Swinburne partners with ZERO Living on sustainable housing project

Swinburne’s School of Engineering has been collaborating with ZERO Living to develop smart energy monitoring systems for the company’s environmentally sustainable homes.
In summary
- Swinburne is collaborating with ZERO Living to engineer a series of inner urban zero energy homes
- The homes are wired to monitor major appliances in real-time, with Swinburne engineers analysing the data and suggesting energy-saving opportunities
- Each home is also 100 per cent carbon negative
For the past three years Swinburne University of Technology’s School of Engineering has been collaborating with Melbourne-based company ZERO Living to develop smart energy monitoring systems for the company’s all-electric, battery-powered homes.
ZERO Living has partnered with Enphase Energy to build sustainable, energy efficient houses in Melbourne. Fitted with Enphase Energy microinverter-equipped solar panels and Tesla batteries, each house generates more than twice as much energy as it consumes.
Each home is also 100 per cent carbon negative.
ZERO Living’s partnership with Enphase Energy allows them to deliver a system that provides longevity, scalability, advanced analytics and reliability. The homes are wired to monitor major appliances in real-time, with Swinburne engineers analysing the data and suggesting energy saving opportunities to the resident via a smartphone app to ensure zero living.
Lecturer in Swinburne’s Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Dr Morshed Alam, commends the ZERO Living model for engineered energy efficiency. “This model is a world first and we're thrilled to act as scientific partners to monitor continuing performance throughout the life of the dwellings,” says Dr Alam.
Three years ago, ZERO Living built three fully-engineered houses in Footscray, which it rents out through AirBnB as ‘living laboratories’ to monitor their energy use. Data collected from almost 600 short-term guests has been used to compare the performance of various solar panels, appliances and equipment.
Monitoring of these ‘living labs’ by Swinburne confirmed they produce significantly more energy than they consume and achieve zero energy bills. ZERO Living now has five of these houses for sale in the western Melbourne suburb of Albion, with more in the pipeline in neighbouring suburbs. The company can also design and build a ZERO energy home on a client’s block of land.
“In a previous project funded by the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Hub, we found that buildings consume two to three times more energy than predicted during the design stage, which is a threat to reach our 2050 climate target,” says Dr Alam.
“We identified key factors behind the energy performance and implemented those in this study to ensure zero living is achieved in real life. One of the key lessons we have learned in this experiment is appliances are as important as heating and cooling.”

Swinburne engineers monitor the energy use of the ZERO Living homes in real time.
ZERO Living co-founder Tom Graze says: “Our zero-energy house is fully monitored, right down to separate circuits for the fridge, oven and heat pumps, with that data transferred to Swinburne to update the ZERO smartphone app. We also provide tips and tricks to reduce energy use even further.
“As more fully monitored ZERO Living homes come online, that data will help continually improve future homes, so each ZERO Living homeowner is paying it forward to help improve the world.”
-
Media Enquiries
Related articles
-
- Technology
Electric vehicle fires are very rare. The risk for petrol and diesel vehicles is at least 20 times higher
Two electric vehicle fires have been reported in Australia this week. Five cars were destroyed after a lithium battery ignited in a car parked at Sydney Airport on Monday. Firefighters believed the battery had been detached from the car because it was damaged.
Friday 15 September 2023 -
- Technology
- Business
Accelerator Program paves the path to entrepreneurship excellence
After an intensive 12-week journey in the Accelerator Program 2023, five startups took the stage and presented their awe-inspiring pitches at Swinburne's Demo Night.
Thursday 14 September 2023 -
- Science
- University
New $5.2m supercomputer enhances high impact research around Australia
Swinburne University of Technology has launched its $5.2 million supercomputer that will produce groundbreaking space technology, medicine, and environmental research by researchers and partners across Australia.
Monday 14 August 2023 -
- Engineering
- Health
Do I have the right bicycle helmet and how can I tell if it’s any good? A bike helmet researcher explains
If you ride a bike and want to cut your risk of traumatic head injury, you should wear a helmet. A major Australian review of 40 different studies and 64,000 injured cyclists worldwide showed wearing a bicycle helmet reduces the risk of serious head injury by nearly 70%.
Monday 07 August 2023 -
- Sustainability
- Education
Swinburne teaching the future of hydrogen
Swinburne University of Technology vocational educator Mark Taggart has been awarded the Victorian Gas Industry Teacher of the Year by Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) in recognition of his commitment to ensuring his students are best prepared for the future of the gas industry.
Tuesday 18 July 2023