That’s why we’ve teamed up with Right House, New Zealand’s first carbon zero energy supplier, to ensure that your home is as energy efficient as possible. Which can save you money and the planet, by reducing your environmental footprint.
Right House, a fully owned subsidiary of Meridian Energy, offers whole-of-house advice on home design and performance, as well as individual products to ensure a quality outcome for you – whatever your budget.
Case studies have shown that the comfort, energy efficiency and sustainability of your home can increase its capital value, so making the right energy choices can also pay off in the long run.
You’ll often hear the terms ‘Passive’ and ‘Active’ systems used in relation to energy efficiency. Passive systems are features you don’t control by switching them on or off, but they can make a big difference to your home’s performance. Passive systems include insulation, thermal mass and window glazing.
Active systems, on the other hand, include products you control, such as heat pumps, under floor heating, solar heating and appliances. These systems provide an additional level of convenience and can help make your home more comfortable and energy efficient.
Strawberry Homes has worked hard to ensure that Passive systems, like the building’s orientation to the sun for solar gain, have played a major part during the design and construction phases of our homes.
Similarly, internal partition walls installed between unconditioned areas such as hallways and kitchen/living/dining rooms will help control internal heat flows.
Another Right House recommendation we’ve implemented is the location of the hot water cylinder, close to each of the hot water outlets, as well as the installation of separate controls/switches for ambient and task lighting to ensure that lights are only used when required.
The New Zealand Building Code requires all walls to be insulated, since significant amounts of heat can be lost through walls. At Strawberry Homes, we insulate our walls to achieve an R-value of 2.4, which is significantly better than the minimum legal requirement of R-1.9. Under Floor Insulation is R1.3 and Ceiling Insulation is R3.6.
Up to 30% of heat can be lost through a poorly insulated ceiling, even though the ceiling is usually the easiest area to insulate well. Ceiling insulation will not only keep your home warmer in winter, it also cuts down the amount of heat entering a house from the attic in summer, reducing the need for cooling. Extensive ceiling insulation is recommended because:
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Warm air rises and significant heat loss occurs through poorly insulated ceilings and roofs
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Insulation is easily installed during construction
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Ceiling insulation is cost effective, especially when installed during construction.
Strawberry Homes also installs double glazing, which provides twice the thermal resistance of single glazing, along with improved condensation and noise control. Double glazing also allows for more efficient active heating and we recommend you install thermal curtains wherever possible.
To achieve optimal results for your new home, it’s best to ‘build in’ Passive systems because it costs less to do so upfront. Similarly, it may not be possible to fit certain features later, or they may be less effective and expensive when retrofit, such as wall insulation.
However with some technologies, it is possible to prepare the home so the system can be installed when your budget allows, e.g. your home’s plumbing facilities can be designed to accommodate a solar water heater at a later date.
If you’d like to upgrade your Passive systems, or include additional Active systems to increase energy efficiency, we offer a comprehensive range of upgrade options you can choose from.