Sustainable design is not a recent concept - it's a recently lost one.

Elements of sustainable design are integral to every established form of vernacular building. (Vernacular buildings are tried and proven solutions that have evolved over long periods of trial and error using local materials with little or no technology).

Since the time when humans lived in caves and enjoyed the benefits of stable temperatures and natural ventilation with zero mortgage and environmental impact, we have been refining our use of resources to provide improved shelter.

Until very recently in human history, this refinement occurred within sustainable principles because it was dependent on available resources and technologies. These limitations meant that solutions had to be effective yet still work with the environment and available materials rather than transforming and dominating them.

The recent proliferation of technology, cheap accessible energy sources and exciting new matierals have encouraged us to solve building problems differently.

Unfortunately, many of these new methods are compromising the ability of our planet home to sustain us in the long or even medium term.

Despite our technological advances, our housing needs have remained similar - albeit with increased levels of comfort and technology. This is because in the last few thousand years, humans have evolved very little physically. It is our technology that has changed and it has changed the way we build - not always for the better.

The new challenge is to choose or adapt our technology to minimise our environment impact, whilst continuing to improve the comfort and performance of the homes we create.

The following examples of sustainable vernacular buildings are included to illustrate how many simple principles of sustainable design remain as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. Many examples of these principles have been incorporated into Australian vernacular buildings with great success.

Timeless Nepalese dwellings 2500 metres above sea level are built to a tried and proven formula. The result is an efficient, affordable, comfortable, easily maintained dwelling with minimal embodied energy, that endures century after century.

Passive solar orientation and shading maximises solar gain. East and West glazing is omitted. Walls of rock collected from farm terraces are high in thermal mass and blend with the landscape (they are annually rendered with mud in colours of the landscape). This guarantees longevity and prevents heat loss by caulking cracks and crevices. Early Australian settlers used similar building methods.