The results of our quest to identify and measure all the electrical plug loads and appliances in our house are in. We are targeting the Living Building Challenge so we need to generate 5% more than the annual energy consumption. So we needed to get the best information we could on just how much energy everything consumed, from recharting a smart watch, to the NBN modem to the induction cooktop.

A circular economy is a wonderful idea, but as I found out recently, it can be about so much more when the reuse of materials becomes an expression of love and compassion to someone in desperate need. I recently met two wonderful people, Damian and Sonja, while on our regenerative house renovation journey, who were seeking bathroom fixtures and fittings to help an elderly man who was the victim of elder abuse.

A pre-fabricated module is one of the most promising ways to achieve a high performance envelope that meets Passivhaus standards. HUCX in Ballarat has a promising technology to do just that using OSB board and rigid PIR insulation for walls, floors and ceiling panels. Just imagine seeing the primary envelope for your house get built in 3 days!

Our old kitchen had to go - but certainly not to a landfill. We have committed to the Living Building Challenge Responsible Materials Imperative which means at least 80% of our construction waste needs to be diverted from landfill.

The Living Building Challenge is a framework for designing, constructing and operating single family home projects that has been almost entirely ignored by the construction industry. We think that that needs to change.

What leap forward do we need to take in the way we design, build and operate our single family homes to regenerate our communities of life, human and non-human?

Our first foray into the circular economy began with recycling our old carpet underlay back into the factor to be made into new underlay. But we were lucky that this company had a take back policy.