Here’s the latest Beacon Blog from Verney Ryan…

I noticed an article in the Press recently that amazed me: Canterbury architects claimed that building new homes to be energy and water efficient would add $15,000 to the cost of home building (http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/10684203/Energy-efficient-homes-cost-more-to-build ).

The New Zealand Institute of Architects  (NZIA) in Canterbury was challenging proposed new rules in the Christchurch City Council’s district plan that would require new homes to be built to a minimum Homestar 6 rating.  They claim this would add unnecessary cost to the building process.  They say the Building Code doesn’t require these levels of performance so why should Christchurch City Council?

I think this is wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start!

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It’s an irony that as we make advances in insulating the thermal envelope to keep homes warm over winter, the need to keep homes cooler in summer is also growing. Changing climate is meaning hotter summers and combined with today’s airtight and well-insulated new homes, summer overheating is becoming an increasing problem.

Modern lifestyles, where homes are often shut up during the day, mean that coming home to a hot, overheated house is common.  Once the house has become too hot, it’s much harder to cool down without using electricity.

There are two simple rules to prevent summer overheating, yet they often prove harder to put into practice:

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