New Zealand is blessed with a moderate maritime climate. This means the temperature swings are modest compared to a land climate. You would think it is not too hard to design a house in NZ that is comfortable all year round without having to spend lots of money on heating and cooling?
Still most of the houses in New Zealand are either too hot in summer and/or too cold in winter due to a number of factors. The main ones being:
- Orientation of the house and glass openings.
- Poor insulation
- Thermal bridging of building elements. (eg. un insulated steel beams protruding to outside or no foundation perimeter insulation)
- Lack of thermal mass
- Air leakage from outside to inside
- Poor heating system
All these factors can be addressed during the design phase to create a house that uses Zero Energy for heating or cooling. SIP panels are a great product create a Zero energy house as they have a very high insulation value, prevent thermal bridging and are air tight ones in...
