Climate | The Design Files | Australia's most popular design blog.

How Dessert Queen Katherine Sabbath Made Her Retro Rental More Sustainable

Internet baking sensation Katherine Sabbath shares how she switched to a GreenPower electricity plan, helping make her family's lifestyle more sustainable with just one phone call.

Everything You Need To Know About Installing Solar Power

A step-by-step guide to installing solar power in an Australian home.

Everything You Need To Know About Composting!

Whether you live in an inner-city apartment or on a suburban home, find out how to start your own compost and reduce your household waste.

Sustainable Homes

How This Family Created Their Sustainable Forever Home From Scratch

Years of living in draughty rentals led Katherine Post and Chris Gyngell to build a sustainable forever home, guarded against the elements. See how they did it here.

Sustainable Homes

An Architectural Off-Grid Home In Auckland's Waitakere Ranges

Designer Paul Davidson’s family home in Anawhata, Auckland is a compact 120 square metre ‘cabin’ that emulates the feeling of being outdoors.

Everything You Need To Know About Passive Houses + What Makes Them So Sustainable

Passive houses use about 90 per cent less energy than the average home - making them low impact on the environment and your wallet!

Sustainable Homes

A South Gippsland Home Both Protected From + Inspired By The Elements

A textured brick wall wraps around three pavilions in Fish Creek House, sheltering the home from the ferocious winds.

Everything You Need To Know About Creating An All-Electric Home

Save money and emissions by ditching gas for an all-electric home.

Sustainable Homes

A Hilltop, Off-Grid Family Home With Mountain Views

Inside the off-grid family home in Mansfield, Victoria designed by Robbie Walker.

Sustainable Homes

This Accessible NSW Home Beautifully Channels Japanese Architecture

Butterfly House by Dane Taylor is a sustainable and thoughtful coastal retreat, that blends mid-century design and Japanese architecture.

Sustainable Homes

A Breezy + Sustainably Minded Extension Designed For Entertaining

This old Edwardian in Melbourne has been turned into an entertainer's dream sanctuary with a passively designed extension.

Sustainable Homes

This Off-Grid Holiday Home Makes The Most Of Its Serene Views

Hidden in Robertson, NSW, this serene family retreat offers an outlook of the enchanting Yarrawa Brush and Kangaroo Valley.

A Sustainable Penthouse Apartment In The Heart Of Melbourne – That You Can Stay In!

HV.Hotel's light-filled interiors and environmentally friendly architecture invites guests to experience sustainable living firsthand!

Sustainable Homes

This Sustainable, Architect-Designed Farm Stay Makes The Most Of Its 40sqm Footprint

Gawthorne’s Hut is a sustainable, off-grid 40sqm home located on a working family farm - built for a budget of just $250,000.

Meet Goodbye Gas: The Local Business Helping Households Go All-Electric

Ben Russell and his team of 'electrification experts' are making it easier than ever to ditch gas in favour of electric, renewable energy.

Sustainable Homes

How This Family Transformed A 100-Year-Old Edwardian Into An Energy Efficient Home

A sustainably-minded renovation of an old Edwardian home in Preston, Melbourne, respects the old whilst celebrating the new.

Sustainable Homes

Heritage Charm Meets 6-Star Sustainability In This Striking Family Home

EME Design have turned this dated Melbourne abode into a surprisingly sustainable haven.

Creative People

The Zero-Waste Event Decoration Business Putting The Sparkle Into Sustainability

Sarah Borg of Bangin Hangins offers her clients a brilliant alternative to single-use party decorations - with hand-made, zero-waste event styling.

Designer Style Meets GreenPower In The Sydney Apartment Of Jono Fleming

How interior designer Jono Fleming made his home more sustainable, in just three minutes.

Everything You Need To Know About GreenPower (+ Why You Should Make The Switch)

The easiest way to invest in in Australia's renewable future - and it's simpler (and cheaper) than you think!

Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid, Modern Country Farmhouse In Regional Victoria

Step inside a newly built farmhouse that's fully off the grid, with all the classic features of an old country home.

Sustainable Homes

How An Architect Turned This 1930s Bungalow Into A Sustainable Family Haven

Architect Emily Sandstrom's warm family home runs off solar power, with a vegetable garden and impressive entertaining area hidden inside!

Sustainable Homes

9 Innovative Homes That Championed Sustainability In 2022

These environmentally-conscious homes prove that style and design aren't compromised when sustainability is considered.

The 10 Most Spectacular Stays of 2022

Wanderlust was back on the cards this year, and we saw some incredible getaway spots to fuel it! Here are our favourites.

Sustainable Homes

A 1980s Bushland Home Built Entirely From Recycled Materials

A mudbrick home in Healesville, Victoria handmade by the owners using salvaged materials.

