House with No Bills
Everyday household bills are continuing to rise, and increasing utility costs are placing more and more financial pressure on Australian households. To find a way to help, while achieving our sustainability targets, Mirvac launched a House with No Bills research project. It’s our contribution towards more sustainable, and more affordable, homes of the future.
There is a general perception that living sustainably is expensive or requires a compromise on lifestyle or comfort. Our House with No Bills study will provide an insight into the feasibility of producing homes that are energy and resource efficient, to the point that they will not generate any bills over a 12-month period. We will use the study to educate ourselves, as well as the general public, on the performance of sustainable homes.
A key-worker family has been selected to live in the pilot house for 12 months during the first phase of the study. During this time, we’ll use smart meters to test energy efficient technologies and design features, and with the help of Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, we’ll determine how the family uses energy. The house, located at our Jack Road development in Cheltenham, Melbourne, is designed to look and feel like a regular Mirvac home, however, it has energy-saving features installed to help it operate more efficiently. Some of the features include removing the need for natural gas by providing a fully electric home, solar PV panels with intelligent batteries to store energy generated, LED lighting and energy efficient appliances.
The second phase of the study will take a broader review of the lessons collected from the first phase. Essentially, the data collected in the first phase will be used to determine the feasibility of scaling up the project to develop ‘zero bill communities’. Mirvac’s installation of efficient design and technology will help reduce the ongoing expenses some of our customers face. Our hope is that this will future proof them against increasing utility bills and free up their disposable income to improve their quality of life.
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