About us Energia Design Concepts is a team of young professionals dedicated in building of a sustainable and creative design built environment. We are accredited professionals and members of Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA), committed to provide assistance in building your house as a combination of creative design and planning principles and sustainable architecture. Services We specialize in providing the following services: Residential Design: Conceptual Designs Development Application documentations Environmental Consultancy: NatHERS Assessments BASIX Certificates Statement of Environmental effects CAD: 2-Dimensional CAD drawings 3-Dimensional views & Photomontages Interior and Exterior Virtual Walkthroughs NatHERS NatHERS is a computer simulation tool for House Energy Rating, The Australian designed software from the CSIRO designed for Australian conditions. NatHERS has been upgraded to Accurate and is approved by Department of Planning to be used for thermal assesments in NSW from 1st February 2007. Overview To get domestic building approval in most states in Australia the local council will need to see evidence that the building design complies with energy efficiency regulations. In NSW the BASIX certificate if required as part of your development application. There are three parts to the BASIX application -water, energy and thermal performance. It is necessary to get a pass in each section to get an overall pass. The certificate printed from BASIX is required as part of the documentation to be supplied to the certifier or council for planning approval. The thermal performance part of the building can be met either by DIY/ NatHERS simulation by an accredited assessor. We, at E.D.C, will carefully assess your building design as per its Orientation, Insulation, Thermal mass, Glazing, Shading & Ventilation, and devise cost effective solutions to improve the thermal performance of your house. You can post 2 sets of drawing prepared by your architect or email us the drawings. We will provide you an obligation free quotation for the certificate. The whole process can be completed electronically and final certificate emailed to you, saving your time. What if I need NatHERS only? We can provide you only NatHERS assessment. The assesment will be done to comply with BASIX requirements. BASIX Introduced by the NSW Government, BASIX ensures homes are built to be more energy and water efficient. BASIX is on-line program that assesses a house or unit design, and compares it against energy and water reduction targets Overview To get a BASIX certificate, the design needs to satisfy requirements in three areas Water Energyv Thermal comfort Energia Design Concepts can provide you with a completed BASIX Certificate ready for council submission. Our Assessor will prepare BASIX certificate according to the information provided by you, keeping the cost as low as possible while achieving the BASIX targets. Once the requirements are known the certificate can be prepared in 2-4 days. The Plans can be sent either by post or by email and the BASIX certificate can be delivered in the preferred way (post or email). Residential Design Architectural Design is an approach of creativity to make you built and landscape environment effectively planned and enhanced for the best results for the occupants and environment. We all are individuals with different needs and tastes, We at Energia Design concepts work to create your house to meet your own style and need. We are a small young team dedicated to provide you economical, functional and sustainable solutions in building your house. EDC then use cutting edge computer software to transform their ideas into workable and functional buildings. Architectural design process: Conceptual design is worked out as per your needs and requirements. We work to make your house creative, comfortable and sustainable design. Once the design is evolved, we work to prepare detailed CAD drawings, and supporting documentation, reports as per local council codes and policies to lodge the Development application with council on your behalf and handle liaison with council. We can also assist you in lodging application for construction certificates to council or private certifier. BCA SECTION J- ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN CLASS 2 TO 9 BUILDINGS Section J of Building Code of Australia defines energy efficiency measures for class 2 to 9 buildings,hence applies to all commercial buildings in Australia Objective: The objective of the BCA energy efficiency provisions is to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions by reducing operational energy use of buildings without reducing comfort and amenity. We can provide a comprehensive report with assessment of the proposed project in accordance with the requirements of the BCA and provide recommendations on how to improve the proposal. 3D Modelling With the advent of computer technology, it is now possible to create a 3 dimensional model in virtual space, to place lights and cameras at the desired location and to assign color form and texture to your architectural design to make it look as photorealistic as possible. We render the design to the best possible quality, using our extensive experience with lighting and texture mapping. Photorealistic models created in the 3 Dimension may be used for architectural presentations or in brochure design, thereby helping your client to conceive your ideas. 3D CAD models are also useful in training manuals and catalogues. Photomontages: We can make a photomontage of your architectural views when you provide us with site photographs and all relevant information. With the photomontage you can view your architectural design in the actual habitat. Walk Throughs & 3D Animations: To get the real feel of the design, We can prepare Virtual Walkthroughs to enable you visualize the design better. Using basic mouse movements you can effortlessly walk through the virtual model and can get feel of actually being there. Our renderings include the latest developments in visualization, such as photo-realistic trees and vegetation, moving people, shadows, atmosphere effects and even sound. FAQs What is a Sustainable house ? A sustainable house is a designed, so that it produces minimum greenhouse emissions, as a result of usage of less usage of energy and water, thus saving your environment (Remember 90% of Australian electricity comes from burning coal which is increasing the greenhouse emissions to our environment day by day) and saving your money too. How do I save money?? Living in a sustainable house which uses less electricity for heating and cooling, thus saves you on your bills, and you save the environment too. What is Thermal performance of a building? A building with good thermal performance stays naturally cool in summer and warm in winter and will be even more comfortable if the occupants perform simple operations and management tasks. What is House Energy Rating? A calculation of the amount of heat that would need to be added to, or removed from, the assessed home to maintain thermal comfort. A professional accredited assessor will evaluate the thermal comfort of your house with sophisticated computer simulation programs (NatHERS/Accurate) and advise you on cost effective ways to improve the thermal comfort of your house. What is BASIX? Introduced by the NSW Government, BASIX, the Building Sustainability Index, ensures homes are designed to use less potable water and be responsible for fewer greenhouse gas emissions by setting energy and water reduction targets for house and units. Does BASIX apply to my development? All new residential dwellings, including single dwellings, villas, townhouses and low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise developments in NSW. New boarding houses, guest houses, hostels, lodging-houses and backpacker accommodation under 300sqm. in NSW BASIX for Alterations and Additions is mandatory in NSW from 1 October 06 if: your renovation work is valued at $100,000 or more, or you are installing a swimming pool (or pool and spa) with a capacity greater than 40,000 litres.