Why smaller is smarter
A smart house isn’t filled with fancy electronic gadgets. It’s a design concept that keeps you warm and can save you money during building and after. But most NZ homeowners are missing out.
A smart home is smaller, will keep you warm (or cool) and save you money
In 1974, the average New Zealand home was 110m ² . Today, it’s 60 per cent bigger at 182m ² ; in Auckland it’s a super-sized 214m ² .
But what frustrates Christchurch architectural designer Warren Clarke, and many other smart home proponents, is that the way we build houses hasn’t changed in that time.
“The Building Code hasn’t really progressed in 100 years, apart from adding insulation in the 1970s. Our houses are still timber tents.”
Warren runs design business Nook. He specialises in designing ‘smart’, sustainable homes with high energy-efficiency, using cost-effective building techniques and products. He lays the blame for our poor houses squarely on the NZ Building Act.
“We have a worse building code than Australia. It’s absolutely frightening how poorly-built our houses need to be.”
Eco Design Advisor Nelson Lebo agrees. He works for the Palmerston North City Council running its free education service for residents, architects, designers and builders on sustainable design and energy options.
“The New Zealand building code is set as the standard for new homes,” says Nelson. “So people think ‘oh, it’s built to code’, but all it means is it’s the crappiest house you can build without it being against the law.”
Many companies were quick to cotton on, says Warren Clarke.
“The problem we have is developers build these subdivisions and they put covenants and restrictions on them, that the home has
“We start by thinking short term... our houses are still timber tents. It’s absolutely frightening how poorly-built our houses need to be.” Warren Clarke, architectural designer
to be of a certain size. So somebody buys land and the first thing they think is ‘ok, I have to build a 200m² home.’ That’s why we get locked into square metre rates and it’s a downhill spiral from there.”
Many of NZ’S biggest councils now have Eco Design Advisors. However, Nelson says they can struggle to get people’s attention.
“Developers and building companies know their best profit margin is a big, superficial, showy house. They don’t offer their clients smart options like thermallybroken aluminium windows, balanced pressure ventilation systems with air-to-air heat exchangers, or slab edge insulation.”
In his role, he often sees the effects of poorly-designed homes.
“I’ve had clients with a brand new, 2017, half-million-dollar home with mould on their curtains, condensation all over their windows, mould in the en suite. They thought they had defective windows. The window manufacturer told them there was nothing wrong with the windows, they just needed to open them more often.
“The reason is because bog-standard houses being built today are pretty airtight, and they put in very wimpy extractor fans in bathrooms. If the only solution is to open the windows and let the warm, moist air out and let cold air in, it’s not a 21st-century solution, it’s not a developed country solution.”
Warren Clarke became so frustrated trying to convince clients that smaller, smarter, energy-efficient homes were better, he built one himself.
His four-bedroom home (pictured above, and on page 22) is built to worldclass standards and is just 140m².
“Building my house was inspired by the pushback from clients saying, ‘what’s it going to cost?’ I thought, I’m going to build a house, we’re going to live in it for 3-5 years and we’re going to find out once and for all what’s worth it and what’s not.
“Somebody asked me if I could do it again, what would I change? I’d make it smaller. I reckon I could take 10-15m² out of it and it would still be amazing.”
“The New Zealand building code is set as the standard for new homes... it’s the crappiest house you can build without it being against the law.” Nelson Lebo, Eco Design Advisor