Resilient and sustainable design
This is general advice and may not apply specifically to your property. For more detailed information on your personal circumstances please contact the Building Unit on (03) 5772 0333.
When it comes to rebuilding your home, you may want to think about your site, the design of your home and the energy efficiency of it.
New Construction Codes now require some of these aspects however you may want to take this as an opportunity to think differently about your home.
The National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 includes new requirements for liveable housing design, which came into effect on 1 May 2024. The new liveable housing provisions will provide housing designed to better meet the needs of the community, including older Australians and those with a mobility-related disability.
More information on the Liveable Housing Design requirements is on the Building and Plumbing Commission website.
House designs can be simple or complex, and all can be designed to be energy efficient and fire resilient. But there are benefits in adopting simple designs, thinking carefully about how and where windows and other glass are used, and making the most of your site’s natural advantages.
Council recently approved the Murrindindi Shire Residential Design Guidelines which shows that the municipality's housing character is shaped by an elegant simplicity that respects the rural landscape, blending functional, modest forms with generous open space, natural materials, and traditional rural features.
When thinking about rebuilding, the Design Guidelines may be a useful place to start or to provide to your planning consultant if you're using one.
Some tips for resilient buildings include:
- Building on a slab. If not, implement a fully enclosed underfloor
- Using non-combustible facades, cladding, windows, doors
- Locating windows up off the ground
- Using paved areas rather than decks
- Single story is preferable
Energy efficiency
Any new residential building will need to comply with energy efficiency in its design as a key requirement of the National Construction Code. More information about the building requirements for energy efficiency can be found on the Building and Plumbing Commission website.
Energy-efficient designs are well insulated and assembled to minimise uncontrolled air leakage and they utilise natural airflow to moderate indoor temperatures. These solutions mean lower maintenance and higher bushfire resilience.
Ideally houses should be sited away from vegetation and be oriented on a block to face North to make to most of good natural lighting and solar energy for winter warmth.
Building location
Siting a building away from the bushfire hazard is the most effective way to minimise bushfire risk. If possible, development should be sited on flat land away from unmanaged vegetation and close to public roads.
To make decisions about the location of your building, you should:
- consider slope, access, aspect, orientation and vegetation
- site new buildings as far from bushfire hazard as possible
- minimise the need for long access and exit routes through areas of bushfire hazard
- provide safe access and exit for emergency services
- avoid and minimise the removal of vegetation.
Building structure
There are two approaches to construction: on-site or off-site.
On-site construction
The traditional approach is for a structure to be erected on the development site from the ground up, using timber or steel framing with brick or other suitable external cladding, or solid brick or concrete walls. Depending on the site conditions, concrete slabs, or sub floors on posts or other foundations, are all possible.
Steel framed construction is an alternative to timber framed construction. There are specific standards for steel-framed construction in bushfire-prone areas with some advantages due to the non-flammability of steel framing and resistance to termite attack.
Off-site construction
In modular construction, preparation of the prefabricated elements can proceed in a factory while site preparation and footings are prepared on-site. There is potential time saving because both parts of the build process can occur simultaneously and preparation of modular units in a factory is not impacted by weather.
Site access for potentially large premade components, trucks and crane access will be an important consideration that should be addressed in the conceptual and planning phase. Consider the route that delivery trucks will take including road and bridge widths and load capacity.
Builders and designers can provide advice on what approach to general construction makes the best overall sense and is the most practical, efficient, resilient and cost-effective for your site.