Green Building
A heat pump or a solar array performs only as well as the building around it. Insulation, glazing and airtightness decide how much heating and cooling load you actually have — and home energy ratings are how you measure it.
Ceiling, wall and underfloor insulation is usually the highest-return, lowest-glamour upgrade available — it reduces the load every heating/cooling system has to work against.
Single-glazed windows are often the single biggest source of heat loss (winter) and heat gain (summer) in an older home. Double glazing, low-E coatings and window coverings all move the number.
Australia uses NatHERS (0–10 stars); the USA uses the HERS Index (lower is better) and ENERGY STAR certification. Both estimate how much energy a home needs before any appliance choice is even made.
Guides & articles
- 6 min readDouble vs Triple Glazing: When the Extra Pane Is Actually Worth ItTriple glazing earns its keep in genuinely cold climates and noisy sites. In a mild Australian or southern-US climate, the payback math rarely favours the third pane over spending the same money elsewhere.
- 6 min readAir Sealing Before Insulation: The Order of Operations That Actually Saves EnergyInsulation slows heat transfer through a surface. Air leaks bypass that surface entirely. Seal the gaps first, or you're insulating a house that's still breathing uncontrolled air through its own envelope.
- 6 min readWhat a NatHERS or HERS Assessor Actually Checks On-SiteThe star rating or index number on your certificate is the output of a detailed on-site inspection, not a desktop guess. Knowing what an assessor actually measures explains why two similar-looking homes can score very differently.
- 3 min readNatHERS vs. HERS: How Australian and US Home Energy Ratings CompareAustralia and the USA both rate how energy-efficient a home's design is — but the two systems score in opposite directions and measure different things. Here's how to read each one.
