Rebuilding sustainable homes after bushfires

As part of this ongoing project to support communities rebuilding after bushfire, Renew is currently searching for homes that showcase resilient design elements and building practices that extend the understanding of best practice beyond the complicated and variable (BAL) Bushfire Attack Level rating system.

The Black Summer bushfires destroyed 5,900 buildings and homes. 2.9 million people had their homes damaged, threatened, or were temporarily displaced. The Green Rebuild Toolkit is a set of resources developed by Renew to help people rebuild their homes and increase resistance to future climate disasters. Now in its second phase, the Green Rebuild Toolkit is expanding to include profiles of Australia’s most fire-resilient homes. Renew is currently inviting designers and architects to submit designs for consideration across three criteria: cost, sustainability, and bushfire resilience. These homes will be assessed by experts to develop a set of case studies that will provide guidance for people affected by bushfire rebuilding their homes.

Due to their combined research, design and building experience, Dr Douglas Brown of Bushfire Architecture and Nigel Bell from ECODesign Architects have been engaged to assess submitted designs. “What we are doing with The Green Rebuild Toolkit is very important and necessary. I believe we have the collective ability to make significant inroads into how we design effectively in bushfire-prone areas. Both Nigel and I are delighted to be working with Renew” — Dr Douglas Brown, Bushfire Architecture

Links:

• The Beyond BAL submission page:

Hello,

We're pleased to announce that the Green Rebuild Toolkit has recently received funding from the Australian Commonwealth Government as part of the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant. 

The central objectives of this grant is to support recovery and resilience of communities impacted by the 2019-2020 Black Summer Bushfires, and to support social, economic and built environmental recovery. We will achieve this by continuing to build communities with access to best practice residential rebuilding advice. This new and exciting opportunity will provide leverage to your valuable donation.

The Green Rebuild Toolkit is also happy to announce that we have commenced working with resilience based architects and designers to better promote and enhance knowledge on recovery through developing Australian case studies that respond appropriately to high Bushfire Attach Levels and building ignition points. Research conducted by The Green Rebuild Toolkit last year suggested strong community demand for more work in this area.

Thank you for your generosity and for supporting our important project. We are incredibly grateful to GlobalGiving for helping us to get this project off the ground. We endeavor to keep you updated on the project throughout the year. 

The Green Rebuild Toolkit Team.