BOOKEN BLEND

SUSTAINABLE BUILD
CHECKLIST
TWELVE STEPS TO AN AFFORDABLE SUSTAINABLE HOME

BOOKENBLEND.COM
 Welcome
HERE YOU WILL FIND THE CHECKLIST WE USED TO DESIGN AND BUILD
OUR AFFORDABLE, PLANET-FRIENDLY, DREAM HOME.

BOOKEN HOUSE
Built on beautiful Yorta Yorta Country and designed around the sun, Booken House is a
four-bedroom, 28 square, off-grid home that makes the most of free passive design
principles and has minimal utility bills. It is specified based on a realistic combination of
thermal performance and affordability and was owner-built using all local builders and
trades for a smidge under $400K in 2016.

This Sustainable Build Checklist is a simple list of the things we felt most passionate
about including or achieving in our build - our 'non-negotiables' if you like.

Very early in the design process, we made a promise to each other (hubby and I) to
NOT compromise on the things on this list. Things like the style of our home, fixtures,
fittings, etc, that was all up for debate, but this list was sacred.

Before you begin, we would like to stress that this is our personal checklist. These are the
things that motivated us. This list equates to the 'why' behind our build; your why, and
therefore your list, will be very different because every family and every site is different,
and homes should (must!) reflect this.

I am hopeful you will find bits and pieces that are helpful and encouraging. Because,
let's face it, building or renovating is tough (guaranteed tears and tantrums, or, er...is
that just me?), and you will need to reflect on your purpose (your why!) over and over
again if you want to end up with the home you are dreaming of without breaking the
bank.

PS.Want to see our house plans?

You can now shop our Booken House design packs at www.bookenblend.com.
These contain everything from simple floor plans right through to full construction drawings, AutoCAD files
and permission to copyright.

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BUT FIRST...
Don't skip ahead (no peeking) because I have
important work for you to tackle. Now is the time
to pour yourself a cuppa and find a comfy spot
(and if you have a partner in crime, make them
a cuppa too). Here's what I want you to do...

BEFORE you read our checklist, think about your

hopes and dreams for your new home. What do
you desire most from your new build? What are
the reasons behind your decision to build?

And on the flip side, what are your constraints?

In the space below, record your top four wants

and needs (do it separately!). Then, once you've
completed this, read through our checklist and
tick off the non-negotiables that align with your
values, constraints, and most importantly, your
'why'.

There is space provided for you to make notes

along the way; include things like topics you
need to research or major concerns and
considerations.

Lastly, there is an opportunity at the end for you

to collate all your ideas into your own personal
set of 'non-negotiables'.

Good luck, dream big and have fun!

Lisa Booth

LIST THE TOP FOUR THINGS YOU WANT FROM YOUR NEW HOME (IF YOU HAVE A PARTNER IN CRIME DO IT SEPARATELY).
 Take this checklist to the next level...

BOOKEN ONLINE WORKSHOP

BE GUIDED THROUGH A SIMPLE STEP-BY-STEP PLAN TO BRING YOUR ECO-
FRIENDLY DREAM HOME TO LIFE

By jumping into our six-module workshop (filmed and photographed over

an entire year), you gain the confidence to select a site, floorplan, designer
& builder, and also learn how to apply simple passive design principles.

We share the inside scoop on how we saved hundreds of thousands of

dollars in build costs and use real-life examples to help you shortcut the
time-consuming and costly build and design process.

Just cannot recommend this workshop enough.

To be inspired and receive actionable, cost-
effective advice... loved it!
MEG VIC

BOOKENBLEND.COM
1. ORIENTATION
Good design begins with good orientation

The single largest thing that influenced the design of our home was orientation. We had an
unwavering commitment to face as many rooms north as possible, even though this meant we
ended up with a very long, skinny house! This is because once a room faces north, all the magic
can begin... free heat, abundant natural light, comfort all year round... yee hah! We then jammed
as much double glazing as possible onto that north face to catch free heat from the winter sun
that travels low in our southern hemisphere skies (we are in Zone 4, Australia).

Now I can hear you thinking, 'This is all well and good for you Lisa, you have 22 acres and free rein
to plonk your house wherever you damn well please.'

Yes, this is true, it is most definitely trickier to maximise the benefits of solar gain if you have a
poorly orientated site, small block or an existing home that is laid out all arse-about (no fear, I’ve
worked with plenty of these). However, the principles remain the same. Because here is the thing,
every single piece of land or home has a north face; it might be small or difficult to access, but it
is there.

