Darryl Sang is one of only a few Certified Passive House Designers in Auckland. We discuss why he went through this gruelling training and why more of his clients are demanding Passive House standards.

http://homestylegreen.com159
http://sangarchitects.com/

Wolfgang Feist is attributed as the co-founder of Passive House along with Bo Adamson. Feist, a German physicist collaborated with Adamson from Sweden in 1988 to developed a number of ultra-low energy research buildings.

Passive House is now 25 years strong and at the time of recording, Wolfgang was preparing to attend the 20th International Passive House Conference back where it all began in Darmstadt, Germany.

http://homestylegreen.com/156

It’s tempting to say that Prefab’s time has come, but I don’t think this does justice to prefabricated building. As Pamela Bell has explained previously on the Home Style Green Podcast, Prefab is not new. But the enthusiasm shown during this week’s PrefabNZ CoLab event here in Auckland suggest that prefab will play an increasingly important role in the delivery of buildings.

Some would even go so far as to say, there’s a revolution about to happen!

Here are some of my highlights from a well attended and inspiring conference.

http://homestylegreen.com/155

Adaptive architecture and innovative insights from California, with Matthew Baran of Baran Studio Architecture.

http://www.baranstudio.com/

http://homestylegreen.com/154 

Paul Dowsett and his team at Sustainable.To are dedicate to creating affordable, healthy and energy efficient homes, because that's what Paul believes is 'the right thing to do'.

And as for the extra cost? Listen in to find out...

http://www.sustainable.to/
http://homesteylgreen.com/153

Remember when the main choice you had for light bulbs was 60 Watts or 100 Watts? Things have progressed a long way since then, and mostly for the better, especially when you consider that the average incandescent light bulb is only about 10% efficient. Most of the energy ends up as heat rather than light.
Now we've transitioned through compact fluorescents (CFLs) to light emitting diodes (LEDs), there's a lot more to understand about what makes a good light.

In this episode, I speak with David Maunsell from Switch Lighting to uncover the details about why some LEDs are much higher quality than others. Unfortunately it's still the Wild West out there in lighting retail land. Hopefully this can help you figure out what's important for lighting.

http://www.switch-lighting.co.nz/
http://homestylegreen.com/152

Glenn Harley is a builder of energy efficient homes in Canterbury. After being attracted to the natural, healthy feel of strawbale construction, Glenn now produces high performance homes with lots of insulation and airtight envelopes.

http://harleybuilders.co.nz/

http://homestylegreen.com/150

In the town of Invermere, about 3 hours west of Calgary in British Columbia, there's a workshop where high performance, energy efficient homes are constructed all year round, regardless of the weather. 

http://collectivecarpentry.com

http://homestylegreen.com/149

Graham Hunt goes into a lot of detail when researching the local climate that will impact the comfort of a home. Designing for your climate includes an analysis of both the macro - the temperature, rainfall and humidity of the region, but also the micro - the local wind, shading and exposure of a particular site.

We discuss why this is important and how to do some of the basics.

http://homestylegreen.com/148
http://gehunt.com.au

Who's the most influential person in a real estate development, the architect, the owner, the builder...? What about the developer?

Real estate developers are often seen as the bad guys, out to make a bunch of money without really caring about the quality of homes of lifestyles resulting from their work. Steve Glenn's philosophy however is that developers have a huge potential to control what gets created in real estate and he's passionate about creating a good product. The mission of Living Homes LLC is "...to create homes and communities that inspire people, foster family and community interaction, and make modern life easier, healthier and more comfortable..."

http://livinghomes.net
http://homestylegreen.com/147

Angus Crowe believes that you definitely can afford an architect. In fact, you can't afford not to have one.

Learning from design homes in the tropics, Angus now uses a combination of orientation, cross flow ventilation, thermal mass and above all - 3D modelling to produce healthy, comfortable homes.

http://homestylegreen.com/146
http://truenortharchitects.com.au/

Dennis Dowling creates finely crafted, passive energy homes that you’ll love. From energy efficiency and budgeting advice, through to high quality, Passive House standard construction, DCD offers a turn-key approach to building.

