Go hi- tech for a high- performing home
Roll over 4x2 timber and corrugated iron. Hightech building materials are taking over. Cutting edge building materials are often cleaner, greener, stronger or just cheaper.
And many of these materials are responsibly sourced, says New Zealand Green Building Council’s chief executive Alex Cutler.
Leaps in technology are happening with virtually every material going into new homes ( and renovations).
Many new building materials are also sustainable and efficient and help create a highperforming home,” says Cutler.
“For example, measurement systems allow you to get into the nitty- gritty of analytics and really fine- tune your home for optimal performance; highly efficient heating systems and batteries to store solar power will dramatically reduce power bills.
“Building technology is constantly evolving, and our hope is that more and more people will start demanding warmer, drier, healthier homes from those who create them.”
Even concrete slab edge insulation has gone high- tech. Just like you have an insulated mat under you when you go camping, products such as HotEdge slab edge insulation do the same job for a house.
The edge is important because that’s where up to 80 per cent of the heat escapes, according to BRANZ.
There are a range of products designed to help new homes be toasty from underneath including NUDURA insulated concrete forms, EZpanel autoclaved aerated concrete and Koolfoam, an expanded polystyrene.
One of the poster children for high- tech building materials is Photochromic glass. SageGlass electrochromic glass windows can tint to block out light at the hit of a button, and contribute to net zero buildings by moderating interior air temperatures.
The Home Ideas Centre in Parnell showcases a number of high- tech building materials such as Viking EcoStar roof tiles.
While these tiles look like slate, they are made of up to 80 per cent post- industrial recycled rubber and plastics and are about half the weight of traditional slate.
They are manufactured from recycled polymers and they don’t crack under the stress of New Zealand weather, says Viking marketing and communications co- ordinator Hannah Smith- Frank.
The same company sells roof gardens, which extend the roof ’s life. Other benefits of these roof gardens are aesthetics, storm water management and helping to purify the air by reducing greenhouse gasses, says Smith- Frank.
— Diana Clement