281 episodes

How do you make a healthy, comfortable home that's sustainable and cost effective?

A ‘green’ home is the foundation of living a green lifestyle. Join me as I interview leading architects from around the world and discuss the how, why and who of eco homes and sustainable design. From simple energy saving tips to insulation upgrades, kitchen remodelling, solar power and insulating concrete slabs. #Feedback to matthew@homestylegreen.com

Home Style Green Matthew Cutler-Welsh

    • Arts

How do you make a healthy, comfortable home that's sustainable and cost effective?

A ‘green’ home is the foundation of living a green lifestyle. Join me as I interview leading architects from around the world and discuss the how, why and who of eco homes and sustainable design. From simple energy saving tips to insulation upgrades, kitchen remodelling, solar power and insulating concrete slabs. #Feedback to matthew@homestylegreen.com

    Build Aotearoa: Changing the Window Industry with Benjy Simmons

    Build Aotearoa: Changing the Window Industry with Benjy Simmons

    Stärke has been in the window industry in New Zealand since the 80s. They were at the forefront of supplying aluminium frames to the building industry but have recently made some big changes. With a focus on building performance, Benjy Simmons describes the new direction of Stärke as a 'once-in-fifty-year' change. While the company has a long legacy, they've experienced rapid change over the last few years. 
    Benjy credits some of the openness to change to him being from outside the industry. He's come in with a different perspective. "We're beginning to see ourselves as a building performance company not just a window and door company", says Benjy. 
    Check out the full range of Stärke products along with their education pages and other resources.

    • 39 min
    Build Aotearoa 6: Framology with Pete Hammond

    Build Aotearoa 6: Framology with Pete Hammond

    More is not always better, especially regarding the amount of timber in the frame of a house. The more timber there is, the less space there is for insulation. The way this is measured is called timber fraction.
    Most homes in Aotearoa are designed using the assumption that timber will make up around 14% - 18% of the area in a wall. A 2020 BRANZ research study found that in reality, the average timber fraction is closer to 40%. This means there is considerably less space available for insulation.

    Unfortunately, this is not always picked up during the consenting or pre-lining inspection process. H1 Energy Efficiency calculations are checked at the design stage, usually using the much lower default timber fraction assumption. The result of all this is that many consumers are effectively getting less insulation than they're paying for, and much more thermal bridging. 

    PlaceMakers has recently launched a new service providing a detailed report of the actual timber content for any wall frame and roof truss they supply. This accurate figure can then be used to provide true H1 calculations. Alternatively, a designer might choose to adapt their plan to reduce the thermal bridging and increase the amount of insulation.

    National Technical Resource Manager, Pete Hammond explains how Framology works. We also discuss the option of using external insulating products like RigidRAP-XT from IBS to eliminate thermal bridges.

    • 46 min
    Build Aotearoa: 5 Building Science with Denise Martin

    Build Aotearoa: 5 Building Science with Denise Martin

    Denise Martin has been involved with many of Aotearoa's Passive House projects. As one of the most experienced blower door testers in the country, she's been involved with verifying a range of residential and commercial buildings both in New Zealand and Australia.

    I caught up with Denise to chat about how she got into building science in the first place and some of the challenges and opportunities facing the building sector in New Zealand. We also discuss the building code, energy modelling, thermal performance and air tightness.

    If you don't already, I highly recommend following Denise on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

    • 40 min
    Build Aotearoa 4: Quality and Quantity

    Build Aotearoa 4: Quality and Quantity

    I found it confronting listening to Tova O'Brien's guest this past week as she described the experiences of staying in motel emergency accommodation with a young daughter. From my relative privilege (of choosing the right parents and having things turn out ok for me so far), I find it hard to imagine being in this situation. But it's the reality for nearly 6,500 people across Aotearoa, half of whom are children. 
    This is an emergency, and the problem is complex. The solution will require more than simply building more houses because the underlying issues are more complex than that.

    Related to this is a proposal from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to review the building consent process in New Zealand. This is something I'd like to look at in more detail because we must get the balance right.

    In 2023, MBIE sought public submissions in response to an options paper on a review of the building consent system. This week MBIE published a summary of the 270 submissions received.
    At the other end of the spectrum, I caught up with Jonathan Holmes about living in a Certified Passive House Premium home and working on assessing the embodied carbon in our buildings. 

    Other links for this week's podcast episode:

    Jonathan Holmes on LinkedIn Holmes House, Sustainable Engineering Hawea Flat, Home Style Green
    Be sure to register for Reimagine Buildings '24

    • 45 min
    Build Aotearoa on Safe(ish) Ground

    Build Aotearoa on Safe(ish) Ground

    Last week, February 22nd rolled around. This was a significant date in the Cutler-Welsh household thirteen years ago when our house was located close to the Avon River in Christchurch. While it was a life-changing day for us, life has gone on. We ultimately lost our recently renovated home in Richmond as a result of the Canterbury Earthquakes, but many lost so much more. 

    What would a moratorium on consenting new buildings in known floodplains, tsunami or fire risk areas, look like? How would the resulting plummet in land values impact the economy and further inflate the cost of housing?

    But if not now, when? The risks are likely to get higher and ultimately we have to ask ourselves if we're prepared to keep making our stop-banks higher or retreat to higher, less shaky ground.

    • 8 min
    Build Aotearoa 2 Principles and Performance.MP3

    Build Aotearoa 2 Principles and Performance.MP3

    There are fundamental gaps in what the New Zealand Building Code covers and how well it covers the aspects that are included. These reasons should be enough to justify using standards like Passive House or Homestar to go above and beyond the building code.
    In this series, I'll be looking at reasons why it's better to ask about the value and risk minisation resulting from higher performance standards rather than focussing only on perceived upfront cost. 

    • 8 min

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