I initially contacted Dennis for a comment about why he choses to use pro clima products, but when he started to describe his approach to building homes, I had to turn on the microphone!

http://homestylegreen.com/145

http://dcd.co.nz/

Beattie Passive is a complete system for a high performance home. I love the idea of thinking of a house as a system. I also love the idea of making it simple and easy to get right, and that's exactly what Ron Beattie has done. 

http://homestylegreen.com/144

Foam is an incredible thermal insulator. For the price and size, it's about the best insulation material you can get. But many people are concerned about the chemicals and process used to manufacture polystyrene.

I spoke with Curtis VanDyke from RL Adams Plastics about what they're doing to make foam 'green' and therefore make it an even greater building material.

http://homestylegreen.com/143
http://www.goadams.com/

Bamboo Technologies, LLC (Bamboo Living) design and manufacture structurally certified bamboo homes. Founded in 1995, Bamboo Technologies has produced over 350 homes in Hawaii and around the world. I spoke with founder David Sands about why bamboo is sustainable as a building material.

http://homestylegreen.com/142
http://www.bambooliving.com/

I love Rich Williams' enthusiasm for what he does. Even if you don't live in the temperate climate of San Diego, you can learn a lot about the relevance (or not) of concepts like Passive House for a better performing home.

Alliance Green Builders are dedicated to 'building tomorrow's homes for today'. As well as being Passive House designers, they also offer LEED, GreenPoint and Zero Energy Ready homes.

http://homestylegreen.com/141
http://alliancegreenbuilders.com/

In episode 10 of Home Style Green, I interview Carlin Archer, the creator of Ecobob. Now Ecobob has a completely fresh new look, and is still going strong as New Zealand's leading eco home forum. In this episode, I talk with new owner Kristy Hoare.

http://homestylegreen.com/140
http://ecobob.co.nz

The terms 'sustainability' and 'eco' are not obvious on Adam Taylor's website. They are there (see if you can find them). But perhaps the future of green design is embedded in good design. Not something separate.

http://homestylegreen.com/139

http://adamtaylor.co.nz

Dr Allison Bailes III has used his PhD in physics and background in teaching to educate the world about better buildings. Through his company Energy Vanguard, Dr Bailes has been recognised as a great communicator, turning complex ideas like relative humidity and psychrometrics, into understandable fundamentals for better home performance. 

Jeffrey Dinkle brings over two decades of experience in sustainable construction and renovation to his board service at the National Passive House Alliance. Founder and owner of Eco Custom Homes and its parent company ICON Development Corporation, Jeff has become a recognized leader in Atlanta’s green building scene. He holds degrees in economics and sociology from Emory University and has trained in EarthCraft principles at Southface. Through Eco Custom Homes, he builds and renovates incredibly efficient high performance structures that embrace comfortable and healthy living and function.

http://homestylegreen.com/137
http://ecocustomhomes.com/

Passive House vs Passive Solar with Lloyd Alter

Much of this comes down to two design principles which are similar in name and have some overlap in their detail, but are fundamentally quite different. As Lloyd Alter points out, the 'Superinsulated' house was really the origin and (along with airtightness) is the basis of Passive House design.

'Passive solar' design is what's in question here, in particular the reliance on thermal mass and sun angles.

http://homestylegreen.com/136
http://www.treehugger.com/author/lloyd-alter/

PIDCOCK - Architecture and Sustainability is focused on desirable, sustainable architecture.

http://homestylegreen.com/135
http://www.pidcock.com.au/

Sue co-founded Bioregional in 1994 because she wanted to develop and implement more sustainable ways of producing the products we need and of living our lives to reduce our human impact on the natural world.

http://www.bioregional.com/

http://homestylegreen.com/134

Polly Bart loves to get muddy. Despite having an undergraduate degree in architecture and a doctorate in city planning, Poly is not an architect. She's a builder and founder of Greenbuilders, Inc. She loves creating, lifting rock and building things.

http://homestylegreen.com/133

http://greenbuilders.com/

Smart, Green and Beautiful Homes with Ronn Lepage. 

