Bert Sarkinnen has been building homes since he was 16, firstly alongside his Father who was also his teacher and mentor. Along the way Bert fell in love with the craft and beauty of timber framed buildings, so much so that he created Arrow Time Framing to specialise in this type of construction. As creators of beautiful, high quality buildings, Arrow Timber Framing is now 'the enemy of ugly'. In this conversation, we discuss the importance and value of a craft, how being encouraged to makes mistakes helped Bert to learn, and the challenges of building a business.

The Headwaters in Glenorchy, just 45 minutes drive from Queenstown is a magical place and now home to another Living Building Challenge project.

I caught up with lead consultant, Tricia Love recently to discuss how she got involved and what the Headwaters is all about.

The Headwaters doesn't aim to re-invent the wheel. It is however a leading example of how we can learn from what's being done overseas and contribute our own expertise towards a positive effort of creating better places to live, work and play.

Karen Manson likes thinking about and designing housing, not just houses. With over 15 years of international experience, Karen now has her own practice in Christchurch. She focuses on high performance houses, including Passive House. I had the opportunity to chat with Karen at the pro clima HUB about her journey. In this episode we discuss the urban design, keeping it simple and what can be learnt from the process of designing standard, code compliant buildings.

Nearly all building elements (roofs, walls, floors, window and door joints etc.) will leak at some point. Problems only occur when moisture gets in, and stays in. If moisture is allowed to accumulate for extended periods, then mould grows, timber rots and metal corrodes. Ultimately, people get sick and our buildings start to fail. This can be incredibly disruptive, stressful and expensive!

WUFI® was created to allow designers to check their designs before those designs become real buildings. By running scenarios with different combinations of products we can fail in the virtual world until we optimise the design. Then we can build with confidence that our real structure will stay dry, healthy and strong for decades.

How do you make eco, affordable?

As project manager for the proposed Lotus Eco Village in Paraparaumu near Wellington, Simon Wallace has some good ideas.

In 1971, Eric Doornekamp led a group of yoga enthusiasts to establish the Lotus Yoga Centre and Retreat in Aro Street, Wellington. Almost half a century on, the Lotus Yoga Centre Charitable Trust is branching out and developing an Eco-Village.

The Lotus Eco Village will be built in on a 3 hectare site purchased by the Trust back in 1985. Project Manager Simon Wallace shared with me how he plans to create affordable, healthy houses alongside a yoga and community centre in a great location.

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Russell Baillie describes the Baillie Eco-Home as a modern, contemporary house that's green under the skin. It's a two storey, three bedroom home in Mt Eden completed in 2016. The house is a showcase of efficiency, sustainability and universal design.

http://homestylegreen.com/171

Harpal Kler comes from an accounting background, but during the last four years he's learnt a lot about building and living in a Passive House. Now, he's a big advocate.

Their multi-generational family home was completed in December 2015 by ehaus and is one of a growing number of Certified Passive House homes in New Zealand.

I asked Harpal how he came across Passive House in the first place, and what he's learnt from building and living in one. 

What can we learn down here in the Southern Hemisphere, about the growth and success of Passive House in Canada? CEO of Passive House Canada, Rob Bernhardt shares his inspiration. 

This week I'm discussing skylights and roof windows. They're great for both light and ventilation, but what should you look out for?

A building surveyor is trained to investigate potential issues and provide a prioritised list of maintenance for a building. When looking to buy a property, don't take the real estate agent's word for it. Find your own, reputable building surveyor to get an honest assessment of the building. You'll still need to make the decision yourself whether or not to buy, but at least you'll be more informed when you make that decision.