‘Get It Right’ when designing your new home/renovation

We love the work that Amelia Lee does with “Undercover Architect”, helping demystify the process of working with an architect for new homes/renovations. Back in 2018, she was in discussion with our director Talina Edwards to be interviewed for her ‘GET IT RIGHT’ Podcast for an episode in a season about Sustainability focusing on the Passive House standard.

Passivhaus Pioneers

Talina’s Owl Woods Passive House was one of the first buildings to be Certified in Australia so it was a hot topic. What was planned as one episode soon turned into a whole series about Passivhaus, with Talina introducing Amelia to a number of key people in the industry - to help bring much broader context to the Passivhaus standard. There are interviews with our Owl Woods client and builder, Passivhaus consultant and Passivhaus certifier, along with fellow pioneering colleagues. 

Uptake of Passivhaus in Australia

Yes, the episodes are now more than 7 years old, with the Passivhaus experience and expertise stretching back a number for years before that! The episodes are still a helpful introduction to the standard from these different perspectives, and a reminder of how far the movement has spread since. There’s a lot more awareness about the benefits of buildings are healthier, more comfortable and more energy-efficient homes now. Anyone curious about sustainable homes is now likely to have heard about Passivhaus (and not just Passive Solar design) whereas back then it was often only known via an occasional UK Grand Designs episode! 

The Australian Passivhaus Association has seen consistent growth in members, Certified designers/tradespeople, Certified products in the market, Certified projects completed, and large numbers of potentially certifiable projects in the pipeline. 

There are now multiple Passivhaus projects in the Sustainability Awards programs each year, and you can’t open up magazines like Sanctuary without another beautiful healthy Passivhaus home being featured.

Undercover Architect: Get It Right Podcast episodes

This whole season is worth checking out:

Season 8: A simple Guide to a Sustainable Home

Talina’s interview is in Episode 11 (21/1/2019)

(Episodes 9 to 15 were all related to our Owl Woods Passive House project.)

At the start of 2026, there are now almost 400 episodes of the Get It Right podcast, so there’s plenty of great content to dive into!

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