If these can be built in one of the harshest inhabited climates on Earth, then what would it take to build one where you live?

http://homestylegreen.com/132

https://verecohomesinc.wildapricot.org/

Davie Philip feels and lives like a rich man. He's an educator and facilitator at Cloughjordan (pronounced 'clock-jordan'), rated one of the top 10 places to live in Ireland. 

Cloughjordan Ecovillage contains 129 energy efficient houses. It features a biomass-fuelled district heating system and the whole village is designed for biodiversity. 

http://homestylegreen.com/131

http://www.thevillage.ie/

Beautiful architecture and high performance thermal envelopes. What a great combination. 

This week I chat with Christine Alberstsson of Albertsson Hansen Architecture in Minneapolis. 

http://homestylegreen.com/130

http://www.aharchitecture.com/

This week I discuss Maharishi Vastu Architecture with Jon Lipman. Where ancient philosophy comes together with modern science to make spectacular and enriching buildings.

http://HomeStyleGreen.com/129

Eric Fisher is making green design less boring. Not that green design is necessarily boring in the fist place, but Eric believes in making buildings that are well suited to their location and are interesting for people.

To find out more about Eric and his Pittsburg practice check out some of the great images on his website.

http://homestylegreen.com/128

Chris Hays likes to think of Architecture as 'the mother art', encompassing sculpture, mathematics, engineering, anthropology, ecology and more. Above all though, Chris likes the fact that architecture can help people create a better life.

http://homestylegreen.com/127

Green design, eco-architecture, passive solar design, energy efficient design, sustainable architecture, sustainability. 

Dominique Gettliffe and Alejandra Baltodano believe in the responsibility of architecture to make spaces that are good for people. Architecture shouldn't be about the ego of the artist. The responsibility of architecture is to be a catalyst for people to create amazing spaces.

http://homestylegreen.com/126

If you're at all interested in building a better place to live, you need to start with good foundations. There are other solutions out there, but MAXRaft offers the only complete system here in New Zealand that is fully insulated.

The resulting slab has an impressive R-value of up 4.5, about three times the standard. For an investment of only about 10% above the standard slab price, this is well worth the comfort and energy savings.

This week I have Henry Edney on the show to discuss some recent product developments.

http://homestylegreen.com/125

Dr Johann Bernhardt originally came to New Zealand, expecting to stay for a year. That was about 30 years ago. In that time, Johann has made his mark on the sustainable architecture landscape, producing an impressive portfolio of energy efficient homes, running the Auckland office of the Building Biology and Ecology Institute (BEE), lecturing sustainable design at the University of Auckland and producing the book 'A Deeper Shade of Green: Sustainable Urban Development Building and Architecture in New Zealand'.

http://homestylegreen.com/124

Eric Corey Freed is no stranger to being interviewed. As author of 11 books, an architect, keynote speaker, consultant and sustainability thought leader, he's appeared on numerous stages, screens and in written columns.  

In 2005 he was named "Best Green Architect" by San Francisco Magazine and in 2012 was named as one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Green Architects".

I hope you too are inspired and find some useful tips from this conversation about organic architecture with Eric Corey Freed.

• http://HomeStyleGreen.com/123
• http://www.organicarchitect.com/

Elena Michel travelled to England to learn the art of sustainable architecture. Through her practice, Second Eden Studio, Elena now provides an alternative to the 'McMmansion' and is bringing a global perspective of sustainable design to North Carolina.

• http://HomeStyleGreen.com/122
• http://www.secondedenstudio.com

Ever noticed how people always seem to 'turn up' in the kitchen? Chris Larson definitely noticed this and has developed the concept of the sociable kitchen as a principle of his house design philosophy. He's also in to making passive solar homes beautiful, which I love.

