Posts for Blog
Council and privacy
Our assumption is that council is passing on all the building consent application and is making it public. You will find it on websites like Whatson. However, there is a privacy act in New Zealand. So I wonder how that ties in.
Take the Sustainable Whanau Challenge | Kaipatiki Project
Auckland households big or small can win big by taking small steps towards living better in the Sustainable Whanau Challenge. Eco-festivals Ecofest North and Ecowest are throwing down the green gauntlet in this innovative online event, asking people to pick 4 easy eco-actions and sustain…
Solar Energy : This Is What A Disruptive Technology Looks Like
Imagine that solar energy was cheaper than any other energy source. Now imagine that this actually happened a few years ago.I don’t know how accurate the research and logic behind the joulestandard is, however it seem to be making sense.If correct, we can expect disruptions…
Banking on green – but how to develop
I am hearing a lot about great sustainable buildings, however in 99% of all cases the articles fail to deliver some hard fact, ie numbers. What is sustainable about them, what is their water use, energy use. What materials have they used? What great features were…
Do we rate environmentally?
A nice summary of our sustainability status can be found in the build magazine. I would generally agree with the article. While we have an abundance of materials, knowledge and tools, we still struggle to deliver.
Rural America’s Silent Housing Crisis – just like NZ
A very interesting article about the housing crisis in the US. Interestingly enough, New Zealand is not the only place with a discussion about affordable living and house prices. However this article touches on a slightly different matter, namely the housing crisis in rural areas.
English dairy delivery company gets their first four EV’s
This is some good news. We need more of this. On a side note, I have seen several Nissan Leaf’s in Auckland lately and as announced earlier, Silvia Park has a charging station for them.
Significant amendments to the Resource Management Act signalled by Government
According to my experience over the last ten years, it is not the act being the issue, it’s the people interpreting it. Any overhaul should address arbitrary interpretation. When we talk about resources, we should be discussing effects on land, air, water predominantly, not the…
Solar Thermal Is Really, Really Dead – or isn’t it?
A very interesting article on solar thermal and solar PV. it’s now cheaper to heat water with a photovoltaic array than solar thermal collectors. It would be quite interesting to make up some numbers and comparisons for New Zealand since the install cost for a…
Intensification – quick thoughts
So let me ask the question again: WHY are we intensifying? So people live in intensified living quarters, to move over intensified motorways into the intensified city centers for work… Meanwhile Auckland Transport is suggesting to decrease the bus frequencies out West where some of…