After I had finished my Archi Masters I was working for an architecture firm who also did a small amount of work for a volume builder. They were actually a pretty good quality builder and at least got the orientation of their 'pre-designed' plans correct. We had the ability to make minor changes to every job and it pained me to see so many simple to implement passive options not being incorporated. Had most of their clients known that they would be saving MONEY over the longterm by making a few minor changes to suit their site, they all would have done it. The problem is unless someone can sell this idea to them as a financial/lifestyle choice, many just think it is about saving the world. It is a no-brainer if you have in interest in it, but for those who don't know, there is no-one there selling it to them, especially on the lower end of the market.

hate to tell you he would not care about that either. i know, i know. exe was always "watching the duckies" but this one is really a bit of a prude. eh, i love him maybe more for it, always faithful no matter how much i spy. lol

Agree with everyone who said that art should speak to them and not be purchased simply to match existing décor. I am a bit of an art hoarder. I have so many pieces of art that I buy simply because I love them or they really do speak to me! I do not have enough walls to hang all my art, so I simply recycle them. I move them around or replace one with another over and over again. When I purchase art for clients I do so in various ways. Art auctions, galleries, online, commissions etc. it really depends on what the client's budget is, how far I can push the client's boundaries but still stay within the parameters of what they like, and most importantly, how the art makes the client feel! I never buy art for a client and just install it without their imput because what speaks to me may not speak to them! I really like your pieces TJG creative! I happen to love photography however, most clients ( at least the majority of the ones I have worked for) seem to be glued to the idea of paintings. every now and then I manage to convince a client to include black and white photography in their home and I do this by bringing my own pieces in, showing them how wonderful they can be in their space and they are usually keen then to purchase some of their own. I try to steer away from art prints if possible because in my opinion, something original can always be found to suit anyone's taste and budget. By buying original artworks, we are supporting our local art communities and encouraging new and emerging artists to continue pursuing their dreams. Good luck with your venture and I will certainly keep your works in mind if the opportunity arises.

As an architect, I have previously been taught that creating a sustainable home is about designing it so that living in it lowers energy and water use. This is achieved through designing for orientation, using thermal mass and specifying fixtures and finishes that are low impact, reuse water on site, etc. However, the latest research is showing that this is not enough to impact the rate of climate change. And that what we build from needs to be considered in order to make a dent. This is because the timeframe required to see the benefits of sustainable living in a home, is a longer play than the upfront construction from low tox, low energy, minimal footprint materials and methodologies. It has to be a two-pronged approach. Choose materials and products, and constructing efficiently with low energy and low waste. Having carbon neutral homes. And designing homes that over the long term, are low in energy and water consumption, and support the health and well-being of the occupants. A project was established in mid 2017, called “The Building Code Energy Performance Trajectory Project”. It involved the Sustainable Built Environment Council and ClimateWorks Australia, and is described as an industry-led initiative seeking improvements to energy requirements in the National Construction Code. The report was released recently, and what was amazing in this report was to read that 58% of Australia’s buildings in 2050, will be built after 2019 … which means that there’s huge potential to impact their performance and the environment through better energy requirements. And these energy requirements have not been rigorously updated since 2010, despite electricity prices having doubled over that time. Detached housing will comprise 64% of the new construction between 2019 and 2050. So every homeowner has the opportunity to seriously change the landscape of energy use and efficiency in our country. There’s some sectors of the industry really pushing back against this … largely because they believe it will dramatically dent their profit margins to have to build houses with higher star ratings. Australian homes, on average, perform very poorly, and our expectations are super low. Steve Baczek, an American architect, said something about American houses that I think sums it up for Australia as well ... “It’s not that High-Performance Houses cost too much; it’s that our idea of a fairly priced home is based on a history of building houses to meet embarrassingly low performance benchmarks. Clients don’t realise the difference between built to code vs built to last”.