Eco Design advice
Building a new home? Renovating? Interested in sustainable building
practices?
If so, contact us for free Eco Design advice.
About the service
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Eion will visit you at your home or
building site and spend up to two
hours viewing your plans with you
....for free! |
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This free service, offered to ratepayers and residents of Auckland city, provides
independent advice and information on
sustainable building practices,
like how to
choose environmentally friendlier products and services to improve the overall
performance of your home.
The Eco design advisor will come to your home or building site and spend up
to two hours viewing your property or plans with you. Alternatively, you can
ring for a short consultation if you have specific queries on one or two aspects
of your building design.
The advisor will follow up with information including links to helpful websites
giving you building material qualities, thermal efficiency calculators and
opinions from third parties. They will also update you on the latest council
incentives.
Building designers are welcome to call for a free session. Architects can gain
professional development credits in the process. Presentations to larger groups
can also be arranged.
For further information, go to
www.ecodesignadvisor.org.nz
Book a consultation
To book your free consultation and help improve the quality of your lifestyle
and the value of your property
What is a sustainable house?
There are many elements that contribute towards a house's sustainability.
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| Solar panels. |
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Heating
- A sustainable, healthy house is warm and comfortable in winter, cool in summer
and needs little paid-for heating or air-conditioning to do so.
- In winter, all heat energy, whether solar or generated, is kept as much as possible
within the building because of the high level of insulation in your ceiling
and walls. You may even have a concrete floor exposed to direct sunlight, to
even out extremes in temperature year round.
- Your sustainable house also has an efficient hot water system, perhaps running
off solar panels or a heat pump, so you need minimal mains supply.
Water
- A sustainable house collects rainwater from the roof, which is used for the
toilets, laundry and garden.
- Any town water you buy runs cost-effectively through low-flow showerheads and
aerators on your taps.
- You may even divert 'grey water' from the bathroom, kitchen and laundry
for use in toilets.
- Your landscaping does the rest of the work by absorbing run-off from heavy
rain in specially designed rain gardens. Very little ends up going down storm
water drains to the sea.
Air quality
- Moisture from cooking, clothes drying and bathing is extracted directly
to the outside and doesn't form condensation and mould inside the house.
- Clothes are dried on the line when it's fine.
- Indoor air is clean and healthy.
- Any gas or wood burners in the house are low-emission and fuel-efficient to
limit air pollution outdoors and in.
- Paint and other finishings have an Enviro-Choice label on them.
Construction materials
- A sustainable house is designed and constructed using whole-of-life
principles.
- Materials are selected for their recycling potential, durability and energy
content to minimise the building's environmental impacts. Where possible they
are sourced locally.
- A waste strategy is employed during construction to ensure reuse or recycling
of excess building materials.
- Maintenance is taken into account during the building design process and
carried out at regular intervals by the homeowner.
- At the end of their usable life, the building components are easy to dismantle
for efficient replacement and recycling.
The service is an initiative of
BRANZ and is funded through the Ministry for the
Environment's Sustainable Management Fund, EECA and Building Research.
Updated June 2009
