Wanaka based Chaney & Norman Architects are passionate about creating homes that their clients love to live in; homes that enhance their clients’ sustainable lifestyle.
Recent events have given many people a chance to reflect on their home, and gain an increased awareness of the environmental impacts of their current lifestyle. There is a collective groundswell of people looking to live and build more sustainably.
It is well understood that building a home is likely to be the biggest financial decision of your life, but what is less understood is that it is also likely to create your biggest environmental impact. Building a smaller home that uses sustainably sourced resources, and requires minimal energy to run is key to minimising your impact on the natural environment, and fulfilling your role in reducing climate change.
A desire to build a smaller, smarter, low-impact home is evident in a recent project that Chaney & Norman have designed that is nearing completion on site. This received a Homestar 8-star design rating from the New Zealand Green Building Council. Homestar is a comprehensive, independent rating tool that measures the health, warmth and efficiency of New Zealand homes.
The project with a modest budget focused on energy efficiency and a high quality thermal envelope, with clever planning creating a functional three-bedroom home within a small 100m2 footprint. The energy required for heating and cooling this home has been independently modelled, and the home will use seven times less energy than a standard home to maintain a comfortable temperature all year round.
Efficient energy and comfort features of the home include:
- An energy efficient mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.
- Airtight construction, which achieved 0.77 air changes per hour in blower door testing.
- A thermally broken slab with extruded polystyrene insulation (XPS) to the slab edge, and expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) below the slab.
- A high quality continuous thermal envelope, including high levels of insulation in the walls and roof, with minimal thermal bridging.
- Energy efficient appliances and lighting.
- Healthy (low solvent/VOC) materials to the interior of the home, including the flooring, wall and ceiling linings, and paint finishes.
- Sustainably sourced materials: FSC rated timber for flooring, decking, cladding and plywood lining
- Water efficient appliances, taps, shower and WC
By working with the Homestar rating scheme, Chaney & Norman Architects add significant value for their clients. They draw on their combined local experience and technical expertise to help their clients create a comfortable, durable, energy efficient home that maximises the potential of their site and budget.
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