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Partnering with Carlisle Homes for leading energy efficiency performance
CASE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS
- Long-term partnership: We’ve proudly partnered with Carlisle Homes for 21 years.
- Impact: Carlisle Homes identifies windows as the most critical part of a home’s energy efficiency.
- Game-changing: Product innovation helps Carlisle Homes to deliver on evolving needs for both code updates and customer needs.
At A&L, we’re committed to making energy efficiency easy and effective
As part of that approach, we’re connecting with long-term partners and collaborators—including builders and energy raters—to understand what’s most important, what’s changing, what the challenges are, and what the future holds for energy efficient windows and doors.
This year, Carlisle Homes celebrates 20 years of building quality homes across Melbourne and Geelong. Having designed and delivered over 15,000 exceptional homes for families, couples, and people looking to enjoy the idyllic Australian lifestyle, Carlisle Homes is a true market leader in new home building.
The team’s track record speaks for itself. Carlisle is proud to have been recognised as Australia’s Most Professional Major Builder for 2023 and 2021 by the Housing Industry Association (HIA), as well as Victoria’s Most Professional Major Builder for 2015, 2017, 2020, 2022, and 2023 at the HIA-CSR Victorian Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards.
We spoke with Con Galileos, Group Development Manager at Carlisle, to talk about proactively preparing for significant updates to the National Construction Code, the benefits of collaborative Research and Development, and the importance of windows—both for lifestyle and energy efficiency requirements.
A long-term partnership built on pricing, product, service and collaboration
For us, the quality of our approach is directly related to the quality of our partnerships. There’s no better endorsement than a long-term collaboration based on trust, openness, cooperation, and commitment to providing value.
Con describes our partnership with Carlisle Homes: “A&L has been with us since the very start of the business, 21 years ago. They were one of our very first suppliers.”
“There are many factors that underpin our partnership. One is pricing: A&L is very competitive in the market. Two would be service: the way they provide service for onsite delivery and maintenance. Three would be product: having an excellent range of product.”
For Con and the team at Carlisle, a dependable track record is key. It’s equally important to continually look to the future though, too.
“Also, A&L’s commitment to innovation—they’re constantly innovating new product—and that’s important with the NCC updates. They always seek feedback from us and respond to the needs we identify in market. As an example, bi-folding doors became a big thing when al fresco living hit Victoria 20 or 25 years ago, and A&L immediately go to market with an excellent range of entertainer doors.”
“More recently, if we look at the NCC’s updates, they’d ask us about the product updates we want or need, and we’d come up with solutions together.”
“There’s huge value in A&L’s approach, working collaboratively and not just making decisions on their own. They seek advice from us as their business partners, and then their decisions are made based on what our needs—and our customer’s needs—are.” – Con Galileos, Group Development Manager, Carlisle Homes
A commitment to leading energy efficiency
Leading the way in energy efficiency is an ongoing commitment—and one that encompasses so many different considerations for builders. We’re proud to make life easy by partnering with Carlisle to deliver highly performant windows and doors.
Con elaborates on the importance of the approach: “When it comes to energy efficiency, the performance of most building fabrics is capped. We build with brick, Hebel, EPS systems (expanded polystyrene), insulation. You can’t improve the performance of those materials.”
“We’ve found windows to be the most critical component in contributing to a home’s energy efficiency.” – Con Galileos, Group Development Manager, Carlisle Homes
“The performance is one thing, but there’s also the design preferences of the market to consider, and A&L are exceptional in both. In Australia, we love big homes with a lot of glass. That’s what our lifestyle entails and that’s what people want. We don’t want large walls with tiny windows; that’s not our culture. The market wants big doors for indoor-outdoor living, with big panes of glass. In Melbourne, we’re a cold climate, but you still want that beautiful winter sun to light up your home.”
“That creates a real challenge for us, and for A&L. How do we make these windows perform? They went back into R&D and they’ve introduced a thermal break to the windows, which is really important and effective.”
“The glass type is a big part of it too. By introducing soft coat and low-E glass, they’ve drastically improved the performance of the windows in response to the NCC’s 7-star requirements.”
“The thermal break that A&L has developed really is a game changer: a competitive option price wise, with increased thermal performance. Windows are such a big part of any house, and in terms of NCC’s 7-stars, it’s one of the most critical components in getting us to meet that rating.” – Con Galileos, Group Development Manager, Carlisle Homes
Preparing for updates to the NCC through clarity, accuracy, and whole-of-team support
The past few years has seen significant updates to the National Construction Code. It’s a process that could represent huge challenges—but with the right approach, creates significant opportunities for Carlisle to provide better experiences for team and customers alike. Con describes the process:
“Preparing for the NCC’s updates in May was a serious effort. We had never done something like this before.”
“Our team needed absolute clarity on pricing and the performance of each window product. We did a lot of work up front with A&L where I’m not sure other builders or suppliers have invested the same level of effort.”
“If I think back to before the 1st of May, we thought we had everything done. But A&L said: ‘no, we want to deliver a higher level of performance, better products’. And so all the WERS codes change. It takes work, but it’s all about giving energy raters the right information and tools to then get an outcome that suits us as builders.”
“The quicker the energy raters can get their role completed—the more efficient and accurate they are—the better we are. And A&L’s diligence has been crucial in that respect.” – Con Galileos, Group Development Manager, Carlisle Homes
“Between us, A&L and energy raters, we’re working together now to ensure raters adopt the right codes, to ensure the compliance is there.”
A great partnership is not just about focusing on the now; it’s proactive preparation and support for what’s next. Con continues:
“With the nature of the NCC changes, you might find yourself in a world of pain if you didn’t do that due diligence up front. Working with A&L—to understand where pricing is going to go, where performance is going to go—we were ready to go when the NCC updates came into effect in May.”
“For us, that’s crucial, because we sign a fixed-price contract. Before we even start on the build or arrive on site, we’re locked in at a price and we need to have surety we’ll meet that price and be compliant.”
“With A&L, it’s all about strength of process. You get your process right and you’ll benefit from efficiencies. You get all the information and make sure it’s accurate. And that gives us the ability to work at speed, to be agile.”
“Our partnership with A&L provides all the things that make a good business run well: being efficient and providing a high quality of service.” – Con Galileos, Group Development Manager, Carlisle Homes
Looking for guidance with energy efficiency?
If you’re building or designing a home and you need some experienced technical guidance to meet—or understand—energy efficiency requirements, get in contact with our team today.
