The 2010 LookHome™ Green Design Awards are now open. Get your entries and votes in now and be in the running for a range of great prizes. This is a national awards series, judged by a high-calibre expert panel, as well as you, our online voters. Entries must embody sustainable and innovative design as well as demonstrate affordable construction approaches.

As well as national exposure, the Experts’ Choice winners will attend the worlds biggest green building conference, Greenbuild, in Chicago USA, November 2010. Voters can choose the Popular Choice winners by voting for projects they like and win prizes to help them along with their renovation or building journey.

Enter and vote now.

In the third episode of our interactive web streamed tv show myLOOKHOMEtv we focussed on Safe design. Archicentre Managing Director Robert Caulfield and fire consultant Paul England from Exova Warringtonfire talked us through the latest regulations and thinking about  designing and building in bushfire zones. Caulfield also outlined the bushfire design concept service that Archicentre is running for the Victorian Building Commission and shared thoughts about designing for an aging population, based on the insights from the 4500 inspections Archicentre conducts each year for older people.
In addition, in his capacity as the Kidsafe Victoria Vice President Caulfield discussed the common injuries children suffer in the home and how to better design homes with families in mind. Architect and entrant in the Look Green Home Design Awards, Scott Whiteoak, shared the design approach used on a home that incorporated safe design principles for both young and aging occupants for developer Stockland. Vierwers stole the real trade secrets from experts Paul and Robert on the panel. You can see the episode here.

In the second episode of our interactive web-streamed tv show, Brett Blacklow, the designer of the Smarter Small Home™ that you may have seen featured on A Current Affair was live in the studio with host Suzy Yates. He was joined by  Craig Riddle, the builder behind Living Green Designer Homes who shared some top Trade Secrets with us. We also took a close look at the Look Green Home Design award entry Alluvium House to find out the most affordable approach to building on a steeply sloping site and we found out about affordable housing projects on the drawing board with architect David Randerson from DKO. Brett and Craig were on the live panel to answer viewers' questions. You can watch the episode that went to air here.

The most exciting thing on our calendar this year is the launch of the Look Green Home Design Awards. This is a national awards series, judged by an expert panel that includes Archicentre’s Robert Caulfield and Houses magazine’s Sue Harris. They’ll be looking for the renovations, as well as the new custom and demonstration homes, that best demonstrate affordable, innovative and sustainable design.

The winners will receive fabulous prizes, including a trip for two to the world's largest green building conference, Greenbuild. They'll also be featured in the LookHome™ Design Annual out in October. Find out more about entering, voting AND prizes here.

While it’s reassuring to know that around 77% of LookHome™ readers  “love” our magazine, when we planned the LookHome™ program for 2009, we thought: “Why stop at a magazine?” We know that our readers want more information about green design (and renovating, redecorating and, yes, mulching!) so why not deliver this on a web-TV show that’s truly interactive? Think of it as talkback radio — but you can watch and listen on the net. Find out more about myLOOKHOMEtv  here.

Of course, there are still mags. So if you want the free magazine it really pays to read, and want to nab the back issues while you're at it, then subscribe now.

LookHome™. Even if you never lift a hammer, LookHome is the one tool you really need.

Channel 9’s ACA story went to air nationally on Friday 27th March at 6.50pm. By 7pm smartersmallhome.com.au was inundated with enquiries. Four days later and over 7,500 people have visited the site.

Everyone it seems wants a Smarter Small Home and it’s easy to see why. Here are just a few of the clever features:

• Low embodied energy materials help keep the home's carbon footprint and costs low
• The decking is made from recycled plastic bottles
• Lightweight Scyon™ cladding has been used on the walls inside the house, to save on plastering and tiling
• The new generation ceiling is an all in one product, that can be installed in a day
• The dining room is back to the future with a good old eat-in kitchen
• An all in one switch turns all your stand-by appliances on and off - right from the front door

The really smart thing though is that this home is not just smart, stylish and sustainable, it's also very affordable. The Smarter Small Home is open for public tours from April 18 and you can book your tour online here.