Not everyone wants to talk about ventilation systems or VOCs. Fair enough. Although if your clients are coughing through winter, paying a fortune on bills, or stuck in a mouldy rental, this one is worth sticking with.

The industry talks a lot about affordable homes or energy-efficient ones. So what about homes that are simply healthy to live in?

At The Good Builder, we’re seeing a trend and reckon it’s time to get real about what makes a home liveable. Not just in theory, but day to day, season to season. This isn’t just about comfort. Poor indoor conditions are making people sick. Cold and damp homes are linked to asthma, heart disease, anxiety, and more. Most existing Australian homes were never built for wellbeing.

What makes a healthy home? Who’s doing something about it? What can builders, designers, and tradies do, even with tight budgets and stricter codes?

Let’s have a look.

What’s the story?

More than 70 percent of existing homes have an energy rating of three stars or less. That means poor insulation, gaps everywhere, and homes that are freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

Plenty of houses have mould. Damp bathrooms with no exhaust fan. Bedrooms with no windows. Drafts you can feel even with the door closed. Many are still being built with materials that off-gas for years. That means long-term exposure to chemicals that affect the nervous system and respiratory health.

Renters face the worst of it. They cannot make changes, and landlords often will not. Even when tenants offer to pay for things like fans or heaters, they are told no.

We spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors, most of that inside our homes. The indoor environment has a massive impact on health and wellbeing.

That’s where the idea of healthy homes comes in. It’s a simple idea with lots of moving parts. A healthy home is dry, well ventilated, comfortable, low in toxins, and safe. It’s a home that doesn’t make people sick and ideally helps them feel better.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians puts it plainly: a healthy home is warm, dry, and safe.

That one idea covers a lot.

While the definitions vary, the idea is the same. Homes should support the people who live in them.

Jaymee Tresize from Stiebel Eltron sees this shift happening on the ground from the supplier perspective,

“We’re seeing a shift in regulation codes in Australia at the moment… so I thought, this is something I can get behind and support the builders in what seems to be quite an evolving industry.”

This is not about ticking boxes on a green rating sheet.

This is where suppliers like Jaymee and the Stiebel Eltron team come in not just selling, but guiding.

“We know that not every builder is going to align with us. It’s about supporting each business, making sure they’re aware of what the processes are… helping make the builder’s life a little bit easier.”

Most homes in Australia are not healthy by default, and while many builders want to do better, Jaymee points out that education is a gap,

“There needs to be education from a client’s perspective around what [sustainable building] actually means… and what we’re putting in our homes, and what it’s going to mean for our kids.”

So who’s doing something about it?

There is some good news, but still a lot of these rules apply to new builds and social housing. The challenge is the vast number of older homes that are still cold, damp, and inefficient.

Healthy homes aren’t just a nice-to-have anymore. They’re becoming part of what people expect.

Jaymee agrees, and sees the change in what builders ask her about,

“We’re seeing builders who want to provide an energy efficient solution in their build process, and when they say they’re a quality builder, they actually want to understand the product, stand by it, and offer that confidence to the client.”

As Jaymee put it:

“A good builder should really be educating the homeowner about the quality products they’re putting into the build… The pretty finishes get attention, but”

“hot water, clean air, and ventilation are what people notice when they’re not working.”

What should you watch for?

This is not about building a science lab. It is about making smart, simple decisions that improve the space people live in every day.

Some of the basics are:

• Exhaust fans in kitchens, bathrooms, and laundries
• Install insulation properly in ceilings, walls, and under floors
• Choose paints, glues, and materials with low VOCs
• Design for cross ventilation where possible
• Avoid designs that trap heat or moisture
• Ensure condensation can escape, especially in sealed homes.

Budget is always a factor, and time is tight. Still, we have to ask ourselves, is there a longterm cost of doing nothing? Are we leaving market share on the table in the short-term?

If someone is going to live in a house for 10, 20, 30 years, what small build choices today could save them grief down the track?

Perhaps it’s time we start building with a greater emphasis on wellbeing too?

Let us know what you think.

Author: Jonathan Tibbits

Starting his career as a lawyer, Jonathan transitioned into project management, compliance, and certification for companies throughout the industry supply chain in Australia and New Zealand. With international experience in green building, sustainability and stakeholder communication, he is passionate about innovation and building transparency and trust.