Author: Matthew Cutler-Welsh
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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…
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Build Aotearoa 2: Principles and Performance
In March 2023, Homestar trainer, Passive House Designer and Certified Passive House owner, Joseph Lyth published a comparison of Homestar v5, Passive House and MBIE’s proposed Building for Climate Change framework. It’s a useful summary of these main three standards. There are other standards and brands out there, but these are the most relevant for…
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Build Aotearoa
Kia ora whanau. As I draft this episode, there’s a chorus of cicadas outside my window. The sun is shining and there’s a faint breath of a breeze. It seems calm where I live, here in a relatively leafy part of Tāmaki Makaurau. But all is not calm everywhere in Aotearoa today, Waitangi Day 2024.…
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274: Doing Windows Well
There are not many new ideas in the building industry. The basic concepts have been around for a while. ‘High-performance’ products and design details that might be described as ‘innovative’ here in New Zealand are likely to be standard practice somewhere else. With building experience in Europe and Scandanavia Richard Eden is well placed to…
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273: Our Homes Are Getting Smart
Brad Wills is Director: Strategic Customers & Programs at Schneider Electric. Based in Tennessee, he has three decades of experience with the organisation. We discuss the diverse range of products and services now offered by Schneider as well as the exciting opportunities for smart metering, microgrids, onsite battery storage, home automation and more.
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272: A Passive House in Taupō
In 2007 when Kim Feldborg arrived in New Zealand he was surprised at how cold and inefficient the houses were, despite growing up in much colder European climates. Originally from Denmark, Kim has built houses in Greenland, Norway, Germany and England. He now enjoys life in a Certifed Passive House he built himself in Taupō.…
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271: Renovating to Super Comfort and Health
Growing up in a typical kiwi home, it wasn’t until he had lived in the UK for a bit that Damien McGill realised we don’t need to suffer through winter in cold, damp houses. Damien is an engineer and knows how things should be put together so they don’t fall apart. But he’s interested in…
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270: From Villa to Very Nice House
Richard Houghton now lives in a very good, healthy home. But that wasn’t always the case.
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269: The Style of Sustainability
Bert Sarkkinen has built a successful timber framing company around a solid philosophy grounded in the style and craftsmanship of a unique and timeless form of building. Bert appeared on the Home Style Green podcast back in episode 176. A couple of years on, Arrow Timber Framing has expanded into a larger facility and Bert…
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268: Common Ground
Zola Rose has a vision for regenerative housing as a solution for improving communities and sustainability. She brings diverse and international experience to Aotearoa New Zealand where she now calls Nelson her home. Real estate has long been used as an investment and a means of making a profit in New Zealand. Zola explains how…