BASIX, NatHERS and orientation: stop paying for poor siting

BASIX is the sustainability approval every new home in New South Wales must pass, covering energy, water and thermal comfort. NatHERS is the national star rating scheme that models how much heating and cooling a home needs to stay comfortable; most new homes around Australia now need the equivalent of seven stars under the National Construction Code, and New South Wales applies that standard through BASIX.

Both tools model the same physics. Where the glass faces, where the sun enters in winter, and how hard the western sun hits in summer are all inputs, which is why the same floor plan can score very differently on two different blocks.

The usual sequence: the client falls for a plan, signs, and the assessment runs late in the pipeline once the siting is fixed. If the living areas face south or the main glass cops the western sun, the assessor has to claw performance back through specification. That means higher performance glazing, more insulation, shading devices, sometimes mechanical cooling. Each one is real money, and none of them was in the quote.

The result is a variation conversation with a client who feels ambushed. Enough of those and the brand damage costs more than the glazing.

Everything gets easier when the right plan lands on the right block at the start. The levers are all free at plan choice time: put the living zones and their glass to the north, use the garage as a buffer on the west or south, mirror the plan when the block calls for it, and make sure every north facing room has a window doing its job.

This is exactly the assessment Dudils applies to every listed plan, and it is why buyers on the site only see plans whose living areas capture north on their block. It sells better, and it assesses better.

Know each plan's orientation story before the client asks. Which blocks does it suit, does mirroring unlock more of them, and what small change would lift its performance? The Orientation Advisory produces that document for every plan in your range, and the masterclasses teach your sales team to use it in the room.

Every assessment is site specific. This page is general guidance for plan selection, not a compliance certificate; your certifier and assessor always have the final word.