Sustainable Homes

‘Future Ready’: Inside One Of Melbourne’s Newest Sustainable Developments

Mirvac are hoping to encourage sustainable living with their innovative 'future ready' display home in Melbourne's inner west.

Sustainable Homes

A Compact Passive House Built Around A Pepper Tree

A Wollongong home gets a secondary, sustainable dwelling by Alexander Symes Architect wrapped in and around a 60-year-old pepper tree.

Sustainable Homes

The New Australian Housing Company Creating Customisable Small Homes

Dimensions X aims to be the ‘Tesla of housing’, creating energy-efficient, prefabricated homes that can be assembled in just six weeks.

Sustainable Homes

An Ultra-Sustainable Home On An ‘Undevelopable’ Melbourne Site

Hütt is a Melbourne practice setting a new standard of sustainable residential design, starting with the CEO’s own family home!

Sustainable Homes

A Timber Beach House Inspired By Its Humble Predecessor

An extensive renovation of a Mornington Peninsula beach shack by Agius Scorpo Architects explores craft and ingenuity.

Sustainable Homes

Architects Team Up To Ditch Gas In Australian Homes

Leading Australian architects are pushing for all-electric homes. Here's everything you need to know to ditch gas for good.

Sustainable Homes

A Relocated Edwardian Home Gets A Sustainable Second Chance

Developers Melbourne Vernacular relocated and transformed this Melbourne home into a liveable, 7-star abode in Woodend.

Sustainable Homes

A Striking Sustainable Family Home In Flinders

Nestled on the Mornington Peninsula, the 7.5-star home proves you don't have to compromise on design when it comes to sustainability.

Sustainable Homes

An 8.4 Star Home In Australia’s Most Sustainable Housing Development

A South Gippsland home that proves sustainable design can beautiful, clever, and cost effective.

Sustainable Homes

A Thoughtful Northcote Renovation Brings Family Together With An Open Backyard Kitchen

Fireside House by Breathe architects draws on the homeowners' upbringing in the country, and their love of spending time outdoors by the fire for the sustainable update of an old Edwardian.

Sustainable Homes

This New Northcote Home Takes Its Cues From Italian Villages

Think of West Bend House — a new home designed by MRTN Architects with designers Brave New Eco — as an ‘inhabited pathway.’

Sustainable Homes

Two Sustainable Rental Properties In Melbourne’s Middle Ring

An environmentally-sustainable and well-designed rental housing project by Breathe Architecture in Melbourne's Glen Iris.

Sustainable Homes

A Fijian Resort Meets Australian Barn In The Sunshine Coast Hinterland

The Barn by Sparks Architects is a new off-grid home on the Sunshine Coast inspired by Fijian resorts and country Australian barns.

Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Light-Filled Frankston Home Producing Negative Power Bills

This Frankston home proves sustainable building and materials can produce a home that's just as charming and comfortable than the next - and with negative power bills!

Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Retreat In Rural Queensland Inspired By Classic American Glass Houses

Bellbird Retreat by Steendyk is a sustainable rural Queensland project that’s taken the global architecture community by storm.

Sustainable Homes

A Relaxed Torquay Beach House Decked Out In Timber

Beach House is Farnan Findlay Architects’ take on a quintessential coastal home, designed for the architects’ own family.

Sustainable Homes

A Modest Contemporary Home Inspired By Classic Tasmanian Shacks

Big Red by Architect George is a contemporary interpretation of an Australian shack in south east Tasmania.

Sustainable Homes

This Thoughtful Mt Eliza Home Was Designed For 'Ageing In Place'

BENT Architecture designed this Mt Eliza home to accomodate its owners comfortably and securely, with an infallible connection to nature.

Sustainable Homes

Step Inside A Thornbury Extension Designed Around Its Future Gardens

This inner-city cottage has been given a sustainably-minded makeover by Architecture Architecture.

Sustainable Homes

A Prototype For Accessible + Responsible Suburban Housing

Bligh Graham delivers a prototype for responsible dense, green architecture in new builds.

Sustainable Homes

An Elevated 100sqm Beach Shack That Champions Passive Design

The Eucalypt House by Not All Architecture creates space beyond its modest footprint.

Sustainable Homes

A Transportable, Off-Grid Tiny Home Made From Shipping Containers

Capturing incredible views towards Mount Buller, Victoria, life in this pair of tiny homes is about as close to nature as it gets!

Sustainable Homes

The Australian Architects Designing New Houses For An Affordable Flat Fee

Purchase architectural house plans for an affordable flat fee by new Australian business, Architopia.

Sustainable Homes

A Game Changing Apartment-Sized, Transportable Tiny Home

The Brook by Small is a tiny house with a difference, reminiscent of a New York City Apartment!

Sustainable Homes

A Farmer’s Tiny Copper-Clad Getaway!

