Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery: getting the installation and commissioning right
A balanced heat recovery ventilation system is only as good as its installation. This covers duct routing, condensate, controls and the commissioning steps that keep it performing.
11 min read
Blog
Sustainability and Energy
Energy-efficient, all-electric and resilient homes are becoming the default. This is the practical side: what the rules ask for, what the products do, and how to build it well.
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery: getting the installation and commissioning right
A balanced heat recovery ventilation system is only as good as its installation. This covers duct routing, condensate, controls and the commissioning steps that keep it performing.
11 min read
Mass timber in Australia: CLT, glulam and what builders need to know before using it
Sydney’s Atlassian Central has just topped out as the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower. Mass timber is also turning up in social housing and townhouses. Here is how it works and what a builder has to get right.
9 min read
7-star homes in NSW: how BASIX thermal and energy targets actually work
NSW does 7-star homes its own way. What BASIX asks of a new house, what changed in October 2023, and the site-level substitutions that quietly break a certificate.
9 min read
Electrical load management in an all-electric home: planning the switchboard and circuits
A fully electrified home concentrates cooking, heating, hot water and vehicle charging onto one switchboard. Getting the load plan right at design stage is cheaper than rebuilding it after handover.
10 min read
Hot water system sizing: a demand calculation that works for any system type
Sizing a hot water system is a demand calculation, not a product selection. Work out the peak hour the household actually draws, then match the system and its storage to that figure.
12 min read
Heat pump dryers and laundry ventilation in NSW homes
A heat pump dryer is not a vented dryer. It releases moisture into the laundry, and if the room is not designed to deal with it, the consequences show up in the building fabric. This article covers what to do on site.
14 min read
Induction cooktop electrical requirements for builders
Induction cooktops change the electrical load and coordination demands of a kitchen. This article explains what builders need to check and document.
12 min read
EV charger rough-in: planning the circuit and the load before the plaster goes on
The cheapest time to work out where an EV charger goes, and whether the supply can carry it, is before the walls are sheeted. Retro-fitting the circuit later costs more, and often ends in a switchboard upgrade that was avoidable at design stage.
11 min read
Home battery installation: what builders need to coordinate
A home battery is not just an electrician’s job. The builder controls access, isolation, structural fixings and the paper trail that keeps the certificate valid.
12 min read
Solar PV ready: designing new homes for panels and inverters
A solar ready home is not a roof with nothing on it. It is a set of decisions made before the frame goes up — orientation, roof space, cable route, inverter location and the switchboard capacity to take the connection.
11 min read
Split system air conditioner installation: coordinating single-head units on new homes
Single-head split systems look like the simplest trade package on a new home, and that is exactly why they go wrong. The coordination problems sit in the frame stage, long before the installer arrives.
11 min read
Ducted air conditioning: design and installation checkpoints for builders
Ducted air conditioning is a services problem disguised as an appliance. The mechanical design has to be resolved before the roof goes on and the framing closes, or the defects surface at handover as noise, condensation and rooms that never reach setpoint.
12 min read