Category: Uncategorized

Chatham Homes is delivering a new level of sustainable living with its Blackwood display home achieving an Australian-first Green Star Homes certification.

The Green Star Homes ‘As Built’ certification recognises the benchmark set by the Blackwood in providing a healthy, energy efficient and comfortable home for Australian families.

Chatham Homes is the first residential volume builder to achieve the internationally recognised Green Star Homes ‘As Built’ certification, developed by the Green Building Council of Australia.

It is yet another green feather in the cap of the Blackwood, which is also an HIA GreenSmart Display Home winner with an 8.2-star energy efficiency rating under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS). The Blackwood was a finalist for the Energy Efficiency category.

Chatham Homes managing director Bradley Hall said the Green Star Homes certification was a world leading environmental standard that the Victorian builder was proud to achieve.

“The Blackwood’s Green Star Homes certification is confirmation of Chatham’s commitment to creating homes that set the standard for healthy, resilient and sustainable living,” Mr Hall said.

To achieve the Green Star Homes certification, a home must comply with 14 credit components, including in the areas of thermal performance, ventilation and powered by renewables. Homes must also be draught sealed and use products that are low in material toxicity and are energy and water efficient with strong resilience measures.

Green Building Council of Australia CEO Davina Rooney said, “the Blackwood display home is a fine example of how a stylish home with modern features can at the same time be all electric, powered by renewables, and better for the health of people and the environment. We congratulate Chatham Homes on this achievement and thank them for showing industry what is possible.”

Chatham Homes’ environmental, social and governance manager Caity Knaggs said that Chatham aimed to lead systemic change in the residential construction industry.

“As a building company, we have a responsibility to create an environment that works with our planet, honours our health and embodies the resilience we need for the future.” Ms Knaggs said. “We also want to demonstrate that a thriving, profitable home building industry does not have to come at the expense of the environment. We believe the two can thrive together and be mutually reinforcing through sustainable design considerations and construction methods like those employed in the Blackwood.”

The Blackwood, which is on display in Ballarat’s Lucas estate, is an all-electric, solar powered home wrapped in effortless style and smart design. The use of the latest well being technologies, sustainable materials and smart appliances not only promotes the health of those who live in the home but also limits its footprint on the environment.

As well as being cheaper to run, buyers of sustainable homes are being rewarded with cheaper mortgage rates. Bank Australia’s Clean Energy Home Loan offers discounted interest rates for eligible customers purchasing homes with a Green Star Homes certification or a 7+ NatHERS energy rating.

 

Recently, Australia’s building ministers met and agreed to raise the nation’s energy efficiency minimum standards for residential houses from a minimum 6 star efficiency to 7 star efficiency rating.

Raising the National Construction Code’s efficiency requirements under the National Home Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS), from 6 stars to 7 stars can create concerns for consumers as they try to understand what it means for their build and the costs associated with building to 7 star efficiency rating.  

Chatham Homes Guides You Through Your Building Journey 

As a leading voice at the forefront of the healthy home movement, we welcome this news for all Australian residential customers and the industry as a whole. Our display homes have already achieved a 7 star + efficiency, proving we are yet again, leading the way for our customers.  

Featuring 7 star + efficiency, our display homes include: 

• 7.2 star Arlington display at Attwell Estate, Deanside  
• 8.2 star Blackwood display at Lucas Estate, Ballarat  
• 7.4 star Anglesea display at the Austin Estate Lara (opening October 2022) 

Our committed team have continued to push the boundaries around what it means to build, own and live in a quality space that’s designed around you and your wellbeing.  

We’ve laid the groundwork, partnered with industry innovators dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint and paved the way for higher quality, more efficient and sustainable building practices to offer our customers the very best in healthy, resilient and energy-efficient homes. 

To book your Discover Session towards a healthier home build, contact us now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chatham Homes are proud to announce that we are Finalists for the 2022 HIA Australian GreenSmart Awards in two categories – Energy Efficiency and Display/Project Home.

HIA Australian GreenSmart Awards recognise builders who make a positive difference to the environment by building environmentally-friendly homes and providing solutions to making homes more efficient, reslient and healthy – for both the owners and the environment.

The future of Australian housing and how it can deliver well-designed, resource-efficient buildings will be in the spotlight at the 2022 HIA GreenSmart Awards & Symposium on 15th September in Canberra where decision makers and those at the forefront of innovation will be coming together for a dynamic day of learning, engagement and recognition.

