Just added in the library: Measuring the Extent of Thermal Bridging in External Timber Framed Walls in New Zealand.

While you may mostly be looking at existing housing, this research shows how adding extra timber to wall framing has the potential to reduce the amount of insulation and therefore increase heat loss.

The research found the average percentage of timber framing compared to wall area was 34%, much higher than the 14–18% framing content generally assumed by regulators and the industry.

It’s happening in a new build near you!

This year’s Eco Design Advisor conference (24-25 October, Auckland) is all about climate change and housing – how our houses contribute to climate change and how they need to adapt to climate change.

Speakers will look at what impact changing climate will have on our houses (areas that will be flooded, whether insurers will withdraw insurance) and how we need to adapt (where we build, designing for worse storms and rising temperatures).

Speakers will also consider carbon zero housing – what changes do we need to make to heating and materials so our houses reduce use of carbon fuel and embodied carbon.

Home Performance Advisors get discounted rates for this conference – $100 per day.

Register here or download the draft programme below:

These days it’s not just standby power which uses a surprising amount of power – increasingly we have ‘smart’ internet connected devices which are invisibly drawing power too.

This author calculated the energy use of his smart devices at 1226 kWh/year and works out the carbon impact of that use.

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This article shows how much thermally unbroken aluminium window frames contribute to heat loss from homes.

The author says “Aluminium frames without thermal breaks are highly conductive. The … aluminium frame only represents 1.6% of the buildings total envelope but is responsible for over 15% of all energy lost in a building.”

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