sanctum Homes specialises in Passive House/High Thermal Performance homes a design and building philosophy that results in buildings that are comfortable to live in year-round with minimal heating and cooling (we have also collaborated with a number of PH/HTP architects/designers and builders who have been wonderful – see tags). Sanctum are also highly focused on the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces to create beautiful and highly functional homes for their clients.

Platylobium Landscape Design specialises in beautiful, sustainable and functional spaces with a focus on using native and indigenous plants, and we love being involved in new builds and renovations from the design stage.

So, what exactly is a Passive House? Without going into too much detail, a Passive House is highly insulated and airtight, has specialised windows, minimal thermal bridges (these carry heat/cold from outside to inside and vice versa) and a system that brings in filtered fresh air that has been warmed or cooled as necessary. The building is then modeled to make sure that it is achieving its goals.

You may be wondering how landscaping comes into all this high-tech building stuff? Well, one piece of the puzzle is how much sunshine (heat) is making it into the building through the glazing. In winter this warming can be useful, but it is undesirable in summer. Your landscape can have a huge impact on the home, for example by using well-placed structures such as pergolas and covered alfresco areas, strategically placed trees and climbing plants. By engaging a landscape designer during the design or building phase, these components can be nutted out by the whole design and building team. Another plus side to engaging the team early in the process is that it is easier and more efficient (read less expensive) to achieve that flow between inside and outside that we all want in our homes.

For more information of Passive House/High Performance Building see www.yoursanctum.com.au

For more on how Platylobium Landscape Design can use strategic placement of trees for passive warming and cooling see our next post!