Home Style Green

Jonny Parker is a Homestar Homecoach, a home assessor at Home&Dry , and also runs Attic Island in Wellington. Listen in to find out what Attic Island is and how it can help ensure insulation stays effective, while providing much more usable space if your attic.  http://www.­atticisland.­co.­nz In this week's show, I also mention: - Great comments and discussion happening both on homestylegreen.com...

Is it 'Passive House' or 'Passivhaus'? That was one question I put to expat Kiwi, and architect Elrond Burrell. The main question though, is Passivhaus even relevant to New Zealand? Elrond currently works as an Architect in the Herefordshire branch of Architype: http://www.architype.co.uk/ In this episode, we also cover: What is Passive House? How can designers and builders of high performance hom...

Hot water is the second largest portion of energy use in New Zealand homes, accounting for around 30% of the average energy bill, that's equivalent to $650 per year. So what's the best system for your home? My general advice: Do you need a new system? Obviously if you're building new, then you've got a great opportunity. Otherwise, if it's not broken, does it need fixing? Two main types, storage v...

At the Prefab HIVE event a couple of weekends ago, I caught up with Jamie Harrington from Ekokit. I've had the pleasure of assessing some of Jamie's Hybrid Homes in Nelson, which are not only very high performing, they're also aesthetically stunning.  WIth Ekokit, Jamie's team have applied the same sustainable philosophies to a modular, cost effective set of house plans. Their features include: Mo...

A few weeks ago now, I got up at 5 am to interview Ben, who lives in Hertfordshire in the UK. Ben has a blog and podcast called HousePlanningHelp.com and he shared with me his motivation, vision and plans for learning to build a good home in the UK.  Listen in to find out what we have in common with people building and renovating houses on the other side of the world. What are some of the biggest...

Part 2 of my interviews from the Rebuild and Renovate Christchurch Home Show. This week I catch up again with Bob Burnett. Bob is Homestar trained Architectural Designer who I interviewed about thermal modelling in episode 14. I also speak with Thomas van Raamsdonk from Pro Clima about airtightness, blower doors and how to seal a three dimensional joint in framing around a window sill, using one p...

Last week I had the priviledge to attend some of the sessions at the Green Property Summit, jointly hosted by NZGBC and the Property Council.  A highlight for me was Wade Lange, Director of the Lloyd Ecodistrict in Portland, Oregon.  Later in the week, while in Christchurch, I attended a great lecture by Associate Professor Susan Krumdeik. Aside from being fun to go back to my old University at Ca...

Monique Alfris and her team sell solar powered lights to people in India. She does this through an organisation called Pollinate Energy , which Monique co-founded in 2012.  I was inspired by Monique's story after hearing her presentation at the recent Green Cities conference in Sydney, Australia. I really wanted to ask Monique about why Pollinate Energy was created and to see what learning might b...

Sian Taylor trained to be an architect in Cardiff, Wales. When she arrived here in New Zealand, like many others who have experienced homes in colder climates,  Sian was pretty appalled at the state of New Zealand houses. Since then Sian has gained experience working in prestigious firms such as Warren and Mahoney Architects and joined Queenstown firm, Green Being in March 2012. Sian has been heav...

Amanda Magnus is the Exhibition Director for Exhibitions & Events New Zealand, and is responsible for organising the inaugural Rebuild and Renovate Christchurch Home Show.  http://www.canterburyhomeshow. co.nz/index.htm    The show, which is on from Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th March at CBS Canterbury Arena, is a response to huge demand in Christchurch for information about building a home.   I spoke...

I'm a sustainable homes expert and I want to create healthy, efficient homes that don't cost the Earth. This week, I answer a couple of listener questions about the cost effectiveness and red tape associated with building green.  Following up on last week, I also discuss if concrete slab edge insulation is important in a hot climate for keeping cool. Upcoming events mentioned in the show: HIVE Pre...

Why should you insulate the edges of your concrete slab?  I was amazed when I discovered how much of the heat loss from a concrete floor can occur out the side of the slab, as opposed to down into the ground under the slab.  It's as much as 80%.  That means that most of the heat loss (the energy that you're paying for) goes straight out through the narrow bit of exposed concrete around the edge at...