Our Blackwood and Arlington homes are finalists in the energy efficiency and display/project home categories with the Blackwood offering an impressive 8.2 energy star rating, triple-glazed windows and doors, slimline solar panels and Sonnen Home Battery and Wellness Intelligence System by Delos. The Arlington offers a 7 star energy rating with double glazed window and doors, with slimline solar panels, Sonnen home battery and the Wellness Intelligence System by Delos. These designs are currently on display and we look forward to our team assisting you in creating a home that elevates your quality of life, and one that you’re proud to call home.

Chatham Homes is dedicated to craftsmanship and sustainability where we continue to push the boundaries of what it means to own a home designed around you and your wellbeing.

       

On Sunday 11^th September Chatham Homes will welcome our Brand Ambassador, award-winning international designer, Jamie Durie OAM, to our 8.2 star energy-rated Blackwood display at Lucas Estate Ballarat.

Recognised internationally for his unique and consciously sustainable intuitive design, Jamie is a passionate environmentalist whose commitment and dedication align with Chatham Homes’ commitment to considered design, craftsmanship, sustainability and individual wellbeing.

Jamie has designed outdoor spaces for international A-listers like Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and even Oprah Winfrey, and is now about to make garden design dreams come true for one lucky winner on the day!

Jamie will also take a select group through the display on a private, intimate tour where he will highlight the benefits of building with Chatham and what it means for your build, your family and the environment.

“I can’t wait to meet the people of Ballarat and showcase a home design that is not only improving the lives of Australian families but also treading more lightly on the environment,” Durie said.

“We’ve never needed forward-thinking home design like this more than we do today.”

Chatham Homes Leads The Way With HIA GreenSmart Awards Nominations

Chatham Homes is proud to announce our nominations for the 2022 HIA GreenSmart Awards for two of our homes – the Blackwood and Arlington.

The all electric, solar powered homes combine effortless style and intelligent design that promotes the health of their owners through the use of the latest wellbeing technologies, sustainable materials and smart appliances.

Chatham Homes managing director Bradley Hall says Durie’s passion for sustainable design and his work in the environmental sector over 29 years made him the perfect partner for the leading Victorian boutique home builder.

“Together, we want to challenge the home building industry to do more to reduce its environmental footprint and to confront the challenges of living in a changing climate.”

Jamie Durie will be at the Blackwood display home at 85 Shortridge Drive, Lucas, from 1.30 pm on Sunday, September 11.

For your chance to join Jamie on a private tour of the Blackwood, simply register your interest here.

 

 

 

Garden design guru Jamie Durie has joined forces with Chatham Homes to champion greener building in a partnership focused on encouraging more sustainable, healthy and climate resilient homes.

Durie has more than 40 international design awards to his name and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2013 in recognition of his commitment to and work in the environmental sector spanning 29 years.

Chatham Homes managing director Bradley Hall said Durie’s passion for sustainable design and living made him the perfect partner for Chatham.

“Jamie Durie is an Australian design icon with more than 24 years of experience crafting spaces that not only improve the lives of those who live in them, but also the environment. This is also what drives Chatham Homes.” 

The horticulturalist and author of 12 best-selling design books said he was thrilled to partner with his first home builder, and one that was creating healthier, more energy and cost efficient homes at prices Australian families could afford;

“It’s so refreshing to find a builder who’s as passionate as I am about all things green. The team at Chatham is doing an incredible job using the latest environmental technology and best quality practices to not only tread more lightly on the environment but to demystify the art of green building. Together, we will challenge the industry and raise awareness for sustainable practices in home building for consumers. It’s our shared goal that more Australian builders follow these green initiatives to build a better future for Australia.”

Encouraging the home construction industry to do better to confront the challenges of living in a changing climate is high on the partnership agenda.

Most new homes are not being built for maximum resilience against the impacts of climate change, with just 1.5 per cent of new builds achieving a 7.5+ star energy efficiency rating under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).

Chatham Homes’ Blackwood display home in Ballarat’s Lucas estate has an 8.2 star energy rating, while our Arlington display home in the Attwell estate in Deanside, in Melbourne’s west, has a 7.2 star rating. Both these displays are also HIA GreenSmart Display Home and Energy Efficiency finalists.

Our Blackwood display home in Ballarat has also achieved the Green Building Council (GBCA) Green Star ‘As Built’ certification – making Chatham Homes the first residential volume builder in Australia to achieve this internationally recognised certification.

We are at the forefront of the healthy home movement in Australia. Our team brings the world’s latest wellbeing technologies, sustainable materials, and smart appliances to every home we build here in Victoria.
Visit our Environmental, Social & Governance page to read more about our environmental and sustainable principles and commitments.

 

We all recognise the importance of eating well and exercising to support our well-being, and to protect us from getting sick. Similarly, when we purchase a car, safety features are a critical consideration. We want a reversing camera, automatic emergency braking and blind-spot warning. Vehicle safety isn’t a nice afterthought, it’s a necessity. 

