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I stumbled across photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) solar installations last night, and the basic principle is rather elegant. As PV panels heat up, their efficiency falls, and this can be quite dramatic at around 0.5% per degree Celsius rise in temperature. In a PV-T panel, pipes are run behind...

Also take a look at this. http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/passivhaus-comes-to-california-shattering-stereotypes.html It's a Californian home, but has a bit of a look of some of the Australian vernacular.

Here's an introduction to the Passivhaus approach that you can download for free. http://passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/?nId=87 This is real hardcore green building. My brother, who's into green building, thinks that they go too far, and reckons an 80% approach is more cost effective...

I'd be focusing on the basics rather than heat pumps, solar panels and other expensive gadgets. So insulation, thermal mass, air-tightness, orientation, etc. These are likely to be cheaper and more effective. The other thing that I was wondering was how hard would it be to import a kit...