Case Study

Introduction

If someone asked you to picture what an ‘eco-friendly’ home looks like, what would spring to mind?

Perhaps it’s a stunning marvel of architecture perched in the middle of bushland on the side of a hill. It looks a million dollars…and probably cost more than that to build. Or perhaps it’s a perfectly compact tiny house, with carefully-designed built-in features that fold away when not in use: great for one occupant, claustrophobic with two.

But eco-friendly living doesn’t have to come at huge expense or at the cost of convenience. It can also look simply like any other DIY home renovation work done by ordinary people on a budget.

Emma and Andrew, like many other young Generation Y couples wanting to live in the Sydney metropolitan area, were looking for somewhere to live. And, like others their age with limited budgets, they had chosen to live in a granny flat located on Andrew’s parents’ property. In this case, it involved renovating a double garage space into something a bit cosier.

Given the luxury of being able to choose exactly what products went into their new home, the couple made it a goal to use as many eco-friendly building products as possible.

I’m very aware of the environmental, health and social impacts that building and interior products can have,” said Emma. “I wanted to make sure that we chose products to use in our home that would have a lower impact wherever possible.

So, is it possible to do an eco-friendly DIY home renovation on a budget? Stay tuned for more posts that follow Emma and Andrew’s renovation from garage to granny flat with GECA!

Click here for Part 2 – insulation.

The garage before renovations