• http://homestylegreen.com/121
• http://chrislarsonarchitect.com

Why is a regular developer interested in producing a zero energy house in New York?

http://www.kane-aud.com/

Kelly Hart is an amazing thinker and innovator. He's passionate about the environment and generous with the resources and learning he shares. 

http://homestylegreen.com/119

Jae Sabol is a man on a mission involving open source, community based, sustainable building for 'The Highest Good of All'. 

http://onecommunityglobal.org/

http://homestylegreen.com/listen

Lindsay Roberts is the show director for Greenbuild, the premier conference and expo for the green building movement. 

Organising Greenbuild is a 12 month long process, so running the annual event is pretty much a full time job for Lindsay. I thought I'd catch up with her just prior to registrations opening so you've got plenty of time to secure your early bird tickets and join the buzz. 

In 2015, Greenbuild is in Washington D.C. and will take place from November 18 to 20. Mark it in your diary now!

http://www.greenbuildexpo.com/

Concrete slab edge insulation is one my hot topics. It seems to spark debate, firstly about if it's worth doing, then secondly about how to do it. I recently spoke with manufacturer and experienced business owner, Mike Peters of Fort Wayne, Indiana who's come up with an easy solution for builders to cut heat loss at the slab edge by up to 88%.

http://homestylegreen.com/116

http://insulslab.net/

What's the difference between HRV and ERV? Grant Anderson is the National MVHR Manager at Fantech. (What's MVHR? Listen in to find out!)

Please feel free to contact me if you'd any help with choosing a ventilation system, matthew@homestylegreen.com

You can also find Grant and his team at Fantech, http://bit.ly/1FDK1PT

http://homestylegreen.com/115

Peter Olorenshaw has been developing his passion for passive solar design for over 21 in Nelson, one of New Zealand's sunniest spots. While has does practise architecture elsewhere, like his designs, he prefers to keep it local.

http://homestylegreen.com/114

http://www.peteroarchitect.co.nz/

How do you find the right products to build a net zero, LEED certified, Living Building Challenge, or simply a healthier, more sustainable home? Standardising product information and storing it all in one, easy place was the reason why GreenWizard was started. It's a Building product management solution to help you find sustainable products.

http://homestylegreen.com/113

https://www.greenwizard.com/

What's the link between durability and sustainability? Brett Little explains that there's no point in building a zero energy house, if it only lasts a few years.

The Green Home Institute is focussed on empowering people to make healthier and more sustainable places to live. Working closely alongside the the USGBC, the Green Home Institute offers services to help with LEED for Homes Certification and other third party verification provides to help prospective home owners meet their sustainability goals.

http://homestylegreen.com/112

http://greenhomeinstitute.org/

Andrew Stephenson has always seen architecture as a unique opportunity to turn people's dreams into reality. 

Living in a luxury bus with a family of five, and studying permaculture, has given Andrew some great inspiration for multi-function spaces and features. He now incorporates this thinking into his designs to make stylish and sustainable homes. 

http://homestylegreen.com/111

http://www.bellstephenson.co.nz/

How do you make a power plant in the middle of an urban setting, look interesting and attractive? And what's that got to do with designing sustainable homes?

Peter Hogg and Toby Reed are award winning, Melbourne based architects and I spoke with Peter about why he does what he does. 

Be sure to check out there website for more about their recent projects, including the spectacular Precinct Energy Project in Dandenong.

http://homestylegreen.com/110

Marnie Oursler used to sell houses. Now she designs and builds them and runs a successful company doing so.

What I found most inspiring talking to Marnie, was that she knows how to have fun while creating a spectacular home.

http://www.marniehomes.com/

How do you make a house sustainable? Talking to the team at Sustainability House would be a good start. 

Sustainability House believe that all buildings should aim to have low embodied energy, use energy efficiently, generate electricity, collect and recycle water, be passively thermally comfortable and provide safe indoor air quality.

Sounds reasonable. 

