A new chapter for reimagined habitat: Simone Schenkel appointed CEO

We have some exciting news to share. As of 1 July 2026, Simone Schenkel has stepped into the role of Chief Executive Officer of reimagined habitat — and has also become an equity partner in the business.

If you’ve worked with us over the past couple of years, Simone will be a familiar face — she joined as our Principal Designer at the end of 2024. Her move into the CEO role isn’t a course correction; it’s the plan we set out from the very beginning. From day one, the intention was for Simone to take over the day-to-day running of the design business so that founder Michael Drage could pour his energy into our building systems and building advice, and above all into Net Zero Plus.

Michael isn’t stepping away. He remains a director of reimagined habitat and continues as CEO of our two sister companies, Efficient Habitat and Net Zero Plus. Think of it less as a departure and more as everyone getting to focus on what they do best. Simone’s equity stake makes her a co-owner of reimagined habitat — a sign of how committed she is to its future.

Founded in Canberra, reimagined habitat now has Simone leading from Melbourne, with our team delivering projects in Victoria, the ACT, NSW and across Australia.

Three businesses, one mission

reimagined habitat is one of a family of three businesses, each covering a different part of the journey to a high-performance home:

Energy Efficient Home Design — reimagined habitat

Energy Efficient Building Advice and Analysis — Efficient Habitat

Prefab Building Systems and Energy Efficient Windows — NetZero+

What ties them together is a phrase we come back to again and again: democratising healthy homes. For too long, a home that’s warm in winter, cool in summer, full of fresh air and cheap to run has been treated as a luxury. We think it should be the default. And the difference is measurable — a 2020 Curtin University study found Australian homes typically perform 20–80% below their designed energy rating, while homes built on the Net Zero Plus system are airtight to 1 air change per hour or lower. In other words, the comfort is delivered, not just promised.

Why we build to Passive House

Passive House is our starting point. It’s the most rigorous standard in the world for comfort, health and energy — and it’s verified through measurement rather than taken on trust. We use it as our design benchmark and framework: nail the fundamentals first — insulation, airtightness, no thermal bridges, high-performance windows and continuous filtered fresh air — and a home stays comfortable year-round on very little energy, whether it’s certified to the full Passive House standard or designed to the same principles.

Our philosophy is that this shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for showpiece houses. The same building physics can go into homes everyday Australians can afford — and making that the norm, not the exception, is what democratising healthy homes means to us.

What is Net Zero Plus?

Net Zero Plus brings European panelised construction to Australia, working with manufacturing partners who’ve built this way for more than 30 years. Most of the home is made in a factory — insulated wall, roof and floor panels arrive with triple-glazed windows, airtight membranes and weather barriers already installed. The panels ship in containers and are assembled on site to watertight lock-up in around a week. The payoff: faster, more predictable builds, far less waste, and homes that reliably reach 8-plus energy stars, built to Passive House or Net Zero standards when required.

Design clients first — and a growing Net Zero Habitat range

First, for our design clients: your projects remain our first priority. The bespoke, high-performance homes reimagined habitat is known for continue exactly as before — that’s the heart of what we do. Building on that, a big part of Simone’s focus as CEO will be strengthening and developing our Net Zero Habitat range — pre-designed, high-performance prefabricated homes from reimagined habitat, developed with Net Zero Plus. Rather than generic prefab, each home is pre-designed and energy-modelled using Passive House principles, then built from factory-made wall and roof panels for tighter quality control, faster build times and less waste. The result is a home with a high-performance, airtight envelope, triple-glazed windows, strong insulation and mechanical ventilation.

“Running net zero” means these homes are designed to achieve net zero operational energy: heating and cooling demand is kept extremely low by the fabric of the building itself, so paired with solar, the home can produce as much energy as it uses day to day. Throughout, the focus is comfort, healthier indoor air and resilience to Australian extremes — with performance measured rather than assumed.

A partnership years in the making

Simone and Michael’s shared vision isn’t new. They met on the Passive House Designer course in 2017 — the same year reimagined habitat was founded — stayed in touch and became friends over the years, with Simone joining the studio at the end of 2024. This appointment builds on a relationship years in the making.

“My job now is to take everything we’ve learned and turn it into homes people can actually buy and live in. A healthy, comfortable, low-energy home shouldn’t be a luxury — it should be normal.”

— Simone Schenkel, CEO, reimagined habitat

To our clients, partners and everyone following along: thank you for being part of this. If you’d like to talk about designing or building a healthier, high-performance home, we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch at reimaginedhabitat.com.au.