Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Enduro Builders is quickly becoming one of the leading builders of high performance and sustainable homes in Australia. I met up with Jackson while he was nearing completion of another stunning home in the Adelaide Hills during a trip in late 2019. In this chat, we discussed how Jackson got into building in the first place and how Enduro Builders is helping to lead an important change in the Australian residential building market.
Sailing and Sustainability
Growing up in Perth, Australia, Jackson Digney spent a lot of time around hardware stores, courtesy of his Dad. His other passion was sailing and it was this pursuit where he originally set out for success. But during a sailing regatta in Europe, Jackson and his friends received some sage advice from Russell Coutts about the financial reality of a sailing career.
Back in Australia, Jackson jumped into an existing business making shades sales, balustrades and structural steel. He was skirting around the construction industry and gaining valuable business experience.
Then in 2008, he sold his business and moved to Adelaide with his partner. In South Australia, Jackson rekindled his other early life interest – building. He found a job with an experienced builder and set out getting qualified.
Stock-Standard Houses
Jackson’s early training and experience of building was solid and broad. He describes his first boss as an ‘old salt’ builder who liked to do as much possible himself. In contrast to the growing trend of specialisation, this gave Jackson exposure to everything from excavating through to finishing, and many skills in between.
He was, however, building stock-standard Australian houses. Nothing particularly energy efficient.
Enduro Builders
After some time gaining further experience with different builders, Jackson met Brett Aylen, one of the preeminent energy efficient conscious architects in Adelaide.
With his business mindset, Jackson initially thought that this sustainability thing might be a good niche for his new building company. But the more he thought about Brett’s ideas on energy efficiency and health, the more Jackson realised how strongly these ideas resonated with his earlier life lessons about resilience.
Jackson started Enduro Builders doing some renovations and new builds for clients he already knew. He soon picked up work from Brett and has been focusing on energy-efficient building since. Now, “people that call us, are looking for energy-efficient builders”, explains Jackson.
Energy Efficiency and Greenwash
Jackson says there’s a lot of misconception about what is and what isn’t so important when it comes to truly energy-efficient building. The idea of airtightness is still poorly understood in much of Australia and many people see it as unnecessary in a warm climate. Jackson credits his understanding of Passive House as giving him the knowledge to educate clients and even designers about these important concepts.
Health and Comfort is About Control
In South Australia, explains Jackson, “When it gets cold, it gets really cold. And when it gets hot, it’s really hot.” And it’s during these extreme conditions when stock-standard houses just don’t perform.
Airtightness, combined with the other pillars of Passive House design provide occupants with control of their indoor environment. This, in turn, is what contributes most to the comfort and health of the home.
Bridging the Gap
As Jackson learnt more about Passive House, he realised the true potential of the standard. Far from being just a niche opportunity for a small building company, he started to believe that, “Everyone should be getting a high-performance house”.
“We need to make sure we bridge the gap between a lower quality, minimum standard house – and a house that really performs,” says Jackson. And cost is a big component of that gap.
Jackson concedes that he’s unlikely to match the cost of a stock-standard build. But this is not really a fair comparison. High-performance buildings are completely different from bare minimum houses in Australia and New Zealand. The performance gap is so large because the allowable standard of construction is so low.
Prefabrication for Cost Effective Performance
A few years ago, Jackson started working with a local framing company for the supply of prefabricated wall sections. As this relationship has grown, so has the efficiency of the system they’ve developed together. From simple frame sections, they’ve added a factory-applied membranes to the prefabricated sections. Soon, Jackson hopes can also get wall sections delivered to site, complete with high-performance windows pre-installed.
Iterative improvements in this system of design and prefabrication have allowed Jackson to keep his costs relatively fixed while the rest of the industry has experienced increases, effectively saving an estimated $15,000 from the total build cost. Combined with solving small problems at the design stage rather than fixing big issues during construction, Jackson and his team are working to close the cost gap between stock-standard and high-performance.
Adopting Technology
Prefabrication is a system in itself, explains Jackson. Planning the process is critical to make it work. He credits their adoption of 3D modelling technology as a key factor in the financial success of prefabrication. While some builders don’t achieve the promised efficiency gains of prefabrication, Enduro Builders spend hours analysing 3D models during the design stage to identify and rectify issues as early as possible. Jackson says that this time investment of hours upfront can save days during construction.
Educating Stakeholders
I discussed with Jackson, the role that education has played, and continues to play, in the success of his company. When doing things a little bit differently from the accepted norms, a positive result usually requires a bit of re-education. Jackson described how he’s educated some of his clients as well as his carpenters and some of his suppliers. Through this type of leadership, people like Jackson are helping to change the industry for the better.
Enduro Builders
The Enduro Builders website is full of inspiring projects that beautifully demonstrate Jackson’s work and the capability of his team. Check out their various social channels and definitely get in touch with Enduro Builders directly if you’re thinking about building in or around Adelaide, South Australia.
Leave a Reply