A home rebuilt after the 2013 bushfires in Yellow Rock has taken out the top prize in the prestigious 2023 Housing Industry Association (HIA) Australian GreenSmart Awards.
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Winmalee sustainable builder Blue Eco Homes won the 'Home of the Year' for their Yellow Rock passive house.
Built on a bushfire-ravaged site, the home was designed to sustainably reinhabit the former dwelling's footprint by incorporating the still-standing garage/carport and pool husk into the new property.
The home was praised for its stellar bushfire rating, battery system, water tank and triple-glazed windows. The site has a three-storey, multi-generational and fully accessible home that hugs the sloping bush and maximises the block's orientation for the passive benefits of natural sunlight.
Due to its location, the home has non-combustible external materials with a BAL40 rating. The 120,000-litre UV-filtered water tank and on-site wastewater system lets the owners manage water on their four-acre property.
The HIA Awards were held in Melbourne on August 25. The awards represent the latest in environmental design and sustainable building practices. A passive house is the highest standard in energy efficiency and occupant health and comfort.
Judges praised it as an "exceptional energy-efficient dwelling that is fully accessible, multi-generational in design and built to a BAL-40 rating" adding "a 15kW solar PV system and 28kWh battery allows the home to operate semi off-grid, while a 120,000-litre water tank, triple-glazed windows, heat recovery ventilation and the innovative use of cross-laminated timber to create the home's lift shaft are just the start of this property's outstanding environmental achievements".
The home also won in the category for Custom Built Home.
Blue Eco Homes is a family-run Blue Mountains business and has made its mark on the industry by winning multiple building awards. Blue Eco's owners Joe and Merylese Mercieca are celebrating 20 years of building sustainable homes in the Mountains this year, including completing their world-first certified 'passivhaus' built to BAL-FZ in Faulconbridge in 2019.
They bought the Yellow Rock land after the bushfires when all that remained was the garage and a few sheds.
"We wanted to incorporate the garage/carport into the new build to respect the history of the property but also to reduce the waste ... by demolishing," Mrs Mercieca said. They now live in the home with their adult children.
They were "very proud and honoured" about the two awards.
A passive house they built in Leura was also a finalist in two categories.
The company thanked their clients, team, contractors and suppliers.
