New Homestar design guide makes healthier homes more accessible

The new Homestar V5 Design Guide, ‘A practical design guide to lower carbon healthier homes’, commissioned by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) and compiled by Respond Architects, has been officially launched.

Written by a team from Respond Architects, supported by colleagues from parent company Prendos, the guide aims to demystify the process of building lower carbon, healthier homes and make Homestar certification more accessible to New Zealand homeowners and construction industry professionals alike.

NZGBC commissioned Respond Architects to author the guide thanks to their renowned expertise in low carbon, energy efficient building design. The guide is a valuable tool for everyone interested in building healthier, more energy efficient homes with lower environmental impact, not just those aiming for Homestar certification.

Ensuring the design guide was relevant to industry was a key consideration for NZGBC. As such, the industry engagement process for the guide included extensive consultation with BRANZ and stakeholders from across the industry. The new guide aims to be accessible to everyone – designers, builders, homeowners and product specifiers. Despite containing a wealth of technical information, it is intended to be easy for anyone to understand.

The guide accompanies the latest version of the Homestar rating system – version 5 – which closes the gap between theoretical and actual as-built performance. The requirement for energy modelling as part of the design process is a big leap forward, but has a perception of complexity among the construction industry, which the guide seeks to dispel.

Focusing strongly on the practical application of the science, the guide contains real life case studies and worked examples for a range of typical housing types, across a variety of regional climates in New Zealand. These clearly demonstrate how the theory works in practice, giving real life solutions of where to start with specifications to achieve a particular Homestar rating for four different building types in three climate areas. It also has realistic costings, which helps debunk the idea that building better homes has to cost more.

The guide also deals with calculating embodied carbon, avoiding overheating and providing effective ventilation. It contains over 50 details of build-ups, together with practical steps to achieve improvements in performance.

To download ‘A practical design guide to lower carbon healthier homes’, and find out more about Homestar certification, visit the NZGBC website. To speak with Respond Architects about designing a warmer, drier and healthier home, contact us today.