But how do you do it?

I spoke to Business Development Manager, Mark Clayton about their services and the growing demand for sustainable buildings. 

Green Tomato Energy, based in Hammersmith London, is another example of a company fulfilling a fantastic need. They help people get set up with renewable energy technologies and they provide advice on low energy and Passivhaus building design.

http://homestylegreen.com/107

http://greentomatoenergy.com/

Wally is a wireless water leak detector, and temperature and humidity sensor for your home. As CEO of SNUPI Technologies, Jeremy Jaech told me, this isn't particularly sexy, but it could be really valuable.

What is a blower door and why would you want to use one?

We've discussed the benefits of airtightness previously. In this episode, we're jumping straight in to look at the blower door and airtightness testing.

Derek Ward's strength is the science that connects good design with good performance. Clioma House specialises in 'airtightness and effective insulation'. They help bridge the gap between the drawing board and the construction site.

Matthew Vande and partner Amy Musser created Vandemussser Design to help with 'the technical side of building green'.

They found a great problem when they moved to North Carolina - builders who wanted to do right thing, but didn't know what the right thing was. Matt, Amy and their team now help builders and their clients to find the most cost effective and easiest way to make energy efficient buildings. They help builders to avoid a costly 'trial and error' approach.

http://homestylegreen.com/102

Paul Testa lives in beautiful Sheffield in the UK. He introduced me to the concept of 'vernacular construction' - designing and building to the local conditions. 

Is the Home Style Green Podcast turning into the Passive House Podcast? 

http://paultestaarchitecture.co.uk/

Thanks to NUDURA for supporting Home Style Green:

http://energyefficientbuilding.co.nz/

It's episode 100! In this week's special show, I turned the microphone around to hear from past (and future) guests, listeners answering the question "What would you do to make a better place to live?"

As a founding member of PassivHaus Main, I should have guessed that Chris Corson would be pretty passionate about why and how we should build better homes. A quick look at EcoCor's website suggests they are a good place to start for achieving a practical solution to a sustainable home. I caught up with Chris to talk about prefab, Passive House and Passion!

So, you've decided you'd like a really good home. One that's comfortable, healthy and energy efficient. That's great, but unfortunately it's not (yet) standard practice. Hopefully you can find a good designer to help (try this list if you like). But you'll also need some good, non-standard products. This week I spoke with Ken Levenson about how 475 can help you achieve a high performance home.

Three years ago, John Donovan built a demonstration log house on his property in Waitakere. The images in a recent newspaper article caught my attention, as did the mention of 'eco' and 'efficient'. So I tracked John down to get his thoughts on sustainable building with logs. And we talked about pyramids...

Phase change materials and how to add thermal mass to light weight buildings.

After learning to build cob houses, Chris Brookman now supplies some very cool, modern clay and timber material products to building industry. 

The Homestar Mandatory minimums are a series of benchmarks that have to be achieved in order to progress up the Homestar scale. They're important because if they are are not achieved, your score will be held back. So what are the Homestar mandatory minimums, and how can you achieve them?

There are eco labelled paints, and then there are eco paints. What's the difference?

So, you know you want a sustainable (healthy, efficient, affordable and desirable) home, but where do you start? I've covered the fundamentals  of what makes a good energy efficient home, but these are details. What's the big picture? Where do you start a sustainable house?

http://homestylegreen.com/93

Group or volume builders get a bad rap sometimes for perpetuating bad building practise. But it is possible to get a good home from a group builder. This week I talk with someone who's doing just that and her explains how.

Glenn Murdoch was a regular house designer until he watched Simon Sinek's TED talk. Then Glenn asked 'why'? In this week's show we talk Passive House and how to architecture can create a better society.

Duncan Firth feels 'compelled' to do what he does - designing environmentally functional homes. How can architecture truly respond to the environment?

Homestar is New Zealand's comprehensive environmental rating tool for homes. It's Green Star for the residential sector and is not some crazy Kiwi start up idea. It's very closely related to successful international precedents such as LEED and Code for Sustainable Homes. But how much does it add to the cost of building a home? 

