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In this section
Services
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Services
Eco Design adviceBuilding a new home? Renovating? Interested in sustainable building practices?
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If so, contact us for free Eco Design advice.
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| Eion will visit you at your home or building site and spend up to two hours viewing your plans with you ....for free! |
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This free service, offered to ratepayers and residents of Auckland city, provides independent advice and information on sustainable building practices, like how to choose environmentally friendlier products and services to improve the overall performance of your home.
The Eco design advisor will come to your home or building site and spend up to two hours viewing your property or plans with you. Alternatively, you can ring for a short consultation if you have specific queries on one or two aspects of your building design.
The advisor will follow up with information including links to helpful websites giving you building material qualities, thermal efficiency calculators and opinions from third parties. They will also update you on the latest council incentives.
Building designers are welcome to call for a free session. Architects can gain professional development credits in the process. Presentations to larger groups can also be arranged.
For further information, go to
www.ecodesignadvisor.org.nz
Book a consultation
To book your free consultation and help improve the quality of your lifestyle and the value of your property
- email the Eco design advisor
- or phone us on 0508 326 337, Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
What is a sustainable house?
There are many elements that contribute towards a house's sustainability.
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| Solar panels. |
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Heating
- A sustainable, healthy house is warm and comfortable in winter, cool in summer and needs little paid-for heating or air-conditioning to do so.
- In winter, all heat energy, whether solar or generated, is kept as much as possible within the building because of the high level of insulation in your ceiling and walls. You may even have a concrete floor exposed to direct sunlight, to even out extremes in temperature year round.
- Your sustainable house also has an efficient hot water system, perhaps running off solar panels or a heat pump, so you need minimal mains supply.
Water
- A sustainable house collects rainwater from the roof, which is used for the toilets, laundry and garden.
- Any town water you buy runs cost-effectively through low-flow showerheads and aerators on your taps.
- You may even divert 'grey water' from the bathroom, kitchen and laundry for use in toilets.
- Your landscaping does the rest of the work by absorbing run-off from heavy rain in specially designed rain gardens. Very little ends up going down storm water drains to the sea.
Air quality
- Moisture from cooking, clothes drying and bathing is extracted directly to the outside and doesn't form condensation and mould inside the house.
- Clothes are dried on the line when it's fine.
- Indoor air is clean and healthy.
- Any gas or wood burners in the house are low-emission and fuel-efficient to limit air pollution outdoors and in.
- Paint and other finishings have an Enviro-Choice label on them.
Construction materials
- A sustainable house is designed and constructed using whole-of-life principles.
- Materials are selected for their recycling potential, durability and energy content to minimise the building's environmental impacts. Where possible they are sourced locally.
- A waste strategy is employed during construction to ensure reuse or recycling of excess building materials.
- Maintenance is taken into account during the building design process and carried out at regular intervals by the homeowner.
- At the end of their usable life, the building components are easy to dismantle for efficient replacement and recycling.
The service is an initiative of BRANZ and is funded through the Ministry for the Environment's Sustainable Management Fund, EECA and Building Research.
Updated July 2008
