C. Street Projects: high-performing, energy-efficient homes

C. Street Projects is helping Australians live energy-efficiently by designing and building homes using Passivhaus (Passive House) principles. Passive House revolutionises home building and design – creating energy savings, comfort and a healthier indoor environment for homeowners.

According to a new paper co-authored by ANZ and the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC), Putting energy efficiency to work for business, energy efficiency not only potentially helps businesses lower their bills and increase their competitiveness and productivity – it also plays an important role in helping Australia meet its net-zero goals.

Some businesses are taking the lead in this respect and putting energy efficiency at the centre of their business offering. In doing so, they’re potentially enhancing their competitive advantage and helping industry to reduce emissions.

One business embracing this trend is C. Street Projects, a developer focusing on high-performance homes. In fact, they are currently building townhouses in Melbourne’s East applying the internationally recognised Passive House standard.

Homes built to the Passive House standard dramatically reduce energy usage through the use of insulation, minimal thermal bridging, high performance windows, airtightness, and heat recovery ventilation. In building to the Passive House standard, C. Street is offering a real cost solution to Australia’s energy bills – which can be some of the highest across the globe.^disclaimer

To be certified as a Passive House, each building must pass a rigorous process involving specialist consultants and specific design strategies and trades.

C. Street business owner Kin Seng Choo says he’s always been passionate about energy-efficient buildings. With business partner Michael Robertson, they are continuously looking for new ways to apply best practise methods from around the world to achieve “high performance” builds. “Sustainability covers a broad range of meaning now,” comments Kin.

“With Passive House, it's a performance-based standard with a known result, you verify it on site, and you get third party certification at the end.”

Comfortable, healthy – and efficient

Passive Houses are designed to avoid heat loss or gain through high-quality insulation, high-performance triple glazing on windows and thermal breaks, and an airtight design – while still providing optimal air quality via heat recovery ventilation.

As well as being energy efficient (up to 90% more efficient than the average Australian home),^disclaimerhomes built to the Passive House standard are designed to provide a continual stream of clean air through a heat exchange system that conditions and filters incoming air.

This is supported by ANZ research, which shows energy efficiency improves physical wellbeing by reducing dampness, cold and mould, and reduces the mental stress of thermal discomfort and anxiety about power bills.

“There's a ton of research papers on the outcomes,” confirms Kin.

“It’s so much better for asthmatics, and just general health and wellbeing because you minimise the exposure to allergens and particulates and you're not relying on opening windows for fresh air.”

Getting your business on the path to net zero

To fund its business, C. Street came to ANZ. The bank has supported the business for years, having identified its competitive advantage in the market from the outset. ANZ works closely with C. Street to determine what they want to achieve and determine how they can help them meet their goals.

According to the ANZ and the EEC’s Putting energy efficiency to work for business report, energy efficiency is one of the best tools for improving energy affordability and cutting emissions – and best of all, it’s available now.

Learn more

To learn more about how you can unlock the benefits of finding more efficient ways of using and managing energy in your business access the full report, Putting energy efficiency to work for business here.