Permanent Camping Two by Casey Brown Architecture is a unique countryside retreat.

Sustainable Homes

A Surprise Garden Brings This 'Pop-Up' Home To Life

Figr creates a unique language between indoor and outdoor spaces to truly maximise this small footprint home.

Sustainable Homes

A Lush Inner-Melbourne Home That Powers Itself

The owners of Garden House by Austin Maynard Architects pay nothing for fuel or power – it all comes from their home!

Sustainable Homes

An Elegant Off-Grid Home In Three Parts, On Magical Waiheke Island

Auckland-based firm Chesire Architects have designed a home with an intimate, immersive relationship with the environment.

Sustainable Homes

A Former Corner Store Turned Sustainable Family Home

A dilapidated, Federation-era shopfront is transformed into a truly unique, energy efficient home.

Sustainable Homes

A Melbourne Home Turned From Tired, To Inspired!

A mere 39 square metre extension has made all the difference to this Northcote family home.

Sustainable Homes

A Zero-Waste, Two Bedroom Home In The Middle Of Melbourne’s Federation Square!

Anti-waste crusader Joost Bakker takes us inside the culmination of his life’s work.

Sustainable Homes

The Most Inspiring Sustainable Homes Of 2020

These projects were the standout sustainable homes of 2020.

Sustainable Homes

A Shed-Inspired Home, Designed To Age Gracefully

The debut project of Wiesebrock Architecture is a brilliant shed-inspired home, divided into two pavilions.

Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable Inner-Suburban Home, Designed To Be Deconstructed + Reused

A rare creekside site deserves an equally special home by sustainable design leaders, Breathe Architecture.

Building Better

The Best Building Materials For A Sustainable Home

From rammed earth to concrete, which building material is the most environmentally friendly?

Sustainable Homes

This Sustainable Apartment Is A Little Slice Of LA, In Melbourne

First home buyers Samantha Curcio and David Waddell share their sleek, sustainable and personality-filled apartment.

Building Better

How To Approach Interior Design, Sustainably!

From choosing the right materials, to improving energy efficiency, here’s everything you need to know about sustainable interior design!

Sustainable Homes

An Ultra Energy-Efficient Makeover Of A Victorian Country Home

This extended Victorian country cottage achieves sustainability standards most new homes don’t even dream of!

Building Better

Everything You Need To Know About Installing Solar

The complete beginner's guide to installing solar power at home.

Sustainable Homes

A Breezy Waterside Oasis, Designed For Multi-Generational Living

Emili Fox of Fox Johnston transforms a derelict dwelling into a light-filled delight for her own family home in Birchgrove.

Sustainable Homes

An Unbelievably Energy Efficient 100-Year-Old Workers’ Cottage!

This cute cottage in Yarraville is now an ultra sustainable home, powered predominantly by solar!

Sustainable Homes

A Gloriously Verdant Inner-City Extension

BKK Architects design a contemporary addition for a pair of self-declared introverts in North Fitzroy.

Sustainable Homes

A Sustainable, Responsibly Dense Townhouse Project In Elwood

Introducing Ruskin Elwood – four townhouses with solar panels, battery storage, and powered by 100 per cent renewable energy!

Sustainable Homes

An Elegant Modern Home That Balances Indoor and Out

Travis Walton Architecture delicately balances innovation with tradition (and green technology!) in this Caulfield North home.

Sustainable Homes

An Eco-Friendly Home For Tree Changers In Victoria's Dandenong Ranges

Bent Architecture embraces energy efficiency and built poetry in the Olinda House.

Sustainable Homes

The Davison Collaborative: A Game-Changing New Housing Project In Melbourne (+ Home To Three Couples!)

Three couples come together to develop three sustainable homes on the one Brunswick block!

Sustainable Homes

The Perfect Prefab Home in South Gippsland

Prefabricated construction is behind this sustainable Prebuilt home in Bena, South Gippsland.

Sustainable Homes

A Heritage Home, Retrofitted To The Highest Sustainability Standards

A renovated weatherboard home, with 90 per cent reduced heating and cooling costs.

Sustainable Homes

An Inviting Home Atop A Violin Shop!

Tsai Design turn a dark space above a violin store into a light-filled home.

Sustainable Homes

A Dream Off-Grid Retreat

A bush-fire resistant, low impact weekender by Ben Callery Architects.

Sustainable Homes

An Off-Grid Rural House, Designed For The Future

A shed and house in rural Victoria, designed with future expansion in mind, by MRTN Architects.

Sustainable Homes

A Coastal Home That Treads Lightly On The Earth

Making green glamorous in the 10 Star Home by The Sociable Weaver and Clare Cousins in Cape Paterson.

Sustainable Homes

A Whole World, All Under One Roof

Farming, cooking and living, all under a 110 metre long roof in Daylesford, designed by architect Timothy Hill.