Therefore, if you commit to making orientation your No.1 non-negotiable, you will, at an absolute
minimum, create one space in your home that is light, bright, and so very comfortable. If you
make this space your champion space (the space you spend the most time in) and ensure you
create the ability to zone it off from the remainder of the home, then it will also perform like a
superhero. In past renovations, I have flipped entire houses to get the living area onto the north,
and every single time it has been the single most valuable thing we did.

So it's simple, locate high use spaces on the north and squish as much double glazing onto that
face as you can (always making sure you shade it appropriately, but more about that later). You
may have to be inventive to achieve this, like using high clerestory windows or privacy screening,
but I assure you it will be worth it.
2. CONNECTION TO PLACE
Not just a place to live, but a way to live

Our homes are often an expression of our history We built the house in two split level pods to
and identity, and the cool thing is, every home follow the natural lay of the land and minimise
comes attached to land which has its own history, site disturbance. In fact, we barely moved a
one we can learn from and interweave with our grain of sand to build this house - these
own story. beautiful sandhills were formed over
thousands of years due to winds travelling
Our property is located on Yorta Yorta Country and along old waterway systems.
is home to unique sand ridge woodlands. We were
pleased when we discovered the property had an We created a connection from every room to
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Sensitivity overlay, the natural environment via large sliding doors
because if this land held cultural and ecological and windows that also allow cross ventilation.
significance for our First Nations people, then we
were clearly in the right place. We used multi-purpose spaces to minimise
footprint (more about this later...).
So how did we let connection to place guide our
building and design decisions? We anchored the house to the land using a
long ‘spine’ that runs through the entire home.

Zero trees were removed.

We have a Landscape Restoration

Management Plan which includes hand
planting and direct seeding to aid biodiversity
and long term conservation.

We orientated the house to make use of the

seasons to keep us warm and cool.

Our home will produce very little carbon for the

rest of its life.

So here are some wonderings... what if the way we

design and build the average Aussie home
became a grassroots movement to live in a way
that is more considered and connected to place?
What might the financial, well-being and
conservation benefits be?
 3. AFFORDABILITY
WE BUY THINGS WE DON'T NEED, WITH MONEY WE DON'T HAVE,
TO IMPRESS PEOPLE WE DON'T LIKE
- Dave Ramsey

In a world where we are encouraged every day to spend more, consume more and constantly
compare ourselves against others, it can become a daily battle to pull back whilst building.

However, we have always felt it is better to feel financially comfortable in a home that may be
underwhelming than to feel anxious and financially strained in something grand.

So how did we stick to our modest budget?

We used simple design combined with tried and tested building methods - this house is
two square boxes.
I was a budget CRAZY LADY (ask any of our trades) - my love for spreadsheets is real.
There is nothing fancy-schmancy in this house; there are brass garden taps in the powder
room from Bunnings and timber from old fruit bins lining our walls.
It is tempting to believe you need every latest fan-dangled invention to build a green
home. This is simply not the case. Basic, inexpensive passive design (which I will dig
deeper into shortly) will get you 99% of the way there.
I limited myself to five splurges to add creative and personal touches.
We kept our footprint small by creating multi-use spaces.
Used recycled goods where possible.
We chose off the rack. For example, there is a lot of glass in this house; however, it is all
stock standard domestic window sizing.
We took on owner builder responsibility and employed highly skilled builders and trades,
this probably saved us around $100,00 and shaved at least ten years off my life.

Staying committed to your ‘why’ rather than keeping up with the Joneses can be tough. But of all
the things I said no to, and there were thousands, there is not one thing I can think of that I miss
or regret. I can assure you, I never wander around our home thinking,
‘Daaaang, we need designer tiles!’

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 4. RENEWABLE POWER
Make best use of what nature provides for free

There are usually two reasons to consider Currently, coal stations dig up coal, burn it,
producing your own power; then send the electricity down the existing
poles and wires to our homes. The by-
1) financial, or product of burning coal is carbon, which ends
2) environmental. up in our atmosphere.

We fit both categories. To tap out of this process and gain greater
financial independence from your power
We have 8kW of solar panels, 24kWh lithium company, you only need to install enough
battery backup and a 7kVA generator (for solar on your roof (often not a huge amount)
emergencies) that cost $45,000 to install five to cover your electricity usage between 11 am
years ago. and 3 pm (when the sun is high in the sky)
and run all your power-hungry devices during
This system means we have zero electricity this time. Think pool pumps, washing
bills. And though we always planned to build machines, dishwashers etc.
off-grid (for sustainability reasons), it was a
financial no-brainer for us due to the high cost You then tick the box to switch the remainder
of connection to the grid. of your power usage to 100% renewable
energy, and voila… you just significantly
However, there is good news if you are already reduced both your bill AND your
connected to the grid - you don’t have to environmental impact.
commit to the inconvenience and expense of
being off-grid to achieve similar benefits. Pretty cool, huh?
 5. LESS IS MORE

I'm fairly certain everyone in social media

land thinks I'm a neat freak, but the truth of
the matter is we just don’t have that much
stuff, and what we do have has a place
(oh the joys of designing your own
home!).

