The Waitakere NOW Home

Waitakere NOW Home

Beacon Pathway is a research consortium working towards making homes more resource efficient to build, cheaper to run and healthier to live in.
 
The Waitakere NOW Home, built in 2005, was the first project for Beacon Pathway. It was designed to show that a sustainable house which is comfortable to live in can be built affordably using readily available materials and products.

The single-storey house with attached garage was built for $218,000 (excl. GST) and has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a floor area of 146 square metres. It is an attractive yet modest home combining simple, proven designs and technologies. It also incorporates simple features which address indoor air quality:

•  Weathertight construction.
• North-facing orientation with lots of windows on the northern side.
• Wide eaves that let in winter sun but keep out summer sun.
• A concrete floor to store heat from the sun and release it when the air is cold.
• A high level of ceiling, wall and floor insulation – much higher than required by the Building Code.
• Double-glazed windows to keep the heat in and most of the noise out.
• A rangehood in the kitchen and an extractor fan in the bathroom to remove moisture from these very wet areas.
• Passive ventilation to keep down moisture levels and to avoid overheating.
• Good natural light in all rooms.
• An airlock or small foyer at the front door to provide privacy for the main living space and to reduce heat loss.

The company recognised that our traditional houses have problems.

Up to 1977, most houses were built without insulation, on piles over the earth. These houses are typically timber framed, with weatherboard cladding and wooden window frames. They leak heat, moisture and air, and as a result are cold, damp and draughty in winter.

These houses have many separate rooms, with the main heating appliance (often a fireplace) in the lounge. Thus during winter the lounge area of the house is heated (sometimes overheated) while the bedrooms and the back of the house are not. Ventilation typically comes from opening windows. During winter these are often kept closed to ‘keep out the cold’. The unventilated, unheated bedroom and bathroom areas have the potential to become musty and mildewy.

Newer houses are often better. Concrete slab construction keeps ground moisture at bay, insulation helps keep the house warm and open-plan design lets heat spread. Better-sealing windows minimise draughts. But these newer houses are still not good enough. The problem with many insulated, well-sealed houses is moisture build-up from cooking, washing and bathing, as well as everyday human activity