There are some inaccuracies out there that I think need addressing. 

Something a little different this week. I’ve had some excellent questions sitting in my inbox for a while and I thought that many could benefit from them. In this Q&A session I cover Homestar, thermal mass, heating and cooling options and small, affordable home design. 

Do you need a professional project manager for either the design stage or the construction stage of your building project? I discuss the basics of good project management with podcaster, engineer, business owner and soon-to-be author, Cesar Abeid. 

Eaves are the classic case of form following function. In this podcast I lay out my three key reasons for having them, but a key question is, 'how big should eaves be?'

Resilience and sustainability are different. Sustainability feels more long term to me. It's about using resources wisely with future generations in mind. Resilience is more about weathering the storm. There is an overlap and so both are important.

If being resilient encourages people to invest in rainwater harvesting and solar panels with battery backup, thereby also being more sustainable, then surely that's a good thing for everyone. 

Is one more important than the other, or can resilience be a really handy way of selling sustainability?

Plus, my top five tips for having a resilient home. 

Over the last few years, I've developed this model for good home design: Map, wrap, gaps, taps and apps. 

Find out more at: http://homestylegreen.com/84

Most of us are familiar with leaky buildings - the perfect storm of poor design, poor cladding systems and poor workmanship, culminating in allowing rain to get in. Now we've moved on and have cavities, more stringent weather-tightness checks and hopefully we like eaves again.

So what's leaky buildings 2.0? If we've dealt to the risk of moisture coming in from the outside, where else can moisture come from?

http://homestylegreen.com/83

Natalie Cutler-Welsh spends some of her time helping small business owners who are just getting started with social media. This can be a daunting task yet important step for your business. I wanted to get some tips for building professionals on the 'why' and 'how to' of basic social media. 

This week, we look at Facebook and LinkedIn

http://homestylegreen.com/82

http://gotogirl.co.nz

Ian McHugh's specialisations include Code for Sustainable Homes Assessor, and 'Eco-Refurbisher'. I want to know how good designers and architects can do more work involving energy efficient, sustainable, eco buildings. As a building professional, how can you get more of this type of work?

Also, we discuss Ian's mass customisation 'IKEA-style' concept for climate adaption, the IDEAhaus.

http://homestylegreen.com/81

What's earth building and why is it just as relevant today as it has been for centuries? Can you get it wet, and can you get a consent for it? These are just a couple of the questions I ask Verena Maeder, chair of the Earth Building Association of New Zealand and owner or Solid Earth. 

http://www.homestylegreen.com/80

The BRANZ House Insulation Guide Fifth Edition includes waffle pod slab systems, and a concrete slab edge insulation update. I review the options.

Lesley England knows how to design eco friendly homes and importantly for her, she knows how to attract the right clients who want her to design eco friendly homes. It's all in the name - ecohabitats.

Three key factors for designing eco friendly homes are:

1. Size
2. Orientation
3. Materials

Find out more at http://homestylegreen.com/78

What exactly is uPVC and is it a good option for window frames? I speak with Oleg Tolmachev of www.warmwindows.co.nz to find out if uPVC windows are a good fit for New Zealand conditions. 

Mark experienced his own building project as a client in 2004 and recognised the need for better information. He was handed a copy of the Building Guide from the local Council. 

The Building Guide was a different publication then and Mark saw potential for how it could help prospective homeowners get better information. So in 2006, Mark Graham bought the magazine. 

He explains to me why he hated advertising - the very industry he worked in for 14 years, and how he now relies on it. What's the difference?

What's self-help housing and why is it important?

Canopy Housing Project is a self-help housing organisation based in Leeds, U.K., creating decent homes by renovating derelict ones. Steve Hoey has been running Canopy Housing for the last six years and I asked him why he does what he does. 