Ingo Ratsdorf is a registered architect with Babbage Consultants based in Auckland.  Having grown up and been trained in Germany, Ingo is very aware of how poorly most New Zealand homes stack up against international standards.  When Ingo and his family were hunting for their dream renovation project, they were continually overwhelmed with the size of the job they saw. It seemed each house they lo...

How do you build a code 4 house for the price of code 3? And how do you get industry to solve the problem themselves? Richard Buchanan is an Associate Director at BRE and Founder of Green Building Consultancy Ltd . I met Richard recently inside a LinkedIn group during a discussion about housing affordability.  It turns out that while we're all looking around for policy solutions and government int...

One of the most common questions I get asked is "what's the best form of heating?" Much to the frustration of most people, I usually answer "it depends…" The best type of heater for you and your home does depend on many factors, however there are some guiding principles that apply to all cases. The most sustainable form of heating is passive The second most sustainable form of heating is wood Heat...

Throwing food scraps away is something that most of us do, because it's convenient.  But there are so many reasons why throwing nutrients away is a bad idea. So what are the best ways to make it easy and effective to compost at home? In this episode I also mention: The Auckland Home Show Green Architects Lounge Bokashi (my favourite supplier of Bokashi is:  http://www.zingbokashi.co.nz )

Eion Scott is an Eco Design Advisor with the Auckland Council. Eco Design Advisors around the country offer free, in home, independent advice on how to improve the warmth, health and comfort of your home.  For more information go to the Eco Design Advisor website. 

An architectural designer sits somewhere between a draughter and an architect.  Bob Burnett is an experienced architectural designer in Christchurch and he explained to me some of the reasons why it's a good idea to consult with a designer if you're planning a new build or a renovation.  Bob is also an experienced energy modeller using ArchiCAD's Eco Designer and he shares a great story about how...

About 10% of New Zealand homes invest in some form of retrofitted ventilation system. But do you really need one, and if so, what for? In this cast I talk about how to tell if your house is leaky or air-tight depending on it's age, two basic types of ventilation systems and the common symptoms that cause people to want to install a ventilation system.  Steps to take when considering ventilation ar...

Part 2 of our wrap of the NZGBC event in June.  This week, Verney and I discuss LED lighting, ventilation, 3D thermal modelling in CAD, construction waste management and other highlights from the Master Class day that followed on from the NZGBC Sustainable Housing Summit. Selected pdfs of some presentations are available on the NZGBC website . 

The inaugural Sustainable Housing Summit , hosted by the New Zealand Green Building Council, took place at the Auckland Viaduct Events Centre on June 27th 2012.  It was a great event with over 120 attendees, a very promising sign for similar events in the future.  I caught up with Verney Ryan via Skype to discuss the highlights.  For more information, check out NZGBC where you can now find pdf dow...

I was lucky enough to first meet Carlin Archer in Chrstchurch a few years ago. Carlin was interested in building an 'ecohome', but didn't know the first thing about building houses. He did know a lot about building websites thought. So he and his brother sat down and reated Ecobob.co.nz

Barb Cooper is a real estate agent with a difference.  In this interview, Barb shares some of the strategies she uses to build her network and how she's involved in the local community. It's refreshing to hear from someone who loves what they do. Barb shares her passion and her belief in the role that the real estate industry can play in improving the environment.  Barb can be found at: http://www...

It was my pleasure to interview Verney Ryan this week. Verney has been influential in the field of sustainable building and design bother here in New Zealand and overseas. Listen in to see how Verney describes his 'job'. Links mentioned in this cast include: BRE: http://www.bre.co.uk/ Beacon NOW homes http://www.beaconpathway.co.nz/new-homes Homestar http://homestar.org.nz

Last week, an evaluation report on the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart Programme, was released. It makes for some interesting reading, including a cost benefit analysis of the programme.  Check out http://www.healthyhousing.org.nz for more details Other news to check out: News real now online at http://www.homestylegreen.com NZGBC Sustainable Housing Summit. Be there! http://www.nzgbc.org.nz Keyno...