Why then, when making one of the largest investments of a lifetime—building a home—do we view health and sustainability as a nice-to-have?

In this series, we explore why you should build a healthy home, the impact they have on our health, and how to incorporate Harvard’s Nine Foundations of a Healthy Building into your home, to create an environment that nurtures you and your well-being.

 

Created by Harvard’s healthy building experts, the 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building outlines health performance indicators, offering a clear and actionable distillation of the core elements of healthy indoor environments.

 

1. Indoor air quality

An essential foundation of a healthy home is indoor air quality, which is affected by three primary factors: outdoor air quality, human activity in the home, and building and construction materials, equipment and furniture. What many of us don’t realise is that the air we breathe indoors where we spend 90% of our time, can be far more polluted than outdoor air—and this has a direct impact on our health.

The effects of indoor air pollution on health include acute respiratory infection, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. The effect on children is even more profound, with air pollution now understood to be a cause of asthma, a risk factor for respiratory infections, bronchitis, and impaired lung growth and function.

Glues, grouts and membranes

Unfortunately, many of the glues, grouts and membranes used in the building industry contain toxic compounds known as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), which particularly affect indoor air quality. Exposure to VOCs have been associated with everything from minor irritation of the eyes to certain forms of cancer. 

The good news is that there are alternative products that have very little effect on air quality . At Chatham Homes, we use Kerakoll’s NO VOC glues, grouts and membranes in all our homes because they’re free from dangerous chemicals, are healthier for our environment and are made from natural minerals.

Low VOC wall and ceiling paints

Wall and ceiling paints can be some of the worst offenders for releasing VOCs into a home’s environment. To protect indoor air quality, look for paints which are LOW or NO VOC. At Chatham, we primarily choose Haymes Low VOC paints, because they’re 99% VOC free and emit no odours or fumes.

Carpet, cabinetry and flooring

In conventional construction, much of the carpet, processed wood and carpentry used is produced with formaldehyde. This dangerous chemical then makes its way into indoor air and can cause everything from skin irritation and asthma, to brain and genetic toxicity, as well as certain cancers.

When building a home, do your research and seek out products that don’t contain formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals. At Chatham Homes, we use lab tested carpet and flooring that’s 33 times lower in formaldehyde than the greenest standards available today.

Gas cooktops and heaters

Did you know that gas cooktops and heaters produce harmful contaminants and pollution? These two sources contribute to a large percentage of the pollutants found in domestic dwellings—and for the most-part, we go about our daily lives oblivious to the problems they can cause.

To protect the indoor air quality of your home, it’s advisable to choose electricity instead of gas for your power and appliances. In Australia, the move towards all-electric homes has really started to take off, with rebates, all-electric estates and general education driving uptake.

Air filtration systems

Even if you incorporate all the features above, pollutants and contaminants can still affect air quality to varying degrees. Whether it’s through outdoor pollution such as car fumes, or unavoidable human activity in the home, poor air quality is a reality of modern life.

One of the final defences against poor air quality in the home is to fit an air filtration system. At Chatham Homes, we install a Delos Air Filtration System as standard in all our homes, because it significantly reduces pollution and toxins, so that you can breathe easier. You can even track the home’s air quality in real-time using the accompanying Delos Air Quality Sensor.

Australian indoor air quality statistics

• Australians spend 90% of their time indoors
• The cost of poor indoor air quality costs Australians $12 billion per year
• Indoor air pollution ranked in the EPA’s top 5 environmental risks to public health
• Indoor air quality is 2 to 5x worse than outdoor air quality
• 50% of illnesses are caused by aggravated indoor air pollution

 

Source: https://www.andatechdistribution.com.au/blogs/resources/indoor-air-quality-infographic

---

2. Ventilation

Like your lungs, homes need to breathe, allowing fresh air in and dirty air out. If your home doesn’t ‘breathe’, the air can build up high levels of moisture, odours, gases, dust, and other air pollutants. The technical term for the intentional introduction of outdoor air into a building to maintain good air quality is ventilation—and it’s our second essential foundation of a healthy home.

Why is home ventilation essential for your health?

Proper ventilation of your home is essential for your health because it directly affects the air that we breathe. Everyday, we take roughly 23,000 breaths. That’s around 11,000 litres of air moving through our lungs every day. Through this process, we exhale 500 litres of the greenhouse gas CO2.

If a home isn’t properly ventilated, not enough air circulates, meaning pollution generated by occupants (e.g CO2) and products (e.g volatile organic compounds) build up indoors causing headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, sinus congestion, cough, sneezing, irritation, dizziness and nausea.

