A nine-star home delivery with no diesel in sight
A new home at The Cape has helped demonstrate what low-carbon housing can look like when the whole journey is considered, from the way a home is built, to how it is transported, to how it will be lived in.
The nine-star passive prefabricated home, owned by Ned and Sarah, was built by MillBuilt in the Yarra Valley and transported to Cape Paterson using a Volvo electric prime mover supplied by CMV Truck and Bus and operated by CD Wilson and Sons.
The project brought together high-performance modular construction, electric heavy transport and all-electric living in a practical, real-world demonstration of what is possible today.
Built for comfort, efficiency and resilience
The home was built at MillBuilt’s Toolangi facility, where Daniel and Jamie Pobjoy have spent years refining factory-built homes designed for quality, comfort and environmental performance.
Factory construction allows much of the uncertainty of traditional building to be reduced. Homes can be built with greater precision, less exposure to weather, tighter quality control, less waste, all in a quicker timeframe.
This home is MillBuilt’s first nine-star passive design. It has been designed to stay comfortable year-round with very little heating or cooling, using careful orientation, insulation, airtightness, ventilation and material choices to create a healthy and efficient place to live.
For Ned and Sarah, the home is a long-term investment in comfort, resilience and lower running costs.
“We wanted a seaside forever home built to last and to be as energy efficient as we could make it,” Ned said.
“We’re trying to leave the world a little better for our kids, and this felt like a practical way to do that.”
Moving a house, quietly
Transporting a complete modular home is a complex job at the best of times. Transporting one by electric truck added a new layer of ambition.
The home travelled from the Yarra Valley to The Cape using a Volvo electric prime mover, with the specialist transport team from CD Wilson and Sons managing the move. The journey showed that electric heavy vehicles can take on serious freight tasks, while also highlighting the need for more heavy vehicle charging infrastructure across regional routes.
One of the most immediate differences was not just about emissions. It was quiet.
With no diesel engine noise during loading and manoeuvring, the team could communicate more easily around the truck and trailer. On a job where clear instructions and careful movements matter, the quieter operation made the process calmer and more efficient.
It was a glimpse of how electric freight could improve not only emissions, but also the day-to-day experience of workers and communities around transport and construction.
Lower running costs, lower emissions
As energy prices and fuel costs continue to fluctuate, efficient all-electric homes with solar power offer a practical way to reduce exposure to rising bills. At The Cape, that idea has been part of the vision from the beginning: homes that are comfortable, affordable to run and built for the future.
Ned said the performance of the home was central to the decision.
“I wanted a home that is built for the future, not the next power bill,” he said.
“This project gives us real resilience and running cost certainty, with a level of performance that you can feel every day.”
Showing what is possible now
The project was not about waiting for a perfect future. It was about using the technology and expertise already available and bringing it together in one working example.
A high-performance home can be built in a factory. It can be transported with zero tailpipe emissions. It can be placed in a community designed for all-electric living. It can run on renewable energy and cost very little to heat, cool and power.
That combination is where the real opportunity lies.
At The Cape, sustainability has never been treated as a single feature or upgrade. It is a whole system: good design, efficient homes, renewable energy, waterwise landscapes, open space, active transport and community connection.
The arrival of Ned and Sarah’s home is another example of that system in action.
It is a home designed to tread lightly, delivered in a way that points to the future, and now settled into a community created to make sustainable living feel normal.
Sometimes progress arrives with a roar.
This time, it arrived almost silently.
