Superhome Movement

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The Super Sealed webinar is a free online event for the public, homeowners and industry professionals to learn about airtightness and sealing against moisture.
Wednesday 9 April 12 noon (tomorrow)
https://www.superhome.co.nz/events

Super Sealed is all about airtightness and the different strategies to achieve an airtight and hence thermally efficient energy efficient and durable home that will have longevity and provide a healthy living environment. Discussion on blower door testing and various levels of ACH (Air Changes/Hour) and the impacts on energy efficiency and thermal comfort. https://www.superhome.co.nz/events

Superhome Movement Newsletter April 25

Superhome April Newsletter Super Sealed Webinar Wednesday 9 April at 12 noon A free online event for the public, homeowners, and industry professionals to learn about airtightness and sealing against moisture.

This sounds horrendous! and it is so disappointing that the subpar building standards and the compliance and inspections regime in NZ allow this sort of thing to happen. Poor Lady.

‘I can’t breathe’: Woman living in leaky, mouldy Kāinga Ora house for three years Keremia Jane Tairua, 56, says three years living in a damp and mouldy state house has made her sick.

Just like Brunelleschi, the Italian architects of today uphold the title of capomaestri (master builders) — see which firms made it to the top of our fresh ranking. 🇮🇹

👉️ Ranking details: https://arc.ht/43LJMC6

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Consultation: Insulaton in housing and small buildings

Tena koe
The Superhome Movement is a Charitable Trust, a network of architects, designers, builders, trades, suppliers and industry participants working to improve the design, health, efficiency, carbon footprints, and overall sustainability of New Zealand homes. This year 2025 the Superhome Movement celebrates our ten-year anniversary. Collectively our partners and participants have decades of experience and expertise in delivering high-quality, high-performance homes and renovations to thousands of Kiwi homeowners: https://www.superhome.co.nz/
We appreciate the opportunity to provide a submission on the proposed changes to the H1 section of the NZ Building Code. We are also writing to highlight the key points in our submissison and encourage more proactive changes to upgrade the Building Code to more closely align with international best practice and standards established in other countries with similar climate, weather and conditions to New Zealand.
Updating and expanding the Building Code:
As outlined in our submission, the Superhome Movement recommends a comprehensive rewrite of the Building Code, to ensure that NZ homes are designed and constructed as a coherent interconnecting system, rather than trying to improve performance via ad hoc tweaks to separate elements as per the H1 changes.
The Superhome Movement recommends significant additions to the Building Code to include provisions for effective management of airtightness, ventilation systems, overheating, thermal bridging, and recessed installation of windows within the thermal envelope of the building, instead of in the cold cladding cavity outside the thermal envelope.
These changes to the Building Code will need to be undertaken through a process of meaningful sector participation, including designers, architects, builders, trades, suppliers, engineers, councils and industry groups, working with MBIE, EECA, BRANZ and others. It will need a clear focus on upskilling the various professionals – and encouraging and incentivising innovation with uptake of the many proven technologies and methods that go into making genuinely warm and cool, dry, healthy, affordable, energy-efficient homes.
The improvements would need to be phased in over a step change pathway process, and aligned to the 2020 Building for Climate Change Framework and to sector initiatives under the 2022 National Adaptation Plan for climate resilience.
The overheating challenge:
The Superhome Movement acknowledges the advocacy of the NZ Green Building Council for a focus on overheating and we agree with much of their assessment of the problems with increasing hot days, impacts on health and productivity, and additional costs to homeowners (https://nzgbc.org.nz/hubfs/Advocacy%20and%20submissions/H1%20Consultation%20Cover%20Letter%20-%20NZGBC%20submission.pdf).
We agree that a focus on improved design, including attention to insulation, glazing design, shading and ventilation, will be crucial to address these issues – and we would add site and solar responsive orientation and external shading provisions to these elements of intelligent design. We recommend that the revised Building Code includes clear measures to counter the risks of overheating.
However, as outlined in our submission, the Superhome Movement does not support the proposed exclusive reliance on energy modelling as the solution to overheating (by removing the H1 calculation method as well as the schedule method). The Superhome Movement appreciates the benefits of effective modelling systems in supporting good design, when integrated with the design process by competent professionals. Many Superhome Movement participants regularly use modelling software in our design work with great results. Nevertheless, we have major concerns about reliance on modelling as the sole method to evaluate design and calculate building performance and insulation requirements including:
• Variability of modelling programmes and their application depending on the experience and competence of practitioners and the levels of integration with the design process;
• The need for modelling to be undertaken at early design concept stages rather than soley retrospectively to support compliance or certification;
• The additional time and costs incurred which in our experience can be significantly greater than the estimates proposed, including subscription, training and certification charges, software and setup costs, which will inevitably be passed on to the clients thus increasing the price to the homeowner.
• The capabilities of common energy modelling tools associated with certifications to take into account embedded heating elements and the associated consenting issues that this has raised, necessitating switching to calculation method for compliance and a double up in work.
The Superhome Movement recommends a programme of work with the sector and key professional groups, BRANZ and EECA to develop a free or subsidised modelling tool to support the revised and improved Building Code. This would help to encourage consistency and support upskilling and professional development. It should be phased in over time and hosted by MBIE or BRANZ – as a neutral entity with no interests in revenue from the modelling tool or associated training and certification programmes – and updated as necessary over time. An alternative option that Superhome designers are currently utilising is energy modelling integrated into existing CAD design software that automates energy evaluation within current workflows saving time and money. If this was accepted for compliance it would be by far the most efficient method. Additionally the results are further verified by monitoring in use of Superhomes to confirm accuracy of modelling predictions.
Conclusion:
The Superhome Movement has over the ten years of our work sharing information has consistently advocated for significant and meaningful improvement to the Building Code. Our partners and participants consistently deliver homes and renovations that exceed minimum Code standards, utilising proven, cost-effective methods, tools and techniques to ensure genuinely warm and cool, dry, healthy, high-efficiency living for our clients and their families.
We consider that the years-long delays in upgrading the Building Code to align with international best practice are creating a legacy of costly retrofits and repairs in future, and are hugely compromising the health, wellbeing and productivity of New Zealanders. There is widespread support for higher standards and clear understanding across the housing sector that New Zealand needs to do much better. This is evident in the initial H1 consultation in 2021, where the majority of respondents called for changes to go as far and as fast as possible towards international best practice.
We look forward to working with MBIE and others in the sector to deliver meaningful, affordable, evidence-based improvement. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with officials in Christchurch, and to show you around some of our local Superhomes and discuss the design and methods involved.