In addition, airborne pathogens including viruses, bacteria, mould, pollen and fungi also contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

HVAC mechanical ventilation

One of the most effective ways to clean your air while providing fresh, filtered air that stays within 3 degrees of the internal air temperature is with an HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) mechanical ventilation system.

HVAC is sustainable, energy efficient. When building an airtight home, HVAC is required. It brings fresh air inside to remove moisture from stagnant and high-risk areas, mitigating humidity that can cause mould; results in better air quality due to lower pollution levels, and reduces heating and cooling costs.

 

Air filtration

To complement your ventilation system, we suggest installing an air filtration system such as the Delos Air Filtration System, to filter your indoor air from remaining pollution and toxins. You can even track how well the home’s ventilation is working by monitoring air quality in real-time using the accompanying Delos Air Quality Sensor.

3. Lighting and Views

Natural light and views of the outdoors are more than a nice-to-have. They impact us mentally and physically, greatly affecting our quality of life. Natural light not only aids us in seeing the world, it plays a profound and critical role in regulating our sleep/wake cycle. 

Unfortunately, we can’t reap the benefits of natural light through indoor lighting. That’s because indoor lighting differs from natural light in intensity, spectrum, and exposure timing—all elements which can disrupt our natural body clock . This internal clock is otherwise known as our circadian system, and it has a hand in regulating our metabolism, sleep/wake cycle, hormones, alertness, mood, and reproductive and immune function. 

Studies have also shown that immersion in nature reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and stress hormone levels, and helps support nervous system arousal. Together, natural light and views of nature create a powerful combination for human well-being.  

However, since most of us can’t stand around outside all day, hoping to get enough exposure to natural light and the outdoors to support our health, the buildings that we live and work in should bring these healing elements from the outside-in. This is where Biophilic design comes in.

Biophilic design 

Biophilic design is the art of bringing natural elements into building design to support cognitive function, physical health, and psychological well-being. Biophilic design can be achieved through the presence of nature within a space, through natural analogues or spatial elements commonly found in nature (also known as nature of the space).

This could be something as simple as large windows with an aspect, internal courtyards, skylights or through technology such as circadian lighting.

Source: https://www.thesefourwallsblog.com/interiors/biophilic-design-10-easy-ways/

Circadian lighting

Circadian lighting is a system that mimics the natural light wavelengths that are present from morning until sundown. When you receive natural light at key times of the day, the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle your body relies on for mood, sleep and concentration is naturally regulated. By simply installing circadian lighting in your home, you may sleep better, work smarter and feel better.

At Chatham Homes, we can install the Delos Circadian Lighting System in your new home – an upgrade option as part of our whole-home wellness program – so you too can enjoy better sleep and increased energy.

 

 

4.   Noise 

Noise is defined as “unwanted or disturbing sound” that interferes with normal activities such as work, sleeping and conversation. Noise interferes with our concentration and can make us feel stressed and fatigued, and can even cause hearing loss over time. Noise exposure can impact our blood pressure and heart rate, cause irritation, and in extreme cases can even cause distress. 

 People most vulnerable to the impacts of noise are:

• sick people 
• elderly people 
• babies and children 
• shift workers 
• people with chronic health issues. 

We all know the overwhelming feeling of not being able to sleep—or being woken up too early— due to outside noise. It disrupts our day, affects our mood and reduces productivity. But how can we reduce noise in the home to reduce 

 Double and triple-glazed windows

At Chatham, we use premium A&L double and triple-glazed aluminium or pVC windows to assist with noise pollution and temperature control. We also caulk bedroom windows and skirting boards to reduce air leaks.

Double-glazed windows are powerful insulators, significantly reducing the heat loss and heat gain that’s responsible for 25% – 30% of a home’s heating and cooling energy use. 

 Triple glazed windows are approx. 40% more thermally efficient than double-glazing because the additional gas-filled pane further reduces heating and cooling costs and is ideal for colder Victorian climates. 

While these are wonderful benefits that we’ll explore later in this blog, double and triple-glazing are one of the most important elements in ensuring your home is sound-proof, so that you can get the peace and quiet you need to feel and perform at your best.

 

 Source: sustainability.vic.gov.au

 

 

 

Stay tuned to discover the next five foundations of a healthy home, released weekly through our blog…

---

About Chatham Homes

Chatham builds homes with a reduced carbon, waste and energy footprint, conducive to a healthier lifestyle. We only use materials and technologies that are safe and supported by research to lower the cost of living and add value to local communities and closed loop system. To learn more about how we can build you a healthy home, get in contact with our team.