Mill Corner Longhaus Wins 2026 HIA Australian GreenSmart Energy Efficiency Award

On 22 July 2026, at the HIA Australian GreenSmart Awards in Melbourne, Mill Corner Longhaus was named the national winner of the 2026 HIA Australian GreenSmart Energy Efficiency award, partnered by Clipsal by Schneider Electric. For a certified Passivhaus in the foothills of Sheffield — and for the clients, architects, and builders who spent years refusing to compromise on it — it is recognition at the highest level Australian residential building offers.

The Award

The HIA Australian GreenSmart Awards are the national round of the Housing Industry Association's sustainable building program — a program that has set the benchmark for environmental design excellence for more than 25 years. Winners are selected from projects across every state and territory, and the awards are presented as part of the HIA Future Homes Forum, which brings together builders, designers, manufacturers, and sustainability leaders from across the country.

The Energy Efficiency category recognises the home that best demonstrates measurable, real-world energy performance — not just good intentions, but verified results. You can see the full list of winners on the HIA Australian GreenSmart Award Winners page.

Why Mill Corner Longhaus Won

Behind its understated rural exterior, Mill Corner Longhaus pairs a high-performance building envelope with triple-glazed windows, heat recovery ventilation, and rooftop solar — and the results are measured, not modelled. The home's final blower door test came in at 0.18 air changes per hour, more than three times better than the Passivhaus standard requires. After six months of occupancy, the home is running on 17.5 kWh of total household energy per day — 19% better than the certification modelling predicted — while its 11 kW solar array generates nearly three times what the house uses. Just 5% of the home's energy has come from the grid.

Inside, the home holds a steady 20–22°C year-round through Sheffield's below-zero winters, with a peak heating load of just 1.7 kW for the entire 198m² residence. The full performance story — including six months of real-world data supplied by the homeowners — is covered in our Passivhaus certification announcement, and the design and construction detail lives on the Mill Corner Longhaus project page.

A Decade in the Making

Our clients, Diane and Stephen, planned this home for a decade — and studied our company for almost as long. They knew that when the day came to build, it would be with Davies, and they never once compromised on the detailing that makes a home truly energy-efficient. It was a dream project: clients, architects, and builders all working to exactly the same objective, with Align Architecture & Interiors and the Davies site team carrying the same standard from the first drawing to the final blower door test.

"As a builder, that's the part I love — the assurance of knowing we're putting buildings on the planet that are comfortable, healthy and energy-efficient, that will last a long time and won't take much energy to run," said Luke Davies. "For a Tasmanian builder, a national award like this means the world."

A Big Night for Tasmania

Tasmania took home four national titles at the 2026 awards — a remarkable showing for the state's high-performance building community. Congratulations to our friends at Zanetto Builders, who won the 2026 HIA Australian GreenSmart Home for Bluebush Passivhaus, along with two further national titles. Tasmania's cool climate has made it the proving ground for building performance in Australia, and results like these show the state's builders are leading the country.

HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin said the GreenSmart Awards "highlight our members who excel at delivering year-round comfortable homes into the market," noting that quality building, comfort, and ongoing value for money can co-exist in a sustainable built environment.

Thinking About a High-Performance Home?

Every lesson from Mill Corner Longhaus — the airtightness detailing, the envelope design, the certification process — is now embedded in how we approach every high-performance build. If you're considering a certified Passivhaus or a high-performance home in Tasmania, read about our approach on the Passivhaus page or get in touch — we'd welcome the conversation.

Published July 2026. Award details from the HIA Australian GreenSmart Awards media release, 22 July 2026. Performance data provided by the homeowners after six months of occupancy.