The video is a testimonial from homeowners Cameron and Aisha and builder Jackson Digney of Induro, describing the design, construction, and post‑occupancy experience of an off‑grid, energy‑efficient home in Macclesfield. The owners selected a hill‑top block in 2017 and needed a house that minimized electricity use after years of high bills in a cold, unsealed home. They adapted an existing design to maximize passive solar gain with large north‑facing windows, long eaves, and substantial stone thermal mass, while incorporating locally sourced stone and red‑gum timber for character. Budget constraints led to value‑engineering decisions, such as changing cladding and optimizing window size and placement. The construction used prefabricated, pre‑wrapped wall segments that assembled like Lego, achieving zero waste and rapid build times. The builder’s site manager, Eddie, and trades were praised for meticulous attention to detail, especially handling twisted timber and installing BGC fibre‑cement cladding, chosen for its low maintenance and fire resistance. The owners were actively involved, laying stone themselves during a scheduled window, which added “soul” to the home. When the owners requested moving the house 60 m up the hill shortly before earthworks, the builder secured council approval within a day, keeping the schedule on track. The finished home delivers consistent comfort with minimal heating and cooling, thanks to airtight construction, passive solar heating, and thermal mass. Both owners describe the process as stress‑free, highlighting clear communication, collaborative decision‑making, and the builder’s expertise in energy‑efficient construction.
Chapters
In 2017, we found this beautiful block with a big hill on it to build our dream home.
We'd spent the last 10 years living in a house that was in a very cold environment and was absolutely not sealed. We spent a huge amount of money on our electricity bill.
The house had to be off-grid. We needed it to be energy efficient, and we also just really really wanted it to be comfortable, so I adapted this existing design to suit our property with the orientation. Large windows on the north face, mostly to maximize the low winter sun. For the summer, we have the really long eaves and then lots of thermal mass with stone to maximize the regulation of the temperature inside the home. So to give it a bit of character, we want to incorporate the stone from the property into walls and some timber frames. It was It was pretty important to me to find the right builder who was going to help, not hinder us, to achieve all of those things. I actually met Jackson from Induro right at the start, and I really liked his approach to things.
Cameron and Ash's house is a balance between what he wanted to do and what was achievable for his budget, while also giving him the performance aspects that he needed. Some of the key aspects that we need to achieve for them is performance in the home and a level of comfort that doesn't take a huge amount of energy to deliver, and that's because the house is going to be completely off-grid. We achieve that by making sure that we're going to build them an airtight house and by ensuring that we employ good solar passive design principles and use a bit of science to make sure that we get that balance between glazed area and wall area correct.
So then naturally, after doing all of our selections and getting a final cost It did come in over our budget.
There was an opportunity for some better value for money by changing the cladding and also by having a really close look at how we did the glazing on the house, in particular the size and the location of some of the windows.
We were able to quite efficiently go back and forth and find some perfectly reasonable ways to cut the cost down and get it back to our budget, so we're at a pretty good place now. We're finally at the point of starting now, and straight off the bat, I put Enduro to the test. I realized that my house site that I'd chosen had lost its view. I called Jackson and asked him if we could push it up the hill 60 meters one day before they started the earthworks.
Cameron has called and he wants to move the house up the hill. I'll get the paperwork through to the council this afternoon so that you can keep going so we don't lose our schedule.
They managed to get it through council in one day and the build started on time despite moving the house at the last moment. Really a big boost of confidence in the reason why I picked them for my build.
So that's the edge of your house.
The engineers redesigned the slab here. So the framing was incredible to watch go up. It came together as prefab segments, all pre-wrapped, and then just went together like Lego with zero waste. So much engineering and attention to detail had gone into it that it will eventually bring together a very well-performing, energy-efficient home.
G'day guys.
Good morning, Cameron.
How are you?
Good, it's amazing. Yeah, it's, uh— Once the framing was complete, we began to have regular site meetings with our site manager Eddie, and he immediately showed the attention to detail that I was really hoping for. I'd often catch him double-checking small details to make sure that all those little bits and pieces that come together to make the home work in the long run were happening. But at the same time, you could see that Enduro had spent a long time finding like-minded trades to work with, so they were already doing very high-level work. Over the next few weeks, I had lots of interactions with Enduro's trades and thoroughly enjoyed all of them and found that all were completing their work to a really high level. I was especially impressed at how Enduro's carpenters worked with the red gum timber that we'd supplied, which had unfortunately twisted quite a bit. They just got on with the job and did a brilliant finish with all of it. So we ended up picking BGC's fibre cement cladding. I was really impressed at how good-looking the product was as it went on. I was really happy that it was going to be a low-maintenance solution going forwards, and it's incredibly fire resistant. The house I'm renting at the moment has timber all over it. I love the idea of it, but it just always looks worn out. And here we are now, I get all the benefits without any of the, the maintenance.
We're always open to including other owners in the building process. And in the case of Cameron and Aisha, they wanted to be part of the build by providing the stone and laying it in the house. What we did to make that work is we used our normal scheduling system and we actually provided them with a spot in the schedule where we would go away from the build, they could come in, do that bit, and then we would come back after them. He was able to book time off work and know that we would be ready for him and he wouldn't have to move his holidays.
We were able to get in, do the job, and get out without holding anything up. I'm just so happy that we got to put that detail into the home. Once we finished the stone, the trades got in and did all of the final interior touches really quickly, and before we knew it, it was time for handover and we were coming in to see our new home.
I'm standing here in front of Cameron and Aisha's finished home. We've brought it in on time and on budget. What I really liked about this build was collaborating with Cameron and Aisha to build a really energy-efficient home suitable to their budget. We were able to work in with Cameron to include some of those feature items. The bulk of the stone is actually inside. The sun coming through the windows warms it up, helping to keep Cameron and his family comfortable. The house has a lot more soul because of his direct involvement, and I think that it's one of the things that makes us unique is that we're able to do that in a professional way that gives the homeowner a great outcome every time.
The whole process of the build was definitely not a stressful experience for me. Induro obviously have got that experience of building energy-efficient houses, and we always knew what was coming up. We were able to discuss decisions together before we got to each stage because we always knew what the plan was, so it was definitely a stress-free experience for us.
So now that you've lived in the house for a bit, how have you found the experience of building with us?
We've had so many people come through and just say how comfortable it is, whether it's hot or cold outside, It's really nice in here with just minimal inputs. We're not putting all our power into heating and cooling. It was just a constantly high standard of work and good communication through co-constructing in person, and that's actually made it a dream. It shows that you spent time finding the right tradies who are like-minded and understand all of the niche things about energy efficiency.
Enjoy your new home. With really good collaboration between builder and homeowner, you can create a really energy-efficient home without breaking the bank.
