ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTING SERVICES

ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTING SERVICES

Links: [email protected]

We promote the when designing your home Energy Efficiency, Passive Design, and Eco-Friendly Building products and Materials. We consider Environmental issues when selecting building materials and products and specify locally made products.

When I built my own home I wanted to ensure that we designed the house to maximise the potential of our site, so that as a family we could appreciate all of the benefits that come from living in an environmental friendly home. The four main considerations where the health of my family, to have a spacious and warm home (with plenty of north facing glazing), and to be able to conserve energy heating costs, and to minimise any impacts on the environment (eg: waste).

To reduce the impact on the environment we used untreated Lawson Cypress timber throughout the interior and exterior which has proven to be a great choice, no paint, no treatment, no pests, no rot, and great smell.

We have a 7.5m long x 2.0m wide glazed skylight above our 4.5m high entry which lets warmth into our house all year round, and a north facing hallway linking the bedrooms with a insulating concrete slab which radiates heat at night. Due to the openness of our home we have added insulation to most interior walls with the thought that a ducted heating system from our heat source would move hot air to the bedrooms. Our water heating costs are reduced during winter by the wetback installation.

Today we have a more satisfying living environment due to the good selection of materials, attention to design and are always looking for new ways to improve so that we can reduce our impact further by recycling our waste.

A New Home Energy rating schemes approved by the Government is now available in NZ. It's an "independent assessment of the energy performance of a home, expressed as a star rating. The assessment also includes expert recommendations about the most cost-effective ways to improve the home’s energy efficiency and reduce energy costs". To find out more call the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (www.absa.net.nz). New homes and home additions should now be designed to meet the new insulation requirements of NZBC-H1.

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Please get in touch with ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTING SERVICES from the Contact box on the right.