Just been browsing the Energy Saving Trust website in the UK www.energysavingtrust.org.nz.

They are a UK not-for-profit thathelps people to save energy every day. Through  impartial advice, commitment to undertaking research and work with businesses and governments, they influence behaviour change and new energy efficiency programmes and policies.

Their website has some interesting reports and tools – it’s all UK stuff but there’s some interesting research, such as heat pump field trials (including heating behaviour), a Water Energy Calculator to help households understand their water use and identify potential savings, and every year they publish how much money and carbon can be saved in the home across a range of things like insulating your home to buying the most efficient TVs.

Our March newsletter includes:

• Information evenings North America medium density study tour
• Message from the CEO – social housing reform
• Hastings solar PV development
• Creative placemaking with Milenko Matanovic and the Pomegranate Center
• Rental housing – UK and NZ parallels
• Beacon Blog: Why green building codes aren’t the total answer – house size and occupant behaviour have a part to play
• House size and resource use survey
• Found on Facebook

Check it out here

In an effort to find an affordable solar water heating option, Healthy Homes Te Tai Tokerau is trialling an innovation in thermal water technology. The Solapod has been installed and tested in several Northland homes over the past two years and has proven a huge success as an effective power saver and cost-cutter.

At 130 litre capacity the SolaPod is a hot water pre-heater with the ability to maintain most household water heating needs. Water easily reaches temperatures exceeding 60 degrees in mid summer and holds good residual heat overnight.

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Here’s an interesting project to keep an eye on…

In this Hastings development, one existing property is being retro-fitted, whilst eleven new homes are being built using solar panels and, in some cases, an energy storage system.

The development is a collaboration between Zen Energy Systems, Unison, Horvath Homes and Hastings District Council.

Unison is positioned to obtain a number of learnings from the project, which will help inform future development and investment decisions relating to its network.

“As more of the homes are completed, we will start to see the effects from multiple solar and energy storage systems in a compact area on the network. There are a lot of different scenarios we want to test throughout this project, so we anticipate up to three years of data collection once the twelve homes are complete and occupied.”

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