Passive House Profile: Sapphire House
"Sapphire"
The Future of Healthy Housing is Here!
SAPPHIRE is a certified passive house located on a large bush property in the Blue Mountains. Nestled among World Heritage-listed wilderness, the design aims to strike a delicate balance between the environment and the elements, maintaining connection to the landscape while providing protection from the region’s cold winters and hot summers.
The Sapphire is the first certified passive house in Australia (and likely the world) to also meet the highest Bushfire Attack Level – Flame Zone (BAL-FZ); a crucial requirement in an area ravaged by bushfires in 2019. Optimal thermal comfort was achieved through extreme air tightness, high performance continuous insulation, highly efficient glazing, no thermal bridges, and a Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation system.
The Sapphire’s design enhances liveability for occupants with a strong focus on indoor environment quality, providing extensive views to the pristine bush surroundings. The strategic placement of windows and building orientation also maximises the use of natural daylight, eliminating the need for electric lighting during the day. The combination of these innovative techniques set new benchmarks in sustainable design and pave the way for similar developments in the Blue Mountains region.
Sapphire Certified Passive House represents a research-based design which is founded on innovation and science to deliver a high performance, resilient building. The home has been designed to be climate-responsive, sustainable and energy-efficient. But above all, it aims to provide a livable space which encapsulates a sense of serenity, comfort and belonging for the occupants.
Sapphire Passive House is also a certified healthy home, using specific construction methods and materials to reduce the risk of condensation, mould, electromagnetic fields, and other risks to health. Sapphire was designed and built to demonstrate the numerous benefits of living in a passive house, particularly in the Blue Mountains where there is strong demand for sustainable design
The Sapphire was inspired by our connection with the landscape and our commitment to the innovative use of sustainable design principles. Blue Eco Homes seek to provide healthy, comfortable, and sustainable homes, with the lowest possible impact on the environment for the benefit of the community. Blue Eco Homes has played a significant role in developing and promoting sustainable building for over 17 years, and is a local industry leader for building in bushfire zones, regularly building homes to the highest Bushfire Attack Level – Flame Zone (BAL–FZ).
Initially slated as a solar passive designed investment home, Sapphire evolved to become an innovative certified passive house design, used as a display home to educate industry and the community regarding Passive House design and construction.
We were willing to push boundaries and set new standards in industry best practice for passive house design.
Sapphire has been very well received by the local community and has won multiple awards, laying foundations for the future and enabling homeowners, designers and builders to make more sustainable choices when developing new homes.
