fabrication was only used for off-the-plan-new-suburbs where homes were almost identical, and homeowners were limited to one of five pre-designed options.

Integrating all your wants and needs into a home design is what we do best. We then take that design and using software-based construction programs, we can breakdown the home in to building components, like the idea of a jigsaw, and create the pieces in a factory to then be transported and constructed on site. Floors, walls, and roofing can all be constructed off-site and then fixed together on the property.

This method of design and pre-fabrication means that elements of your home can be built in controlled conditions. We can ensure quality control of construction, reduce timeframes by constructing the building components indoors, unaffected by the four seasons we sometimes see in a day in Melbourne, and reduce wastage by controlling the re-use of offcuts and optimising best-design strategy using our computer-based programs.

As the owner this drastically reduces your costs- no paying for onsite rubbish removal and wastage of building elements, a faster method of construction and building that reduces labour costs, and a quicker timeline with less limitation incurred by weather and outside factors, reducing the lead time to a fraction of that of a traditional home build.

Perfect for Passive House

Passive House, a holistic construction and certification standard, is a building design approach that is an energy efficient, healthier model than traditional builds. Since the concept development, Passive House has shown itself to be the most rigorous voluntary building standard for building efficiency recognised worldwide.

Passive Houses use five building-science criteria: airtightness, high performance windows, sufficient insulation, mechanical ventilation heat recovery, and thermal bridge-free construction, to deliver the healthiest, highest-performing building possible. By using design and orientation to optimise natural light, heat, and airflow, it is possible to create a home that is comfortable all year round, free from draughts, and with filtered and clean, fresh air.
The new pre-fabrication construction method of building is perfect for Passive House design and build as it allows the building to be specifically designed to eliminate air-leakage within the building envelope, ensuring airtightness.

As the owner of a pre-fabrication Passive House, not only do you receive the benefits of the pre-fabrication method of time and cost-efficiency, you also receive the benefits of the Passive House design including health benefits with clean, fresh air all year round, the knowledge that your home will always be comfortable regardless of the outdoor weather your home will be quiet, easy to run, and importantly, cost-effective with Passive House owners spending 80 – 90% less on heating and cooling than owners of traditional homes ensuring affordable longevity.

All-Electric for Cost and Energy Efficient Homes

We design our new builds using an all-electric ideology. Electricity offers more energy efficient ways for powering your home than incorporating a gas service, including electric appliances being cheaper to run than their gas- powered counterparts, the ability to make the most of renewable energy by incorporating rooftop solar panels and the ability to track appliance energy usage using a smart app that then allows you to use it at times of optimal solar power or during the cheaper off-peak times of your electricity service plan.

Gas appliances and connections within the home have also been shown to create air that is up to five times dirtier than the air outside as well as adding threatening risks to the safety off the occupants. While a gas connection certainly isn’t all doom and gloom, fresh, clean air in the home is certainly the better sounding option.

We’re building for a healthier future for our clients, and for the environment, one new home at a time.