News
Secret Seven visit Nelson EcoFest
The seven eco design advisors visited Nelson in August 2011 to give presentations and find out the latest in sustainable building products and services. One of the highlights was a presentation entitled "Secret Seven visit EcoFest" where they formed a panel and fielded challenging questions on topics ranging from "what is the optimum level of insulation in a roof space?" to "how can you tell a good ventilation system from a bad one?". Nelson EDA Richard Popenhagen chaired the discussion and received feedback from audience members that it was one of the most stimulating talks of the show.
New environmental home rating system
The eco design advisors attended training on the new residential green star rating system, Homestar©, in December. Developed by the NZ Green Building Council, Beacon Pathway and BRANZ, Homestar© has easy to navigate pages for homeowners and the building trade which can be accessed free on the website, and more complicated spreadsheets that designers and assessors such as the EDAs can use to evaluate a home's environmental credentials. If a house achieves a star rating validated by the assessors, it can be advertised and expect to achieve a higher resale value than one that achieves a lower rating. For more information, go to the Homestar© website.
Attendees at the Homestar© training session, including facilitators Roman Jaques (left) from BRANZ and Liz Root (standing centre) from the NZ Green Building Council.
Garden of Three Kings
Following the training, several EDAs from outside Auckland made the most of the visit by viewing a good example of environmentally sustainable design, a rebuilt 1950s state house designed by architect Eddie van Uden in the suburb of Three Kings. Eddie has completely reclad the original brick and tile house using wider than normal framing (to accommodate more insulation) with a weatherboard exterior. He also extended the home to maximise its northern orientation, incorporating a thermally-broken slab, double glazing and thermal mass. The home performs extremely well, with the log burner rarely required in winter while in summer he maintains a comfortable, low humidity indoor climate with the use of passive ventilation. Eddie reused the bricks from the house on site, making four raised bed gardens and, as a former bricklayer, designed an attractive entrance way/driveway with the excess bricks.
Eddie van Uden (right) entertains several EDAs at his newly rebuilt 1950s brick and tile.