Also in this episode, the five essentials of self-help housing and Steve's great book recommendation.

http://canopyhousing.org

Would you buy a prefabricated, modular home made in China?

Ecotech Homes are versatile, modular housing solutions. I caught up with their Major Project Director, Craig Nisbet just before he took off to Ghana to talk about prefabricated, affordable, quality homes.

I found out there are some good reasons to consider factory built, modular homes.

Jessica Eyers is a passionate advocate for sustainable, green design. As I discovered during this interview, Jessica is also really interested in the science of green building and understanding what works and what doesn't work.

For more, go to http://homestylegreen.com/72

Jennifer Crawford used to sell houses, now she helps people to buy the house that they really want. What's the difference? Listen in to find out!

If you're in New Zealand, you can find a Homestar Homecoach here: http://www.homestar.org.nz/the-journey/homecoach

If you want help with your new home, get in touch and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction. 

How to do the type of design work you want, from where you want. Duncan Sinclair is the founder of Black Pine Architects. His practice and his home are in Whanganui, but thanks to the internet, his work can be anywhere.

http://www.blackpine.co.nz/

Dan Heyworth is on a mission to improve the range and quality of houses available to New Zealanders. 

After returning to New Zealand from UK a few years ago, Dan realised there are really only two main options for getting a house built, either going to a building company for a cheaper, mainstream house; or going to an architect for an expensive one. 

Box Living is both an architectural firm and a building company. Dan and his team are passionate about bringing the benefits of architecturally designed homes, to everyone. 

www.boxliving.co.nz

An article about a couple of energy efficient homes in New Zealand caught my attention recently. I decided to look up the owners of one and Ron was very generous with his time. I was also grateful to be able to record our conversation so I could share the learning and successes with you. 

If you'd like advice or recommendations on your future home, please get in touch. I'd love to help. 

Link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/lifestyle/going-green/9978533/Green-home-design-has-it-all

Get your plans reviewed:

http://homestylegreen.com/house-plan-review/

Nudura is a brand of Insulated Concrete Forms, which as CEO Murray Snider describes, is like giant Lego blocks. When the polystyrene pieces are slotted together and then concrete poured into the central cavity, creating airtight walls, the resulting comfort and thermal performance is impressive. 

Murray was recently visiting New Zealand from his home in Canada and I took the opportunity to find out more about ICF and Nudura. 

For more, visit 

http://homestylegreen.com/67

To get in touch with Nudura directly here in New Zealand, contact Chevy Chisholm 

email: chevy.chisholm@me.com

phone: 021 766 117

Sustainability Options is an 'altruistic business'. Find out how they contribute 85% of their profit back to the community, provide free home assessments that save households between 10% and 30% on their power bills, and their recent campaign to help one family in need. 

In this weeks show, I discuss the evidence that there is monetary value in getting a rating for your home. 

References:

• http://www.usgbc.org/sites/default/files/ValueofGreenHomeLabelsStudy_July2012.pdf
• http://www.nathers.gov.au/about/publications/pubs/eer-house-price-act.pdf
• http://besthome.org.nz/showhome.html
• http://www.homestar.org.nz/newsroom/value-and-affordability-homestar

Related Episode:

Home Style Green Episode 21: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/21-upcoming-events-red-tape/id513213105?i=134294625&mt=2

What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘cohousing’. For many, there many be some negative connotations. The reality though is that there are so many advantages to sharing some things with your neighbours, while still maintaining a strong sense of privacy and your own space. 

Robin Allison trained as an architect in order to help create a more sustainable future. She ended up initiating what was to be become Earthsong Eco-Neigbourhood. 

To connect with Robin, go to: http://robinallison.co.nz/

Be sure to check out: http://www.earthsong.org.nz/

Book Recommendation: Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World http://amzn.to/1hB3xtL

Related sites:

House Planning Help Episode 28, How Co-Housing Helps Build a Community: http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph028-how-cohousing-helps-build-a-community-with-mark-westcombe-from-lancaster-cohousing/

Gilo Holtzman of Synthesis Studio: http://synthesisstudio.org/about/

What other form of heating provides a coefficient of performance, around 5 - 7? That’s the promise, and the reality of ground source heat pump technology.

