Bren and Steph’s californian retrofit 2025

Bren and Steph’s californian retrofit

Steph and I both care deeply about our social and ecological footprints, and try to make sure sustainability is a core tenet in all our decision making. Renting for many years, living in terribly unsustainable and energy inefficient houses, our desire was to ensure our first home was as sustainable as we could make it. Our first goal was to select the right home to retrofit. For us, this meant a large north-facing backyard, low risk to flood and fire, and a high degree of adaptation potential. Step one was electrification which saw removal of ducted gas heating, gas HW, then gas cooking. Draught-proofing has been ongoing and includes plastic film, DIY secondary glazing, leveraging the VEU program, caulking, and re-purposing insulation. A small reverse cycle system was installed alongside a door in the main living area. Rainwater tanks were added for the garden and both the shower and laundry pipes were also re-routed for this purpose. Insulation was added to the exterior walls and underfloor (very gradually). Shade plants, trees, and edible plants have been added more and more, including grape vines to the rear deck, and a lean-to greenhouse so we can grow as much as we can ourselves.
Half of the front lawn was replaced with native plants and grasses, and we are working to do the same to the nature strip. Honeycomb blinds were added to key north facing windows, a mix of new and second-hand. All materials are sourced second-hand wherever possible. We are very thankful to our local tip shop close by.
Biggest purchase was a second-hand EV to replace an irreparable primary vehicle. A Nissan Leaf was chosen for its bi-directional charging potential. Most recently we have signed up to a Virtual Energy Network to provide more return for our solar export.