We didn't set out to be ‘minimal’; it just kind

of worked out that way. I try hard not to
buy anything we don’t need or love deeply,
although I don’t always succeed, or If I can
make do with what we have or reclaim, I
do. Every pair of shoes I own fit in one
drawer... easily. I own three items of
makeup in total that last about three years
each. ‘Stuff’ just doesn’t bring me much joy.
However, experiences and travel? These
are our real joys.

So even though I know as a family we can

do better in many areas (our waste is out
of control), I am a big believer in everyone
doing their little bit.

Maybe you are good at recycling, using

public transport, or growing your own
veggies? Our little bit just happens to be
building and living with a bit less, and I feel
grateful every single day that so many of
you are cheering us on this path.

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6. SHADING

It’s not sexy or exciting to talk

about, but the super simple eave
over our north glass is the reason
our home stays warm in winter
and cool in summer for FREE!

If you stuff up orientation or depth

of your north eaves, you will pay
for it in supplementary heating
and cooling for the rest of your life.

Yourhome.gov.au has a
calculation to work out the exact
height and depth of your north
eaves based on your home's
window height and placement; our
eave is 1.2m deep.

Oh, and while we are on the topic

of shading, the biggest mistake I
see people make when designing
their home is whacking a big old
alfresco area right over the top of
their north facade, effectively
blocking any chance of benefiting
from solar gain.
 7. MINIMISE FOOTPRINT
The larger your home, the more difficult, costly, and resource-intensive to heat, cool, and maintain.
Knowing this makes me dream about living in a tiny house somewhere on the edge of a cliff one
day; however, this would not be particularly practical right now (damn these kids of mine!).

So instead, we made an effort to minimise the footprint of this home by:

Ensuring every square inch is usable. We achieved this all except for two metres of hallway
in the kid's pod - btw, hallways are costly, dead square meterage, avoid them.
Creating multi-use spaces. We combined the laundry and butler's pantry (aka our mess
room), the hallway connecting the main living to the master suite also doubles as an office,
and the master toilet is separate to the en-suite to also service the main pod.
I would have loved soaring cathedral ceilings in our home; however, we compromised with
9ft flat ceilings to significantly reduce the cubic square meterage to heat and cool. This
means the passive design principles have more of a fighting chance to meet a greater
percentage of our heating and cooling needs before relying on supplementary (costly and
resource-intensive) alternatives.
Building two separate pods mean our second pod can be completely shut down or function
independently. For now, it houses teenagers, but in the future, who knows, maybe an Airbnb
or even a geri wing (I'm looking at you, mum).
Our Second living space performs many functions: music studio, movie room, sleepover
hub, and even a lockdown home school classroom.

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8. THERMAL MASS
Once we orientated and shaded the house correctly so it would use the sun to heat itself for free,
the next step was to work out how to keep that heat trapped inside. That’s where thermal mass
comes into play; thermal mass is anything dense enough to store heat (ie concrete or bricks).

The good news is, if you are building on a concrete slab, it is a big old ready-made thermal
mass... BUT only if you use it correctly.

Thermal mass can only do its job if it is INSIDE your home (all the gorgeous recycled bricks on the
exterior of our home are simply glorified windbreaks), and it must receive direct sun.

That’s why we added an internal double brick wall, and also why Jedda’s bedroom is the only
room in the house with carpet. Her room faces south and never receives a drop of sun; she thinks
she is the chosen one for having carpet... but she was duped (let’s not tell her differently).

So during the day, our slab and internal brick wall soak up heat from the sun, and overnight it
radiates back into the room. And just like that, we have free heat!
 9. CROSS VENTILATION
‘Passive design’ is just a fancy way of saying you built your house so it heats and cools itself for
free (yay for no bills); for example, cross ventilation makes use of prevailing winds to cool your
home.

In our region, cooling breezes come from the south. Our home is long and skinny so every room
can have an openable window or door to the south (cross vent entry point) and also an exit
point to the north. On summer evenings, we open both up to flush the day’s heat out that was
stored in the thermal mass (see previous), then close it all up again in the morning, ready to
start the day.

