Craig Riddle, Living Green Designer Homes
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Winner of multiple Regional, State and National HIA and MBA awards every year since reinventing his construction business in 2007, Craig Riddle, owner of Living Green Designer Homes, attributes his phenomenal success to simplifying and reverse engineering the home construction process. In a world all too often dominated by the notion of ‘bigger is better’, Craig and his team are proving that less is more when it comes to affordable, sustainable and practical living. Experiencing vertical growth before the company even reaches its 5th anniversary, the team is already on track this financial year to outstrip last year’s project numbers by an astonishing 250%. This is one Central Coast business that looks set to go national before too long and has the potential to also make waves on a global scale.
The light bulb moment
A licensed builder since 1983, Craig Riddle experienced a classic ‘light bulb’ moment back in 2005. He was working on what he calls, “your typical slab, brick and tile home” at the time. Increasingly disillusioned by the repetitive nature of the work and the excessive labour and wastage on every project, a problem onsite caused such mayhem and overkill in time, effort and money spent to resolve it that it became the moment that caused Craig to re-evaluate what he wanted from life. Thus began a journey towards pursuing a deep seeded passion to create affordable energy efficient housing options for consumers. “I became focused on affordability, reducing emissions (most notably from concrete, steel and transport in that order) and streamlining the process,” reflected Craig.
And so, after spending 2 years of extensive research, development and testing he established Living Green Designer Homes in 2007. In its first year of operation, the company cleaned up at the HIA Hunter Regional Awards, taking out 3 Awards categories and hasn’t looked back since. The company’s latest achievement was winning the Environmental Award at this year’s inaugural Central Coast Business Excellence Awards, an award which Craig is very proud to have won.
A simple philosophy
Through streamlining the construction process, optimising the lay of the land and positioning on the block and using the latest in sustainable and lightweight building products, Craig says “housing becomes environmentally friendly as well as more accessible for first home buyers, young families and retirees. Our model allows us to produce a carbon neutral home that is totally affordable.”
It’s a simple philosophy but one that is capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of a broadening target audience. Craig said, “what we’re selling more than anything is education. We’re building smaller houses with higher performance energy wise. It’s about working smarter.” And the concept is working smarter for the company also, with homes now being built from start to finish (ready to move into) within just 8 weeks.
Innovative design
The custom designed panels, components and roof of the home are pre-fabricated at the company’s North Wyong factory and transported on just 1 truck to site (with only one extra truck needed for concrete).
Craig is of the view that ”houses should fit you like clothes. You should be able to change them when you want to.” True to this ideal, he custom designs a home to suit the client by carefully listening to and assessing their lifestyle needs now and allowing for change in the future. For example, a young couple looking to acquire their first home with limited funds may only need a small space now for the two of them but with the option to add on once the family grows and/or their financial situation improves. The company’s ‘Mortgage Free Series’ offers simple but cleverly designed studios from as little as $35,000, which can be transformed later with the addition of new components that fit the home like a matching piece of the puzzle. The same can then happen in reverse with components easily removed and re-used elsewhere if a home becomes too large.
Passive design features optimise natural light, warmth, cooling and airflow, substantially reducing the need for artificial lighting, heating and cooling. Many people confuse sustainable building with a home that offers solar panels etc. True ‘green’ design in fact combines form, function, practicality and sustainability. Craig said, “too many people only look at band-aid options without considering clever design first.”
Coping with such rapid business growth
Craig admitted that, “it’s hard to grow this fast.” He said that NSW Trade & Investment, in particular Business Development Manager Derek Taylor, helped him write a 5-year business plan, in which detailed plans on how to grow sustainably and expand nationally were outlined.
"I owe a lot to Derek (Taylor) for all the personal hours he put in to helping me with the business plan. Derek went above and beyond the call of duty to help me and I'm happy to say we've become good friends since," said Craig.
Through the support of NSW Trade & Investment and Business Enterprise Connect, Living Green Designer Homes has commenced a 3-year research contract with the Institute for Sustainable Futures during which time the Institute is logging how 15 of the company’s homes work. In the meantime, the company is constantly measuring and fine-tuning to further refine and streamline the entire process. “I spend a lot of money and time on R & D,” said Craig.
At this point in time, Craig is performing a balancing act, spending the mornings at the North Wyong manufacturing plant and the afternoons at his fully operational and staffed home-based office at Bensville.
Because transport is one of the most costly and polluting elements, the company will only commit to expanding interstate if a manufacturing plant can first be established within each state.
For now, Craig still gets a real buzz from what he does, despite working in the construction game for the past 28 years. The key to keeping that passion alive is to follow your heart, evolve and never stop learning. Craig says, “I do all the design because I am intrigued by it. I sit there, pencil in hand, guiding and steering the design every step of the way. I’m happy if my imagination is captured. You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing or it’s not worth it.” Craig finished our discussion by saying, “The key to good sustainable building is a repeatable, pre-engineered system where every house comes out unique. I can’t wait for people to start copying me.”
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