Ironbark Eco Design

Ironbark Eco Design offers consultancy to:

1) Assist homes to stay comfortable and safe in a climate change future
2) Lower energy consumption in pursuit of a Net Zero Emmisions home

In the coming year we also intend to launch a series of low-cost, pre-designed hempcrete house plans. These homes will all be designed to a passive house standard, and deeply based around passive solar principles, with anticipated NatHERS ratings between 8 to 9 Stars. The details of the plans will be taken from the hempcrete house at Open Field Co-Living, currently being constructed by Hempcrete Victoria and Passive House specialist Sanford Build Co.

Currently, we assist architects and designers to integrate the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) into their workflow; thermally modelling your project whilst the design is still malleable with the goal of optimising your building’s performance.

In consultation with client and designer we will test a series of upgrades and variations to the design, and present the results from this analysis in easy to understand energy and cost savings. These tests empower clients and designers during the tender process to assess cost-benefit, and the payback periods of the various upgrades. These tests also can provide guidance on the most cost-effective way to achieve the required 7 Star NatHERS rating.

Our standard service includes the testing and optimisation of:
• Insulation thickness, location, and material type
• Window and Doors, including size, shading, material, manufacturer, openability, and heat transmission
• Shading elements such as eaves and screens, assessing their depth, angle, transparency
Also included as standard is a 1 hour meeting with client and designer to present the results and decide on upgrades and a high performance configuration incorporating the decisions from the meeting. The will offer a good indication of the final star rating

Additional services that can be provided on request include:
• Certification and endorsement of plans during the Building Permit phase
• Sustainable Design Consultancy on high performance detailing, renewables, your particular home in climate change scenarios, and zoning, as outlined in more depth on the following page

Ironbark Eco Design has completed 50+ performance analyses. Lead assessor Dan Prochazka has a Ba Design (Architecture), Ba Construction Management, and a Cert IV of Thermal Performance Assessment and 7 years experience working as a designer on High Performance and Passive Houses.