There is nothing high-tech or rocket sciencey about any of this. Early Aussie homesteads were
designed so the front and back doors would open to catch cooling breezes; I still remember the
sound of the 'bang' of the fly screen door at my grandma’s house.

They were smart, those grandparents of ours, or maybe they just didn’t have the option of turning
on a big bangin’ aircon? One or the other.

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 10. MINIMISE EAST + WEST WINDOWS
There are two east-facing windows in our home, one behind the herb garden and one into the
connecting walkway, and each of these has an external blind we wind down in summer. This is
because if the sun strikes glass, it is IN your house, it cannot be stopped from the inside (not even
with good quality window furnishings, although these are important to reduce other heat losses
and gains).

The moral of the story is, you must stop the sun before it strikes glass in warmer months.
This is easier to achieve on the north orientation as you can simply add a correctly designed
eave or equivalent, however, east and west orientations will require more sophisticated shading;
think blinds, vines and deciduous trees.

We have found it quite astounding the difference external blinds on the east windows made to
the overall thermal performance of our home during summer.
 11. SEAL IT UP
You don't have to build a perfect house to build an effective
house
Once we committed to using passive design principles to allow our home to heat and cool itself
for free (orientation, shading, thermal mass, etc.), the next most important consideration was to
ensure it could maintain those comfortable temperatures. Because put simply, the more holes
(leaks) in your home, the more supplementary heating and cooling will be required to keep you
comfortable, and the bigger your bills will be.

And quite frankly, I’m not a fan of paying for something I can access for free from nature.
Therefore, it was critical to do everything we could to seal up our home.

Insulation was beefed up to the maximum in wall cavities and doubled in the ceiling. Insulation is
like throwing a blanket over your home and is cheap as chips - and you probably already know
by now that I love nothing more than excellent bang for buck. But please be aware that insulation
is only as good as its installation. So despite it being the crappest job in the history of crap jobs,
we always install our own insulation so we know it's done correctly (and, of course, it saves us
dollars).

Every window in our home is double glazed to slow down heat loss and heat gain. And a quick
side note, if someone tries to talk you into using window treatments such as low e glass on the
north orientation rather than double glazing, just give them a big old, "No thanks!"

All doors and windows are draught stopped, thermal mass is covered in south-facing rooms,
and window furnishings are shut as soon as the sun moves off the glazing in winter.

There is still plenty of areas we could improve our thermal performance in; for example, it would
have been nice to use thermally broken or timber window frames rather than leaky old
aluminium; however, at the end of the day, budget is king, and our house does a cracking job of
maintaining thermal comfort as is, which is proof you don’t have to build a perfect house to build
an effective house.

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 12. ZONING
...and sexy barn doors

Our oversized barn door is not only cute as hell, but it also plays a critical role in keeping us comfortable.

This door is one of a few spots we can close off throughout the home, thereby eliminating large chunks of
square meterage to heat and cool. Zoning is about math, it’s a percentage game. Whatever percentage of
the area you can decrease, you also decrease your utility bill by the same proportion.

I have heard it said we spend somewhere around 90% of waking hours in one small-ish area of our homes (I
have even seen some cool modelling of this). For us, this is the open plan living/dining/kitchen area.
Therefore, on days we need to use supplementary heating or cooling over and above what passive design
can provide, we shut off the master bedroom area and close double french doors to the kid’s pod.

Hence, between passive design and zoning, our heating and cooling bills are next to nothing AND we are
super comfortable. This is a good thing because I am a major sooky lah lah when I am too hot or too cold.

Oh, and for anyone crushing on the barn door (it’s been six years and I am still crushing on it) I had it made
out of messmate floorboards salvaged out of a demolished school, you can still see splashes of paint on the
boards. It is recessed into the ceiling which was costly, but worth every cent.

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 NON-NEGOTIABLES
Now it's your turn!

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EDITABLE CAD FILE

Floor plan: Floor plan: Floor plan -

Sketch Detailed & dimensioned FULL CONCEPT
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Sustainable design features map Sustainable design features map Sustainable design features map

Build & design FAQs Build & design FAQs Build & design FAQs

Specifications - materials + colours Materials + colours

Detailed construction info

External elevations External elevations

Door & window schedule

Basic construction info

3D perspectives

Section plan

Roof plan

Lighting plan

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 THANK YOU
As always, thank you for being part of a grassroots movement to change the way
homes are designed and built forever.

Lisa Booth

@bookenblend