Outlier Podcast

Welcome to the Outlier Podcast, the podcast for everyone who is interested in building better homes. Host Sandra is chatting with Anthony, the founder and lead designer at Outlier Studio, who is passionate about creating beautiful and high-performing homes. Together, they sit down once a month to chat with industry experts and to answer any and all questions about high performance homes. We want to educate Australians about the possibilities of energy efficient design and change the way we build houses today. We hope you join us on that journey.

LATEST EPISODE

#14 How can we work towards a circular Economy?

We have talked about waste management on this podcast before, and today we want to take it a step further and chat about creating a circular economy. For that, we have Scott Bryant on the podcast, who is a circular economy coordinator for the City of Greater Bendigo. Scott has been an amazing resource for the creation of our own waste management plan, and has extensive experience working in this field in Australia as well as overseas. We start off our conversation with explaining what circular economy actually means, and share some insights about what individuals and business owners can do to help. We also have some great examples for innovative businesses working in this field, as well as some exciting insights into what Bendigo is doing to stop wasting our waste. Shownotes Scott Bryant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotttbryant/?originalSubdomain=au Bendigo Council website: One Living Principles by the Bendigo Council: https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Services/General-Waste-Recycling-and-Organics/Circular-Economy Circularity Gap Report: https://www.circularity-gap.world/ Ellen MacArthur Foundation: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ Doughnut Economics: https://doughnuteconomics.org/ Reblade Scotland: https://www.reblade.co.uk/ Revival Projects: https://revivalprojects.com.au/

00:51:48 2/14/2023

Past Episodes

#13 How to design for Australia's most sustainable housing estate

We are kicking the new year off with a super interesting topic: sustainable property developments. We have Jess Cuman on, designer and thermal assessor in his own business Adapt Design Group, who has done a lot of work for The Cape, Australia's most sustainable development. We talk about his own personal journey that brought him and his family to focus on more sustainable and energy efficient house design, and what design approach he is taking in his projects. Jess also gives his thoughts on the future of housing developments and shares his wishes for improvements in the building code. Shownotes Cape Paterson: https://liveatthecape.com.au/ Adapt Design Group Website: https://www.adaptdesigngroup.com.au/ Adapt Design Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaptdesigngroup/

00:37:45 1/17/2023

#12 What will change in the building industry next year?

It's been a massive year for us at Outlier, and we wanted to take this last episode of the podcast for the year to reflect a bit about some highlights and milestones, and also look at some massive changes that we will be facing next year. The National Construction Code will finally upgrade to a 7 star minimum energy rating, but that is not all! There are also some exciting new upgrades to the energy rating software - and we also have a few news ourselves! Shownotes FirstRate5 House Energy Rating Software: https://www.fr5.com.au/ Hero House Energy Rating Software: https://www.hero-software.com.au/ Our Research Services: https://outlierstudio.com.au/research/ Our first ever hybrid home open house: https://outlierstudio.com.au/our-first-ever-hybrid-home-open-house/ David from Ecowise Homes: https://www.ecowisehomes.com.au/

00:32:01 11/29/2022

#11 How do you manage waste on a construction site?

Waste management has been a big topic for us lately! Not just because our team member Evangelia has been super passionate about it and introducing a proper system for our office, but also because the building industry is a massive producer of waste. Around 18 cubic metres of waste come in everyday - from just one building site. The majority of this waste is going to landfill - unless you are working with Rob Holden from Tiger Bin Hire! Rob has run his business in Bendigo for 10 years now and has dedicated himself to recycling as much waste as possible. He joins us to talk about his motivation behind his business, how he manages his operation and how builders and local government can help with the recycling process. Tiger Bin Hire Website: https://www.tigerbinhire.com.au/ Tiger Bin Hire on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.tigerbinhire.com.au

00:41:18 10/25/2022

#10 Does your home need mechanical ventilation?

Are you unsure of the benefits of ventilation for your home? Then this episode is for you! We sit down with Joel Seagren from Fantech to dive deep into the topic of ventilation. Joel has a tonne of knowledge and experience working with different systems for all types of homes. He explains the benefits of having a controlled ventilation system, and how the different setups work. He also talks about when to involve an HRV engineer like himself, and how much you will have to pay for the different systems. This episode is a bit technical, but Joel does a great job at explaining complex setups and terminology in a simple way, and using facts and data to support his arguments. Fantech Website: https://energyrecovery.com.au/ Fantech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fantech_austnz/ Fantech contact email address: hrv@fantech.com.au Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-seagren-97ab1a23/ Book a blower door test: https://outlierstudio.com.au/thermal-performance-check/ Video of an HRV unit in action on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CY-xfcnlUk1/

01:04:05 9/20/2022

#09 Hamish White from Sanctum Homes: Why did you become a passive house builder?

