Fuel poverty is no joke. Society is only as strong as its most vulnerable members. If the cost of keeping everyone’s house warm—not an allowance measured in dollars but by thermal comfort—was borne collectively it would quickly become apparent that it is cheaper to rebuild or carry out retrofits for deep energy efficiency. The health benefits would be dramatic for …
Fletcher Living gets serious about low carbon homes
Great to see Fletcher Living’s announcement about its Low Carbon initiative. The Sustainable Engineering team has really enjoyed working with Fletcher Living’s people on their vision for low carbon homes that meet the 1.5 degree Celsius carbon budget. Exploring the operational energy and the embodied carbon impacts of many practical, more affordable housing options has been super enjoyable. Fletcher Living …
Historical insulation levels in NZ
Against the backdrop of all the recent noise about increasing Building Code minimum R-values, let’s look back at how the minimum standard (or typical values) have changed over time. This is a question I am asked regularly. The methodology varies a bit over time, but this excellent article authored by Nigel Isaacs while he was at BRANZ is the best …
Optimal indoor CO2 levels: is 1000ppm too high?
We need to talk about ventilation. Urgently. Specifically, policy-makers and industry need to arrive at an agreed definition of sufficiently ventilated when it comes to the indoor spaces where New Zealanders live, work, learn, play and train. CO2 levels are a useful measure of indoor air quality. ASHRAE’s* journal just published a summary article by Stumm et al, which takes …
Better health is first result of H1 improvements
I appreciate the work Germán Molina is doing to get his PhD findings out into the world. I’ve linked to work he’s publishing on his blog, Buildings for People, before. A recent post argues the case for handing responsibility for the Building Code to the Ministry of Health. A novel idea. I’m not convinced but I agree with his evidence. …
LEB projects in Christchurch, explained
It’s one thing to build bespoke higher-performing homes under contract for a client. It is quite another measure of risk to build spec homes that out-perform the Building Code minimums. There are currently two different developments in Christchurch, neither yet in construction, that are targeting LEB certification. Both are by Nest Residential. The first is a three-townhouse project in Addington …
A LEB is not a PH
It’s not correct to say a Low Energy Building (LEB) is a Passive House. Yes, it is a PHI standard. But to claim it is a Passive House, as a real estate agency’s media release did last month, is going too far. Yes, LEB is a building certification awarded by the Passive House Institute but it is confusing to conflate …
MBIE response (and ours) to NZ Emissions Reduction Plan
MBIE has summarised its take on the New Zealand Emissions Reduction Plan. Building for Climate Change (BfCC) will be its tool to make this happen through legislation. We will finally be stepping up to designing for thermal performance (eg operational carbon) and embodied carbon. At Sustainable Engineering, we’re doing our best to lay out a path for this to happen …
Great developments in NZ social housing
Kāinga Ora’s priorities for New Zealand social housing were laid out in a recent detailed article in Architecture Now, which is worth reading in full. It charts the agency’s journey toward building very high-performance homes, right up to Passive House standard, and slashing embodied carbon. Sustainable Engineering has completed pre-construction (design stage) review and approval for Nga Kainga Anamata and …