Category: Sustainability
-
189: How to Build Your Own Tiny House
Natural. Passive. Tiny. This is what Ever Homes is all about. Founder and builder Everett Norris created Ever Homes to build Tiny Homes and to help people learn how to build their own Tiny House. The Dream of Home Ownership Everett Norris always wanted to build his own house. As a boy, he also assumed…
-
188: How to Have a Comfortable, Safe and Affordable Home
Paul Hennessey has an inspiring vision of a thriving community in which people live in their own warm, dry comfortable and affordable homes. He’s partnered with his wife, Pascale to create Park Homes in order to turn that vision into reality. But is it really possible to have an affordable and a comfortable home? Affordability…
-
181: Hütt – Tomorrow’s House Today
Felicity and Marc Bernstein met at architecture school in Germany and have been working together since. During the last twenty years they’ve worked in Germany, Arabia and Australia. They now want to use modular design to bring high performance, zero-carbon homes to the masses. Felicity and Marc have recently launched Hütt – Tomorrow’s House Today…
-
177 Could Homestar be the PR Boost that Sustainable Building Needs?
In episode 145 I spoke with Dennis Dowling of DCD (Dowling Construction & Development). In episode 177, I talk with Annabelle Numaguchi who has a PR and marketing background and is now part of the DCD team. Annabelle has assessed a spectrum of homes, from 6-9 Homestar, thus far. Why did Annabelle become a Homestar…
-
175: The Headwaters Living Building Challenge
The Headwaters Living Building Challenge The Headwaters in Glenorchy, just 45 minutes drive from Queenstown is a magical place and now home to another Living Building Challenge project. I caught up with lead consultant Tricia Love recently to discuss how she got involved and what The Headwaters is all about. Tricia Love After working on…
-
173: Using WUFI® to Keep Buildings Dry and Healthy
Jesse Clarke is concerned with how to keep buildings dry so that they remain healthy, durable and energy efficient. Jesse is the Building Science Manager for Pro Clima Australia and Pro Clima NZ. He’s also an experienced advocate of WUFI® software. If you don’t put the building products together properly, then you don’t manage the…
-
172: The Lotus Eco Village – How to Create Affordable Healthy Houses
In 1971, Eric Doornekamp led a group of yoga enthusiasts to establish the Lotus Yoga Centre and Retreat in Aro Street, Wellington. Almost half a century on, the Lotus Yoga Centre Charitable Trust is branching out and developing an Eco-Village. The Lotus Eco Village will be built in Paraparaumu, on a 3 hectare site purchased by…
-
171: The Baillie Eco-Home
Russell Baillie describes his Baillie Eco-Home as a modern, contemporary house that’s also green under the skin. It’s a two storey, four/five bedroom home in Mt Eden which was completed in 2016. The house is a showcase of efficiency, sustainability and universal design. Russell has publicly shared his design and build journey on the Baillie Eco-Home…
-
170: A Stunning Multi-Generational Passive House in Auckland
Harpal Kler comes from an accounting background, but during the last four years he’s learnt a lot about building and living in a multi-generational Passive House. Now, he’s a big advocate. Their stunning family home was completed in December 2015 by ehaus and is one of a growing number of Certified Passive House homes in…
-
Why I Bought an SUV
Technically, I didn’t purchase my new SUV. It’s a work vehicle. But I did get to choose the make and model, and I’m still slightly surprised as to why I selected an SUV. How did my search for the best electric vehicle come to this? I’d always considered ‘sport utility vehicles’ as the worst environmental…