Find sustainable builders and architects in Australia.

A building's energy use is locked in by the way it is designed and built. Passive solar design and good insulation are the keys.
    Passive solar design involves positioning windows and shade structures to allow sunlight to enter and warm the building in winter while keeping the sun's heat out in summer. Good passive design will also take advantage of natural breezes to help cool the building in summer.  
   As well as energy use, an environmentally-aware architect or building designer will consider the impacts of materials used - where they come from, how much energy it took to make them (the "embodied energy"), how long they will last and whether they can be recycled.
   Most "McMansion" project homes, while now forced to meet minimum energy standards, are built with little consideration for these principles. That makes them expensive to heat and cool. An architect-designed building may cost more, but should have much lower energy bills.