In this episode, we speak with one of the biggest influencers in the sustainable building sector of the moment: Hamish White from Sanctum Homes. We have been following Hamish for a while, and were lucky enough to meet in person on one of his builds a few months back - the Hempcrete house that is. We talk about the details of this very special project, as well as about his motivation to become a builder and why he loves the certification process of a passive house - even though it does come with its very own challenges. He also shares some information about Builders Declare, a community of professionals from the building industry who are striving for change in the face of the climate emergency. Hamish is a great motivator who is always open to share his insights, and that's exactly what he did with us. We hope you enjoy our conversation.

00:46:20 8/16/2022

#08 PHPP vs NatHERS: Assessing the performance of your home

Get ready for a massive deep talk into the ins and outs of how the people behind the scenes calculate the performance of a home. We sat down with Emilia Iacovino from Detail Green, who is not only a thermal assessor, but also a PHPP pro and an engineer with a passion for sustainability. We spoke about the differences in assessing a house under the national energy rating scheme, and using the passive house planning package, as well as her insights on how these systems can - and should be - improved. Spoiler alert - she is also currently getting her accreditation to become a passive house certifier, so I am sure this is not the last you will have heard from her on our podcast.

00:54:21 7/12/2022

#07 Builder's advice: How to keep your house warm and your bills low

There is no denying that it gets progressively colder outside - and unfortunately for many homeowners, inside as well. With dropping temperatures, the need to improve a home's thermal performance and insulation is becoming bigger and bigger. Which is why we decided to bring our trusted builder David from Ecowise Homes back on the pod and grill him about what options there are to winter-proof a home - with small budgets and little knowledge in mind. I am sure there are more than a few valuable tips in this episode that you can use to get through winter in a more comfortable and affordable way. One more note, as Anthony has both design as well as building knowledge, it simply made sense to have him take the lead with the questions in this episode. You can find all show notes and a transcript of the episode on our podcast page: https://outlierstudio.com.au/episode-07/

00:54:00 6/7/2022

#06 How to test the performance of your home

We have met Anthony Stagg a few months ago when we picked up our very own Retrotec blower door test kit. Anthony is the director of 2 businesses: Fire Protection Technologies and Energy Conservation Technologies, a company that sells blower doors and provides training to perform residential blower door tests. We are so happy he took the time out of his busy schedule to sit down and have a chat with us about what a blower door test really is and how it can be useful for not only newly built homes, but also existing houses. He even shared some of his own experiences with his current renovation and how he utilised a blower door test to help identify the major weak points in his home. Now, for anyone looking to have a blower door test and some thermal images done to their home, please feel free to reach out to us at Outlier studio as we do offer this service. But first, let's get into this episode with Anthony Stagg from Energy Conservation Technologies.

00:34:04 5/3/2022

#05 How to choose the right windows for a home?

Everyone who has talked to me in the last year or two has probably gotten an earful about windows. I am known to be the crazy window gal amongst my friends, and I finally got to properly nerd out with a real life professional. Gary Smith from Ultimate Windows has been in the window industry for most of his career and has seen a lot of change happen over the last couple of years. In our interview, he explained the different materials of windows, of course the variations of glazing, and he also talked about important performance indicators that you should look out for when getting windows for your home. He even shared some valuable insights about how to find the right manufacturer and the first steps you should take when determining what windows you really need for your house.

01:19:15 3/29/2022

#04 Is solar energy really worth it?

This is a good one! In the first episode of 2022, we sat down with Ben O'Brien from SolarPro Bendigo to talk about solar energy. Ben is a sustainable systems engineer and very passionate about solar energy, especially for residential homes. He explained to us how solar panels work, how much they cost to install, and what current government loans are available for homeowners. On top of that, he had to answer a couple of very spicy questions to help our listeners determine once and for all: Is solar energy really worth it?

01:02:53 1/30/2022

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