New development using green housing guidelines

A housing development in Raglan is encouraging purchasers to design energy efficient homes by using guidelines from the New Zealand Green Building Council.

And the council says the New Zealand building code is shockingly bad at ensuring homes are liveable and more people are realising standards need to be higher.

The Rangitahi project is a 550-section development on a Raglan peninsula that pokes out into the harbour.

It is incorporating the council's six star Homestar rating into its design rules.

A bird's eye view of the Rangitahi subdivision in Raglan taken early 2019.

RANGITAHI LTD/SUPPLIED
A bird's eye view of the Rangitahi subdivision in Raglan taken early 2019.

Houses can achieve between 6-10 stars across categories including insulation, water efficiency, extraction and ventilation.

"We think this is the future of building in New Zealand, making healthier, efficient well-designed homes," Rangitahi marketing director Sophie Peacocke told Stuff.

The guidelines are passed to the purchasers' architects to include in the design stage and be checked off by Rangitahi's design review panel.

But the panel, made up of Peacocke and landscape architect Jonathan Broekhuysen​, is not reviewed by an independent auditor.

It is up to purchasers to decide if they want to get the house officially certified as a Homestar building.

The house will not be advertised as Homestar unless it receives that official certification.

"It's really an encouragement for creating more energy efficient homes," Peacocke said.


Read the full article on stuff.co.nz here


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