Warm Dry and Comfortable - How some homes get it right.

We often focus on what is going wrong with the way we are currently building, but for a moment I want to take a minute to look at what we are doing right. Because building better projects, high performance homes, Homestar rated homes and Passive Houses are being built today right here in New Zealand. In alignment with my personal mission (well honestly just one of them!) to tell people when they are doing great things, rather than leaving the voices to only those who are dissatisfied, I want to put a positive spin on things, because we need it right now with all the challenges that life is throwing at all of us. I like to tell people when their service is amazing, like when my car windscreen needed replacing and I lodged a claim and got a phone call back from Novus 5 minutes later. Or when a woman is rocking something I think, I wish I could wear that! Competition is healthy, but so are compliments. So in that spirit I write this month's newsletter.

Warm, Dry and Comfortable: How Some Homes Get It Right

We often focus on what is going wrong with the way we are currently building, but for a moment I want to take a minute to look at what we are doing right. Because building better projects, high performance homes, Homestar rated homes and Passive Houses are being built today right here in New Zealand. In alignment with my personal mission (well honestly just one of them!) to tell people when they are doing great things, rather than leaving the voices to only those who are dissatisfied, I want to put a positive spin on things, because we need it right now with all the challenges that life is throwing at all of us. I like to tell people when their service is amazing, like when my car windscreen needed replacing and I lodged a claim and got a phone call back from Novus 5 minutes later. Or when a woman is rocking something I think, I wish I could wear that! Competition is healthy, but so are compliments. So in that spirit I write this month's newsletter.

1. Insulation, Airtightness, Windows, Ventilation: They are all a team.

As an Architectural Designer, I talk a lot about collaboration in terms of people and products but here is a semi scientific reason why it's important to get these 4 elements in balance. So here is the inside sauce, they cannot be isolated for performance. So if you change the insulation levels, you increase the overheating, you increase the ventilation, you reduce the overheating in summer, but increase the heat loss in winter. You change the window shape and size, it affects insulation area, natural ventilation capacity and ultimately your comfort.

It's not about getting one right, it's about all to get in balance for your design, because no one design is the same, with same altitude, orientation, specification of materials and climate file.

So here is the deep dive, increased insulation increases overheating. Orientation affects heat loss (high winter power bills) and heat gain (overheating). Ventilation ensures healthy air to breathe (not filled with carbon dioxide which suffocates us or increases our aging) balanced with heat loss in the cooler times.

High performance homes

2. Why Comfort Matters More Than Warmth

We focus a lot on winter warmth with most of our existing homes here in New Zealand being cold rather than Healthy Homes. And our building code does focus heavily on insulation as a remedy, but following on from my points above, we need to consider comfort and all year round comfort. The crazy thing is that we seem to talk about building performance in terms of the winter and summer solstice, but the sun's altitude and azimuth, that is its height and angle in the sky is actually the same for spring and autumn, which have very different conditions. When we focus on comfort, we look at year round performance, instead of a season in isolation, meaning the homes interior, where we have our experience, is comfortable all the time. I often tell people we don't experience our homes by looking at them from the opposite side of the street, so considering our homes more in terms of Comfortable Homes and spaces created, rather than elements designed, helps shape the narrative.

3. The balance between a well ventilated home and one that is cosy

There is a tension between ventilation and heat loss. We need the volume of our homes to be completely replaced every 3 and a half hours. This means the volume of our homes should be replaced almost 7 times in a 24 hour period. Most of our homes are poorly ventilated, our homes don't need to breathe, but we do, so the air changes are for us. In winter this gets worse, as we try and keep the heat in. We know opening windows makes for cold spaces at night and in winter. The balance can be achieved with a heat recovery ventilation system. This means we get the ventilation we need, dry the house out (as we need ventilation to adjust air borne moisture) and we can recycle the heat without the moisture back into our spaces with up to 95% efficiency, if your home is designed right by an Architect or Architectural Designer.

4. The Everyday Signs of a Home Done Right

The signs of a home done right are simple. It doesn't overheat in summer much above 25 degrees Celsius regardless if you are home or not. It's quick and easy to heat in winter and your winter power bills are low and your home seldom drops below 20 degrees Celsius (think walking around your home in a T shirt whilst it snows outside). Other things are it's dry, no mould, no dripping walls. A silent benefit of a home done right is also quiet. A well sealed home can shut out the busy outside noises in an urban environment. And now with better finance deals available for Homestar rated homes, which are done right, there is lower mortgage repayments with an interest rate reduction of 0.7%.

Our homes are our greatest asset, and Architecturally Designed Homes, Efficient Homes and High Performance Homes prove what's possible when we aim higher than the minimum.

Understanding your project from the outset, and then moving through the journey in an informed way that is also specific and suited to your project, really is the smartest way to create a healthy and valuable new home for you and your family. It all starts with a chat.

To book a complimentary call with me and discover whether a Design Consultation is the right next step for your project, simply choose a time that works for you using the link below.