Home is where the heart is. It's also where our lungs are, where our eyes and ears are, where our whole bodies, and where our minds are.

In this week's show, I read a short audio essay about why we should dream and why we should ask for, and build better homes. 

Links:

• http://homestylegreen.com/greenhomedreamteam/
• http://solarking.co.nz/
• http://www.customconstruction.co.nz/

What's the impact of where all the stuff comes from that you use when creating your dream home, and how do you measure it? That's what LCA (life cycle analysis) is all about, and that's what eTool is all about. This week, I talk to eTool creator, Alex Bruce. 

Growing up on a farm helped shape Alex's appreciation for the outdoors. He went on to study Mechanical Engineering and while working in remote north Western Australia, got an opportunity to get into the solar panel business. 

One day someone asked Alex if it was true that solar panels consume more energy to make that what they produce in their lifetime. At the time he didn't know the answer, and set out to find out. 

eTool is now available to help answer that same question for all types of products and materials that go into building your home. 

References:

• http://etool.net.au/
• http://www.homestar.org.nz/
• http://www.bioregional.com/oneplanetliving/what-is-one-planet-living/
• http://www.oneplanetliving.org/index.html
• http://www.usgbc.org/leed/homes
• http://living-future.org/lbc

Book recommendation:

Making Your Home Sustainable, by Derek Wrigley

Other Podcasts:

http://www.entrearchitect.com/category/podcast/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/geoff-mcdonald-ideas-architect/id673000099

http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/category/podcast/

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/rnz-nine-to-noon/id174829950

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/rnz-this-way-up/id207987745

New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities are hosting a launch event on 20th August 2013 in Wellington for the book 'Homes People Can Afford"

The book was put together by Sarah Bierre, Philippa Howden-Chapman and Lisa Early from He Kainga Oranga, the Housing and Health Research Programme.

I discussed with Sarah, why they wrote the book, what housing affordability actually means and why it's important. 

Reference

The Poetics of Space

Danny Squires and Martin Luff met on Twitter, were inspired by a TEDex video and have since co-founded WikiHouse NZ. With this project, they're setting out to change the world and to 'make things better' by design. 

Links:

• WikiHouse NZ Website: http://spacecraft.co.nz/
• TV3 News item: http://www.3news.co.nz/Chch-developers-plan-jigsaw-puzzle-house/tabid/423/articleID/307657/Default.aspx
• http://blog.ted.com/2013/05/23/how-to-print-out-your-own-house/

Supporters:

• http://www.health2000.co.nz/
• http://www.madeonjupiter.com/
• http://www.pfc.co.nz/
• http://www.jnl.co.nz/
• http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle=fab-lab-wellington-officially-opened-28-08-2012

In this short, sharp episode of Home Style Green, I answer a listener question about insulating the edges of a concrete floor slab, what to do if you can't afford to install solar hot water, thermally broken windows, getting extra insulation in your walls and LED lighting.