Resilient Home Builders Perth

The two storey homes builders Great Living Homes have a keen interest in the global push for resilient housing that will stand up to significant weather events like floods, bushfires, earthquakes and severe storms. Resilient housing will be the way of the future thanks to global warming and the resultant increase in natural disasters around the world. Insurance companies throughout the world are beginning to take into account the resilience of housing when determining insurance premiums however this is a relatively new concept in Australia.

Resilient housing goes further than just being prepared for an incoming storm; it also refers to being able to sustain life during and after a natural disaster or emergency, so things like storage of safe drinking water and food supplies are important aspects of becoming resilient. In order to determine how safe your home would be against severe weather events, the Insurance Council of Australia have developed a Building Resilience Rating Tool where you can quickly and easily input information about your home and receive a report indicating how you can further strengthen your home.

While there are hundreds of things you can do to fortify your home, here are a few tips to strengthening an existing home and preparing for resilience:

• Use durable, hard-wearing building materials for all parts of the home
• Use fire-resistant materials such as steel structural framing, compressed concrete cladding, external window shutters and fire-resistant timber.
• Ensure the home is connected securely from the roof to the foundations with metal strapping and hangers.
• Consult structural engineers to ensure your home is prepared for earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes. Double storey homesbuilders should be using lightweight materials where possible to reduce the load on foundations and building structures, particularly in areas of earthquake activity.
• Homes in flood-prone areas could be raised up on stilts to reduce the impact of flood waters on the home or alternatively the lower levels of the home could be used as a sacrificial space where flood waters can pass directly through the home with minimal structural impact.
• Install some form of renewable energy to assist you when power is cut off during weather events eg. Solar PV systems.
• Harvest and store rainwater which can be accessed during times when fresh water is not available.

Upon building a new house, 2 storey home builders should situate a home out of flood and wind zones and place them on the land where they can best take advantage of solar energy making them inherently resilient.

Great Living Homes are two storey homes builders in Perth who are committed to helping improve the resilience of homes firstly by setting the standard amongst local builders, but also by developing their own resilient building materials, continuously improving their construction methods and by encouraging people in the community to buy or build resilient housing to secure the future of their most valuable assets.