North Wollongong couple Anneleise Carratt and Jarrod Thompson hope to show that small changes can have a big impact when they open up their home for the annual Sustainable House Day.
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Marked this year on Sunday, April 21, the event aims to connect people to expertise about building and renovating sustainably.
Ms Carratt and Mr Thompson's family home is the only property in the Illawarra opening its doors for the event.
It was the first project for the couple's business ARKEN Built, a building company with a focus on sustainability.
Ms Carratt and Mr Thompson have renovated the home over a period of five years while living in it, turning a draughty old building into a comfortable home that doesn't need energy-intensive appliances to keep it cool in summer or warm in winter.
This is achieved through the use of such features as cross-ventilation, shading, insulation and double-glazed windows.
Ms Carratt, who is studying a PhD on passive retrofitting at the University of Wollongong's Sustainable Buildings Research Centre, has been interested in the sustainability space for a long time.
She got into engineering but said it did not align with her values, and wanted to do something where she could make a difference.
So she got her design licence and Mr Thompson, a carpenter, got his building licence.
Ms Carratt said the work on their home included a lot of features that did not incur much cost.
For example, she said, as they renovated the home they wanted to take out the flooring and walls so they looked at what insulation they could put in, and wanted to replace the windows so considered how they could do that to improve the home's sustainability.
Mr Thompson said people could improve and increase the value of their homes without making big changes.
Ms Carratt said it was really important for wellbeing that homes were comfortable places without relying on energy-intensive tools like air-conditioning.
They hope people will come along to their home to see for themselves the kind of changes that are possible and ask questions.
Ms Carratt said a lot of sustainable homes looked "quite flashy", but it was all the features that were not obvious - such as insulation and glazing - that made the most significant difference.
For more information on Sustainable House Day or to register to visit Ms Carratt and Mr Thompson's home, visit sustainablehouseday.com.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
