Author: Matthew Cutler-Welsh
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Why are New Zealand Homes so cold and unhealthy?
The inside of many (most?) New Zealand homes is pretty cold and damp. It’s no coincidence then, that New Zealand also has one of the highest rates of asthma in the OECD. Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman is perhaps the countries leading expert in the connection between our housing stock and our health and I was privileged…
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Episode 4: Types of Heaters for Individual Rooms
In Episode 4 of the Home Style Green podcast, I discuss the common types of heaters used to heat individual rooms. I talk briefly about the running costs of each type and how to decided which one to use. There’s also a strong word of caution about why not to use unflued gas heaters. In…
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Episode 3: Insulation part 2
Episode 3 of the Home Style Green podcast is now available in iTunes. In part 2 of this insulation introduction, I discuss the main types of insulation used for ceilings, floors and wall. For more information about insulation materials, check out Level.org.nz from BRANZ: http://www.level.org.nz/fileadmin/downloads/Materials/LevelMInsul.pdf For more on the properties of wool, including great microscopic…
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Heat Transfer
In my second podcast, I discussed heat transfer and the the types and styles of insulation. I talked about ‘R-value’ and the technical meaning of thermal resistance. Well, without a full transcript (or even detailed show notes at this stage), I thought it might be worth doing quick follow-up entry with some of the content.…
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First podcast!
Well, it’s a brave new world for me. After talking about it for a while and thinking about it for even longer, I finally launched my first podcast last week. Thanks to a handful of people who have subscribed already! This is fantastic. Of course, the objective is to have listening, but’s it’s a pleasant…
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Where’s the wave?
There’s a lot of talk now about ‘the green wave’. But I’ve got a lot of questions about timing. Did the wave already come back in the 70s, did we have a ‘re-awaking’ around the turn of the century, or is there a growing peak of awareness building momentum and about to start crashing down…