From the President & CEO

From the President

By Ingrid Hornung, President, Design Matters National, 2020-2022

By the time you read this, all your projects will have been submitted to the Design Matters National Annual Building Design and Student Design Awards and judging completed.

I can’t wait to celebrate everyone’s achievements on the big night(s): on 15 October in Perth for WA and NT Members, and on 28 October, with Members from Victoria, NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia.

Mark it in your calendar now because, whether we see each other in person (did you know, I am an optimist by nature?), or virtually, it will be a night to remember!

Between now and then, I hope you enjoy the wealth of information and inspiration contained within these pages. I’m personally looking forward to reading about another great small project that made a big difference, this time by Tracy Howard in Ballarat. It’s inspiring to see the difference our Members’ work makes in the lives of others.

And finally, on a more reflective note, the challenges we are dealing with at the moment are a constant in all my conversations. Now more than ever, it’s important to look after each other (and ourselves!) as we go about our life and work.

See you (virtually) later this month!

Ingrid Hornung

Now more than ever, it’s important to look after each other (and ourselves!) as we go about our life and work.

01 What’s Up From the CEO

By Peta Anderson, CEO, Design Matters National,

Our DMN TALK podcast is now live, the latest in a long line of exciting DMN initiatives designed to support building designers keep up to date with industry best practice in sustainable building design. The podcast can be found here: at anchor.fm/ designmattersnational or by clicking here

The first podcast episode – “Builder, Designer & Assessor: Why early collaboration is key to sustainable building design” – features a three-way conversation between a builder, building designer and an energy assessor.

Thank you to our three highly-successful built-environment guests who are also DMN Members:

- 2020 DMN Building Designer of the Year Sven Maxa, of Maxa Design, Sustainable Home Design; - Builder/energy assessor, Jeremy Spencer, of Positive Footprints Sustainable House Design and Construction; & - Energy assessor, Darren Parker of Australian Energyraters.

Conversation was focused on the merits of getting together at the start of the design process rather than the usual practice of leaving the energy assessor out of the picture until the end of the project.

Working closely together as a team at the outset, leverages all skills and expertise necessary to reach a sustainable and solid outcome for the client and their build. Education and early collaboration between building professionals is key to better sustainable design. In this podcast, Sven, Darren and Jeremy explain exactly how they do it and why it’s so successful.

More ‘DMN TALK’ podcasts are in production, and will be free-of-charge for everyone. I hope you enjoy the listen.

Peta Anderson