Sam Edmonds and Andrew Simpson were thinking about knocking down their Weetangera home.
Built in the 1970s with little regard for block orientation or thermal comfort, it was freezing cold in winter and miserably hot in summer. Inviting guests around was out of the question. Great location, but a dud of a house in which to actually live.
"So when we first bought it, it had been a rental forever - since the '80s - so it was very run-down," Ms Edmonds said.
"I mean, you could feel the wind coming through the windows. There was no insulation whatsoever."
But a significant renovation in 2020 has transformed the house into a comfortable, liveable space. Ms Edmonds and Mr Simpson now invite people around.
"We had ducted gas heating [before the renovation] and through winter we would pump that all the time. But we were still cold," Mr Simpson said.
"Our energy results, we were 1.4 times the Canberra average. Now I think we're about a third or a quarter. And obviously that multiples over time, so you pay a bit more for the efficiency ... but it's certainly starting to pay for itself."
The laundry has been moved for a living room with a view. The house is now well insulated and has high-performance windows. No more freezing bedrooms, either.
Ms Edmonds' and Mr Simpson's house is the kind of project the ACT government wants to become standard over the next decade, under a strategy to require new residential construction to generate net-zero emissions.
Building Minister Rebecca Vassarotti, who released the strategy on Monday, said the real challenge facing the construction sector was a "deficit of imagination".
"I think one of our challenges is that we do think about things really short term, but we've got to look at things in a much longer term," Ms Vassarotti said.
"The great thing about some of these strategies, particularly things such as the reuse of materials, means that we will see a reduction in costs.
Ms Edmonds' and Mr Simpson's home cost 70 per cent less than building an equivalent new home from scratch and its energy had fallen 76 per cent on the pre-renovation rate.
Ms Vassarotti said the strategy showed what was good for the planet was also good for householders.
"If we commit to this as a community, as an industry and we'd like to see as an Australian community as well, we will actually see a whole lot of decrease decrease in cost as we put downward pressure, as consumers demand this kind of approach," she told The Canberra Times.
Jenny Edwards, the director of Light House Architecture and Science who led the work on the the renovation of Ms Edmonds' and Mr Simpson's home, said investment in the design phase of a renovation or new-build construction allowed homeowners to enjoy the long-term benefits of improved energy efficiency and thermal performance.
"I genuinely argue that it isn't more expensive ... you don't need big house. You don't need lots of materials, so you actually can save on the construction cost, not just the running cost," Ms Edwards said.