This week I spoke to Senior Hydrogeologist at Geoscience Consulting NZ, Huw Williams about this amazing technology. We discuss if it’s suitable for houses in New Zealand and why Huw is so interested in ground source heat pumps as a sustainable technology. 

Links:

• http://www.nzgeoscience.co.nz/
• http://www.nzgeothermal.org.nz/ghanz.html
• http://www.carbonwarroom.com/

The key characteristics that Jo and Shay were after when they designed and built the Zero Energy House were:

1. Comfort and Health
2. Affordability - of building AND operating
3. Inspiration 

We also discuss some of the specific features that have made it possible to bring these characteristics to life. 

For more, check out http://zeroenergyhouse.co.nz/

Ben Adam-Smith discusses EcoBuild 2014, what makes an energy efficient house, constraints versus compromise, new versus retrofit, why houses don't use energy, and population growth. 

Also, find out why Ben hasn't had a bath for a year!

Links:

• http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/
• https://www.thesnippetapp.com/web/writers/benadam-smith
• http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/

Louisa Chase is the Project Manager for EcoFest 2014. The festival runs from March 15th through to April 13th and has everything from films, to gardening and composting seminars, eco-house tours and even a sustainable fashion show. 

We discuss why Kaipatiki exists, the difference one person can make, and ‘Nana Technologies’. 

For more, be sure to check out http://kaipatiki.org.nz/ecofest/ and http://www.ecomatters.org.nz/what-s-on/ecowest-festival-2014/

Thanks to DOC for the dawn chorus on this week’s show. To listen to this, and other native New Zealand birds, go to:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/birds/new-zealand-bird-songs-and-calls/

Also mentioned this week:

• Zero Energy House (coming up): http://zeroenergyhouse.co.nz/
• Ecobuild: http://www.ecobuild.co.uk/ 

Adrian Feasey is a solar consultant, so he knows a thing or two about energy efficiency. Why then would he purchase a 1960s, weatherboard house with no insulation and begin a renovation project to try and make it warm, comfortable and cost effective? 

Adrian is showcasing his house as part of an eco-house tour in the upcoming Kaipatiki Ecofest. 

Ecofest Website:

http://kaipatiki.org.nz/ecofest/

Ecofest House Tour:

https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/ecofest-2014-good-life-tour-tickets-10444211919

Adrian Feasey on LinkedIn

nz.linkedin.com/in/adrianfeasey

Adrian’s Book Recommendation:

The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, http://amzn.to/1pwJvIo

James L. Salmon is the President of Collaborative Construction, an organisation created to encourage a better way of building. After spending much of his legal career helping sort out disputes between building owners, contractors and suppliers, James is convinced there's a much better way of organising, communicating and conducting the design, procurement and building processes. 

What is the IDEAL House, and how will everyone soon be able to see it? I talk with owner, Murray Durbin and he shares his inspiration and discusses some of the features that make this house special. We also talk numbers!

For more, visit: http://idealhouse.org

Dean Buckeridge has been designing energy efficient, passive solar homes in Christchurch for as long as I’ve can remember. Along with Russell Devlin, and Bob Burnett, I hold Dean in high regard for leadership in this field. It’s great to see the rest of the market finally starting to demand more of their knowledge and skills.

In this episode of Home Style Green, we discuss why asthma is the norm in Kiwi kids, how thermal mass can go wrong, the economics of spending a bit more up front, the problem with teenage daughter and having cosy feet.

Dean is also involved with MagRoc. Find out about the benefits of this exciting new product. 

Find out more about Dean at:

http://www.dbarc.co.nz/energy-efficient-architecture/

And MagRoc at:

http://www.magroc.co.nz/

Dean also mentioned the site sorted, for looking at the cost of mortgages:

https://www.sorted.org.nz/