ECO Dynamic Building in Coffs Harbour has won the Housing Industry Association’s Northern NSW Affordable Housing Award.

“This is a category that is very close to our values,” said Luke McKay, founder/proprietor of Eco Dynamic Building.

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“We strongly believe that a house doesn’t need to be huge to make a comfortable family home.

“We live in a society where we have been trained to buy as big and as much as we can afford, but the bigger the home, the more effort, cost and time it takes to maintain it.”

The architect on the Affordable Housing win project was Coffs Harbour based Frank Scahill.

The award recognises excellence in the construction and design of a single home or a housing development incorporating cost effective design features to deliver a high-quality housing product at an affordable market price including for social or affordable rental housing.

“From the very beginning of our jobs, we try to steer our clients in the direction of more efficient designs that can drastically reduce the home’s impact and make use of its available surroundings – the sun and wind patterns, available natural shade, slopes, nearby ridges and mountains and anything else unique about the surrounds that could positively contribute to the home’s performance,” Luke told News Of The Area.

“In conjunction with this, on all our projects, big or small, we pay special attention to what materials we are using in the hopes of reducing our impact on the environment and making our homes more efficient to run.

“The goal for us is houses that use less energy, take less to heat, less to cool and won’t need parts replaced or fixed as much over time.”

Re-using materials, precisely measuring and cutting to avoid waste and a strict waste disposal policy are the foundations of the business’ ethics, saving what they can and properly recycling all building materials that can be repurposed.

The HIA Award looks for balancing costs and the environmental impact.

Luke said, “A paper cup is a lot cheaper than a ceramic one – our homes are the ceramic cups – they cost a little more to create, but the long-term benefits to the environment, the climate and the client’s maintenance makes the initial outlay worth it.

“Overall, we feel that people are often building too big.

“If the minimalist movement of recent years has taught us anything it is that there is an incredible lightness to be achieved by shedding our worldly possessions and living with what we need, not what we are made to believe we need.

“It can lead to so much clarity around what we enjoy, what makes us happy, what we need and what we can do without,” he said.

By Andrea FERRARI