Eco House, Modern Home, Home Builders,Display, Home Design, Display Homes Melbourne

Inform Design delivers environmentally friendly homes through creative home design, producing innovative modern homes with minimal ecological impact.

Our latest eco friendly display home was produced by renowned Melbourne architect Ricardo Zen. This sustainable home design focuses on environmentally sustainable living and showcases quality material usage and design.

Inform's staff are environmentally conscious and aim to design and build homes that reduce the impact of modern home construction on the environment.

As home builders Inform also conduct workshops sharing techniques and technologies used in design and construction of sustainable modern homes.

The Butterfly House

The Butterfly Eco House is Inform Design's sustainable display home in Melbourne. Our purpose built, eco friendly display home is open every Saturday and Sunday from 1 - 5pm at 38 Kangaroo Road, Murrumbeena.

To learn more about our sustainable home designs, call Inform Design on 03 8567 3800 or submit an online contact form.

5 Star Energy ratings, Greenhouse Gas, Zero Emission Homes, Green Smart, Carbon Neutral, Sustainable Housing, Eco Friendly, Embodied Energy, etc, etc; these are words that 30 years ago would have meant very little to the would be Homeowner. Nowadays they are vital considerations for us when choosing our new family home. They can also be very confusing, if not misleading.

The final word in the selection of a new home that would be considered sustainable is "Responsible".

To claim that a house is energy efficient by the fact that it has achieved a 5 Star energy rating is not responsible. Certainly building fabric is more efficient than the poorly insulated, draughty homes of 30 years ago but all new houses built in Victoria must now achieve this minimum rating in order to obtain a building permit. A 50 square "McMansion" can obtain a 5 Star rating but is likely to consume a considerable amount of energy during everyday use. An analogy would be driving a gas guzzling V8 four-wheel drive with a solar panel on the roof to run the kids’ DVD player and calling it sustainable.

To claim that a house design is zero emission is similarly misleading and irresponsible. Again, the 50 square "McMansion" can claim to be "zero emission" if the 100 plus down lights aren’t turned on, the 50 inch plasma doesn’t get a screening and the occupants choose to dress for the occasion instead of firing up the reverse cycle air-conditioning 24/7.

It is the people living in the house and their lifestyle that consumes the energy that creates the emissions, not the house.

"Embodied Energy", the energy required to manufacture and transport the materials used in the construction of a new dwelling, cannot be avoided. To consume zero energy during this process is not possible. Recycling of old materials is one way we can, however, reduce this consumption.

Inform Design’s latest Display Home will be known as The Butterfly House. To be built in Kangaroo Road, Murembeena, the design is that of a compact house that incorporates intricate detail with functionality, a philosophy that has been adopted throughout all Inform’s Designs. We believe the Butterfly House to be the best direction for us to address our collective concerns about the environment and the future of house design. We believe we have taken a responsible step in urban design that will benefit future generations.

With over 2 years of research having gone into this project, the collaboration between Zen Architects and Inform’s development team have created a truly beautiful home that addresses all the issues we are faced with regarding the degradation of our environment.

We do not claim the house to be "zero emission" as was originally intended. Our research shows that this is definitely available to the occupants of the Butterfly but given each family’s individual wants and needs it is not responsible for us to claim it on behalf of future householders.

Named the "Butterfly" because of its distinctive roof, a beautifully detailed design element, the butterfly roof is the engine room of our new family home. High light louvre windows integrated under the roof will be shaded in Summer by the angled eaves, providing cross flow ventilation while in Winter the design will enable the sun to spill into the living areas offering "passive solar gain".

The design incorporates a PV (photovoltaic) installation. Electricity is generated by 12 solar panels that are incorporated on one "wing" of the roof and is intended in Melbourne and surrounds to be "grid connected" in that it "deposits" rather than "withdraws" power through your electricity meter. This installation is standard on every version of the "Butterfly" and has been designed such that it can be extended to increase power generation.

Acting as a rainwater collector along with the rest of the roof, our house model incorporates 13,000 litres of water storage to be reused for toilet flushing and external use. Utilising an optional grey water treatment and storage plant can also increase this capacity.

Orientation is a key factor in producing a design that works efficiently. This was an important consideration in our design and has resulted in the house working extremely efficiently on all blocks. The butterfly element can be rotated independently to the rest of the floor plan so that the PV installation can always face the Northern quadrant, making the most of our available solar energy.

In conjunction with the design elements mentioned, a range of versatile shading devices has been designed considering different orientations.

In order to minimise greenhouse gas emission without greatly compromising lifestyle, it is our intention to use energy efficient appliances, fittings and light fixtures in our standard specification. Hot water shall be provided by means of a gas boosted solar system.

The selection of building materials saw us utilise products that were either recycled or contained as much recycled and renewable raw material as possible. In this process we were mindful of not compromising our reputation for contemporary design and excellent quality.

We are extremely excited about the "Butterfly House" at Inform. The spectacular result of our effort is a new home that reaffirms our commitment to contemporary Australian architecture as well as providing a responsible direction for Urban living.

Like the butterfly our "Butterfly" is designed to land lightly on the planet.