News
10 February, 2025
Blueprints for building better homes in SEQ
The Australian Government’s Design For Place initiative has recently expanded its suite of free, architect-designed home plans to align with the National Construction Code 2022, emphasising enhanced energy efficiency, accessibility, and liveability.
These updates are particularly pertinent for residents in Queensland and Brisbane, where climate considerations and housing needs are unique.
Design For Place now offers five distinct home designs, ranging from two to four-bedroom layouts. Each plan is optimized for nine key Australian locations, including Brisbane, ensuring suitability to local climates and conditions.
Homeowners can utilize these plans as-is or collaborate with builders and designers to tailor them to specific requirements.
Significant enhancements in the updated plans include step-free access, accessible bathrooms, and widened doorways and hallways, meeting contemporary standards for liveability and accessibility.
These features are crucial for accommodating diverse household needs and future-proofing homes.
Energy efficiency is a cornerstone of the new designs. Each plan comes with predicted Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) performance ratings. The NatHERS star rating assesses a home’s thermal efficiency, while the new National Construction Code mandates that most new houses must achieve a minimum 7-star NatHERS rating and at least 60 out of 100 in the Whole of Home (WoH) assessment.
Under the National design, optimized for Brisbane’s climate, a 7.4-star rating is achieved with an estimated annual energy cost of approximately $1,251. An enhanced version of the same design reaches an 8.2-star rating, reducing the estimated energy cost to around $250 per year, resulting in significant savings for homeowners.
For Queensland residents, particularly those in Brisbane, these designs offer tailored solutions that consider the subtropical climate. Features such as passive cooling, appropriate shading, and ventilation are integrated to enhance comfort and reduce reliance on artificial cooling systems.
Councils such as the Brisbane City Council support such sustainable housing initiatives through its Design Strategy and Guidelines, promoting quality design and environmental sustainability in residential developments.
Design For Place is part of the Your Home initiative, Australia’s independent guide to designing and building energy-efficient, sustainable homes. Accessible online, it serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to build or renovate with sustainability in mind.
By leveraging these free, updated plans, Queensland homeowners can construct dwellings that are not only compliant with current codes but also tailored to the local environment, ensuring comfort, sustainability, and cost savings in the long term.
