Why Aren't More Homes Better?
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Aiming higher FEATURE SECTION Why aren’t more homes better? BRANZ research shows homebuyers are interested in high-performance homes. The problem is that information on building above the Building Code minimums is sketchy, and building professionals could do better. BY CASIMIR MACGREGOR, BRANZ SENIOR SOCIAL SCIENTIST, AND TEGAN WARDLE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON TUCKED AWAY in a picturesque Christchurch street is a house that started the Superhome movement – 11 Church Square, Addington. If you walk by this house, its design may prompt an admiring look. It’s what’s inside that sets it apart. The house has New Zealand’s first 10 Homestar rating, a rating that certifies a house’s level of health, efficiency and sustainability. This means it demonstrates international best practice as a high-performing sustain- able home. For example, the house has slab-edge insulation, thicker exterior walls and higher levels of roof insulation, making the indoor temperature a comfortable 22°C in winter without any heating. See Great example, Build 155, page 88 for more. Why aren’t more buildings beyond Code? The Superhome movement, Passive House Institute of New Zealand and various Zero Energy House projects lead the way in changing our attitudes towards high- 11 Church Square in Christchurch is a high-performance Superhome. performance housing. Build 159 — April/May 2017 — 59 FEATURE Aiming higher SECTION Houses such as 11 Church Square demon- ‘... there is great there is a disconnect between building strate what can be done with current mate- consumer interest professionals, relevant information and rials, technology and know-how within the consumers. building industry. in housing features People searching for comfortable, healthy So why aren’t more New Zealanders beyond Code that and efficient high-performance homes are choosing to build beyond Code and incor- promote warmth often passionate individuals, devoting a porate sustainable high-performance design large amount of time to online research and features into their houses? and energy efficiency. or talking with others with similar wishes. However, there is a This desire to seek out information about BRANZ project investigating high-performance housing suggest public A Building Research Levy-funded project disconnect between attitudes to Code-minimum housing are by BRANZ has been looking at why New building professionals, changing. Zealanders choose to, or not to, build or relevant information The choice to exceed Code minimums retrofit homes to exceed the Building Code. in buildings is a first step in changing New To date, the project has undertaken an and consumers.’ Zealand’s cultural attitudes and expecta- audit of information sources and interviews tions towards housing performance and with consumers and industry experts about sustainability. building beyond Code. As one participant explained, ‘exceeding Builder reluctance to build non-standard suggests it is expensive. Perhaps … [it’s] Poor information available Other research participants spoke of their better to frame it around doing something We have found that much of the information frustration about a lack of choice and good like healthier and warmer homes.’ available to consumers is fragmented and sustainability options and their builder’s unhelpful. One respondent summed up the poor knowledge, especially in post-earth- Consumer resource to be developed difficulty of finding relevant information and quake Christchurch. By expecting more from housing perfor- failed conversations with her builder about One wanting to incorporate a greywater mance, consumers could take more respon- trying to exceed Code minimum housing as system into her rebuilt house after the sibility and empower themselves to demand ‘the whole system wears you down’. Christchurch earthquakes just gave up as the kind of home they want built. Tools to help with the design and construc- ‘it was too hard to get builders to do anything As this research develops, a benchmarking tion of sustainable high-performance houses, non-standard’. survey will be undertaken to see where the such as Homestar, were found to be not industry is currently exceeding the minimum widely known by consumers. This was Consumer interest is there building standards. also found in previous research. In the few What has been clear from the research so We will also create a resource for consumers instances where interviewees knew about far is that there is great consumer interest in and industry that enables more discussion Homestar, this was due to the use of the rating housing features beyond Code that promote around choosing to exceed Code-minimum tool on the television show The Block NZ. warmth and energy efficiency. However, housing performance. 60 — April/May 2017 — Build 159.