By Simone, Principal Designer at Reimagined Habitat

I’m still on a high after this year’s THRIVE Passivhaus conference in Melbourne. It was so inspiring to be surrounded by such a passionate community, all pushing to make better, healthier, and more sustainable buildings a reality.

There have already been so many brilliant summaries shared by my fellow Passivhaus colleagues on LinkedIn, so I won’t recap the entire conference. Instead, I want to highlight two key takeaways that really stood out to me. Today, I’ll focus on the first.

Built-to-Rent, Redefined: Learning from MODEL

One of the most inspiring presentations came from Matt Mattiske (MODEL), Richard Stokes (ARUP) and David Mahony (HIP V. HYPE), sharing their journey behind MODEL’s built-to-rent Passivhaus projects.

Their session, "Attracting global, sustainable finance for a Passivhaus-led rental revolution", explored how MODEL is dismantling traditional rental norms and redefining modern living. Their mission is to create homes where self-care, community well-being, and environmental sustainability co-exist — without compromise.

Their first two projects (totalling $250 million in development cost) will deliver 400 residences to market, including 10% affordable units. By the end of 2025, their goal is to have 1,000 Passivhaus apartments underway.

What makes this so powerful is that these projects are designed to Passivhaus Certification standards, built using mass timber, and targeting 6 Star Green Star ratings — and they are attracting global capital. These aren’t conceptual idealisms; they are real, scalable, and investable.

The team presented a deep dive into their business model, values, and how they successfully presented the Passivhaus standard to investors. The design is simply beautiful. Hearing their journey — the challenges, the thinking behind the financial model, the value proposition for both tenants and investors — was incredibly insightful.

There is a lot to learn from MODEL’s approach.

A key point raised was around housing affordability in Australia. A staggering 99% of our rental housing stock is in private hands. Only 1% is owned by the government. In over-industrialised countries, government ownership sits between 10–20%. That’s a big part of the problem. Without policy change, incentives, or greater government involvement, we’ll keep struggling to improve rental housing stock.

We need our government to step up — literally.

Simplicity and Scale: Insights from New Zealand’s Multi-Unit Passivhaus Projects

The second presentation that left a mark on me was "Cheaper by the dozen — Passivhaus multi-unit housing projects in NZ" by Tim Ross of Architype.

Tim shared three incredible projects:

• Toiora Cohousing Neighbourhood – 21 homes
• Leith Street Student Accommodation – 19 homes
• Dunedin City Council Community Housing – 10 homes

His message was clear: This is the low-hanging fruit. Multi-res developments are how we make healthy, high-performing homes affordable.

Why? The volume-to-area ratio. With shared walls and compact design, there’s less external surface area to lose or gain heat. These buildings are easier to heat and cool and require less insulation overall, which reduces costs.

The simplicity of the design was striking. Each project followed a strong design logic, repeated across the homes. Less variation meant reduced documentation and faster detailing. Once the design works, it works — no need to reinvent it for every dwelling.

Economy of scale extends to construction too. The first HRV system installation might take time, but by the fifth unit, tradespeople become faster and more efficient. Repeating details and systems saves significant time and money.

Comparing the Two: Same Values, Different Outcomes

Comparing MODEL’s built-to-rent apartments with NZ’s multi-unit developments shows just how diverse the path to Passivhaus can be. Both achieve beautiful, high-performance homes — but their methods diverge.

MODEL’s design is complex and highly articulated. There are varied materials, setbacks, and facades (often referred to as "wedding cake" style), which are necessary to meet Australian planning requirements. Councils here often reject simplicity, insisting on articulation and differentiation.

While MODEL’s results are stunning, the complexity adds cost. This is most likely why the development targets the higher end rental market.

I’ve personally faced similar challenges. Whether it's a duplex or a multi-dwelling site, councils often push back on efficient, repeatable designs. Their preference for stepped-back walls, non-repetitive facades, and complex articulation makes it harder to keep costs down.

But simple doesn’t mean ugly. We can achieve stunning design with aligned walls and clean forms. It’s time councils re-evaluated these outdated blanket rules and started to embrace performance, affordability, and simplicity.

The Bigger Picture: What Are We Actually Paying For?

Andy Marlow said it best in his talk "20/20 Vision: Australian Housing": “Only 25-30% of a home’s build cost goes toward what makes it function — its structure, insulation, windows. The rest? Labour and bling.”

The cost of building well isn’t the issue. The cost of building is.

If we’re serious about delivering affordable, healthy homes, we need to reduce the 70-75% spent on superficial, custom, labour-intensive design. Simplification, prefabrication, and modular design can help. So can be better planning policy and stronger government leadership.

We must stop cutting corners on what truly matters — the performance and health of our homes — and start cutting costs where they make sense.

THRIVE reminded me of the power of the Passivhaus community: the willingness to share, collaborate, and challenge the status quo. And I left more energised than ever to keep pushing for a better built environment.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my reflections coming soon.

With passion,

Simone