Feeling febrile? Hating the humidity? With the Met Service predicting a long hot summer, did you know that choosing a Green Home could actually prevent stuffy and stifling living conditions?
We all know a sustainable home is much warmer but did you know it can be cooler too? The Green Homes New Zealand team have the industry experience and nous to ascertain just which features will make your summer living more bearable. Our expertise with environmentally-friendly quality building, temperature regulation and energy cost control further solidify our reputation for efficient and innovative green design. We can not only save you money on building your ideal home but we can also help reign in your energy bills in hot or chilly climes.
Finding the heat a right ‘pane’?
Being savvy with window framing is vital not just for aesthetic appeal but also for temperature regulation. Talk to our new home consultants about which type of joinery is best for your specific needs. Organise the best window placement early on during the consenting phase and you’ll reap the rewards on those balmy blistering summers to come.
Achieving the right balance with your glazing can also be a sound strategy for temperature maintenance. Incorporate the right window solutions customised to your needs into your new build during the design process and it will pay dividends. Get this right and you can block heat from entering the house day and night so you can truly enjoy your new home in comfort.
Thermally broken windows and joinery, or Low E double glazing helps to prevent overheating, reducing solar heat gain with less need for internal cooling systems. This minimises energy consumption and high air conditioning bills. Argon gas windows are another option that feature a sealed unit filled with non-toxic odourless gas between panes of glass to increase energy efficiency. It also increases the sound proofing but importantly they have a solid energy star rating too. Argon offers better insulation than natural windows because the gas is heavier than air adding to the maintenance of cool temperatures in your surroundings.
Many people aren’t aware that well-insulated UPVC joinery also conserves cool air – another bonus is that it’s very low maintenance while giving you a smaller carbon footprint. In the big scheme of things your window product choices and placement during your planning in the conceptual stage can give you the best ROI for energy efficiency in your new home.
Insulate Mate!
Green Homes New Zealand aim to start with the building code and exceed its expectations – and yours! Did you know that we are one of the few residential building companies that use foundation perimeter edge insulation to reduce energy loss from the ‘sides’ of the floor slabs? It may shock you to know up to 80% of energy is lost from the sides of the foundation as opposed to underneath.
We also include a highly insulated ceiling and thicker wall batts (from mostly recycled glass) and we can even insulate your garage door. Our homes incorporate the GibFix system for more effectively connecting the gib to the framing. This allows us to construct with minimal studs, meaning less thermal bridging and more air tightness and insulation, again retaining the perfect temperature in your home.
We can incorporate a range of optimised insulation specifications when we design your house to suit your family’s health and comfort needs so you can cope much better with seasonal extremes.
Find that sweet spot and snooze through those sweltering evenings
Mechanised skylights can release heat and moisture out of the home during hot months and also pull in cool fresh air from outside. Centralising a solid internal wall will also offer thermal mass and can deflect passive solar energy therefore controlling some heat in your home. We chose this exact type of feature using a concrete feature living room wall with our Faringdon showhome, in Rolleston, Canterbury for its striking visual impact and heat regulating functionality.
We suggest that you consider also positioning your bedrooms for optimal airflow so you can get the perfect summer slumber. Did you know that our bodies’ sleep regulating hormones are finely tuned to lower temperatures to trigger the initiation of sleep?
Vent your worries away
A focus on intuitive ventilation systems will guarantee that fresh air flows throughout your home and you can put the crunch on air con costs. A ducted heat and exchange system such as the one found in our inaugural Green Homes NZ showhome combined with our industry standard exceeding insulation features all combine to help retain any chilled air so it circulates inside the home.
Aeration is nothing to sneeze at…
Suffer from allergies or asthma? Do you really want your home to be a giant petrie dish for harbouring moulds and spores? Preventing moisture in the home deters certain pathogens that can cause sinus problems, it also reduce humidity-loving dust mites so that people and pets can live in a harmonious environment without you needing a full medicine cabinet! Filtering the air via mechanised ventilations systems also combat the pollen population so you can avoid nose and eye itchiness and irritation and get back to enjoying your home.
Heat recovery mechanical ventilation and filtration systems, and skylights that let out moisture (plus our use of low VOC paints, adhesives and sealants) all help to keep your loved ones healthy during summer and winter months.
Coping with those hot Summer ‘eaves’?
From the get-go our innovative in-house architects and designers have worked out just how far the warmth of the sun will penetrate into your home. Commonly overlooked, the depth of the eaves and verandas has a direct bearing on the cooling of your home when the pavement outside is capable of cooking up a decent eggs benny!
Shading can be key so don’t forget about your landscaping! Be selective with heights, widths, placement and species when contemplating plantings – these considerations can either invite the summer heat or deflect the wintery cold.
Can you really beat the heat in a Green Home?
The beauty of our design and build service is that you can tailor make your wishlist of features around you and your family’s needs! Even some of the standard features that we add to our homes not only regulate heat and save you cash on energy bills, but on the flipside they afford you the same luxury in hotter climates. Talk to your Green Homes New Zealand consultant today to discuss how we can customised the perfect home to suit even the most mercurial dwellers!