Full submission
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bob-burnett-5419b536_insulation-requirements-in-housing-ugcPost-7301187390168084480-7i-5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAAefa8EBGtORikHXHcM0G2GEubjOb69-7R0

Ngā mihi,

Bob Burnett, ADNZ, NZCD(Arch)​​​Trustee

Dr Ronnie Cooper Trustee​​​​​​​

Dan Saunders​​​​​​ Trustee

Martin Reilly​​​​​​​ Trustee

Local Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey visited our office last Friday to hear more about our energy efficient and passive homes, including our objective to increase accessibility to healthy high performing homes though our new plan range. We touched on legislation (H1 proposals) and where we are seeing bottle necks to growth and business.

https://mailchi.mp/4eb2a22fca07/superhome-february-newsletter

https://thefifthestate.com.au/housing-2/nzs-zero-carbon-superhomes-hit-the-market/

NZ’s zero carbon ‘Superhomes’ hit the market Architect Bob Burnett is on a mission to transform how the people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) think about residential property with his zero carbon Superhomes.

Episode 19 : Bob Burnett Join Simon Cator as he interviews Architect Bob Burnett to explore the transformative work behind the Christchurch Earthquake rebuild, the origins of the Sup...

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Mathew Brown on LinkedIn: Terraced house hellfire: New builds in Akl overheating due to poor design We’ll done to Matthew Cutler-Welsh and BRANZ for giving balance to an article titled “Terraced House Hellfire”. As New Zealand continues to transition towards…

www.architectureanddesign.com.au

Superhome Design Guide Introduction Dec 2024 Superhome Design Guide Introduction December 2024An introduction to...SUPERHOME DESIGN GUIDESUPER RENO GUIDE

Did you miss the end of year Superhome Soiree...if so fear not video here

SUPERHOME END OF YEAR SOIREE DECEMBER 2024 SUPERHOME END OF YEAR SOIREE DECEMBER 2024