1. Consider the health impacts of design and material decisions, as well as the environmental impacts.
It’s all very well to build homes that are energy efficient, but if potential environmental health hazards aren’t addressed in the design and build stages, and families become too sick to live in them, resulting in the home needing to be renovated or re-built, can we really call it sustainable? I don’t think so. It may sound far fetched but I see examples of this time and time again, much to the despair of the clients I work with.


2. Encourage clients to go for pitched rather than flat roofs.
I don’t like to be the home design fun police, but the flat roof trend needs to go, pronto, because they’re more prone to roof leaks. The roof needs to be designed to drive water away from the home, rather than puddling on the roof, collecting leaves and debris. Initial research suggests flat roofs typically have a shorter life span too, around 10 years, compared to 20 to 50 years or more, for pitched roofs. Standing water and a build up of debris is naturally going to cause more wear and tear.

3. Make sure every home has eaves.
Not only are they important for energy efficiency, but they have a critical role to play in protecting exterior materials from moisture, and preventing moisture from puddling at the foundations, seeping into the concrete slab and contributing to high levels of airborne mould in the home (I’ve seen evidence of this in a client mould assessment report).

4. Encourage clients to choose rugs over carpet.
Carpet is less than ideal for indoor air quality, even if natural fibres are chosen, because of the amount of contaminants it harbours: dust, mould, pet dander, bacteria, pesticides, that can never properly be cleaned. Clients of mine have noticed an immediate reduction in symptoms when carpets have been removed.

Carpet also creates a lot of stress if there’s a spill or water leak, as I’ve experienced several times, having to pull back the carpet and underlay, and rush to Kennard’s to borrow and industrial fan to dry the carpet, underlay and floorboards, within 24 - 48 hours (the timeframe in which you have to address water leaks before mould proliferates). Spills on rugs are far less stressful to deal with, they can easily be removed, cleaned and aired out in the sun.

Carpet cannot be recycled either, it’s ultimately going to end up in landfill, making it terrible from an environmental perspective as well.



5. Be aware of known health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and incorporate strategies to reduce occupant exposure in design and material choices.
Known health effects include cancer (according to the World Health Organisation), insomnia, hormone imbalances, mood and behaviour disorders, learning disorders, headaches, digestive disturbances, fertility, miscarriage, the list goes on, and on.
Consider, for example, where things like the metre box, solar panels, the oven, the fridge, the washing machine, the WiFI router, are located (ideally away from areas of prolonged exposure).

If you’d like to learn about the health impacts of wireless technology, you might like to check out my Radiofrequency Radiation: the facts e-book in which I share many hours of research, including peer reviewed scientific studies.

6. Bear in mind that ‘recycled’ and ‘natural’ does not always mean healthy as far as materials go.
A material can be recycled and natural, while also having adverse impacts on the electro-climate, and increase the likelihood of condensation and mould. Building materials need to be assessed against a range of factors to determine their suitability.

7. Encourage clients to get a site assessment done prior to designs being drawn, and ensure the design is based on factors unique to the site, climate, and micro-climate, and addresses any nearby health hazards (i.e. phone towers, pesticides, traffic pollution).
No two sites are the same and factors unique to each site, the micro climate, climate zone, need to be incorporated into design decisions. External health hazards need to be considered too. It’s all very well to build an energy efficient home but if it’s close to a phone tower or the bedrooms are close to power lines, and strategies haven’t been incorporated to minimise EMF levels within the home, it cannot be considered truly healthy. 

Please know that you can make such a huge difference to the lives of your clients, and our environment, even by implementing even just one of these things as standard on every build you work on this year (Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?)

If you build or design homes and you’re keen to learn more about any or all of the above, you might like to check out the Healthy Building Materials Mastermind as a starting point.

Have you got any suggestions you’d like to add to this list? I’d love to hear from you, drop me a line zara@thehealthyhome.com.au

If these are trends you’d love to see take-off in the Australian building industry in 2023, I’d be so grateful if you’d share this article, and help me turn this wish list into reality! I sincerely hope to be able to look back on this time stamp in 12 months and be able to say that at least one of these ideas has been adopted, and feel proud of what we as a collective have achieved.