30/09/2026
Topics:
- New NZ homes overheating
- Automatically controlled ventilation
As many of you will have heard, brand new homes in Aotearoa are cooking their residents. Large windows and sun-soaked rooms are a beautiful part of the home, except that in many new homes there's no way for all that absorbed heat to escape when needed. Updated Building Code rules and regulations on thermal management in homes won't come until at least 2031, but a huge number of problematic new builds are currently going up to meet demand. This is an urgent issue, and it needs to be talked about.
The problem is bad design that prioritises the wrong things. We must open the discussion between the providers of homes, with the people who'll live in them, and who will have to live with the results. Heat pumps & HVAC are a band-aid and are an ongoing cost to bear by the occupants. The answer is better design from the start. We make that our priority: homes that are beautiful, comfortable, and a joy to live in.
The solution is simple, well understood, and established.
Passive ventilation goes back to traditional ways of building. Our Te Whare Iti modular homes pair it with thermostatically controlled windows, so you, the person living there, can enjoy a controlled indoor climate without having to do anything – or even be home. Careful orientation, sizing of windows, cross flow or stack ventilation, & overhang/shading, are all methods we employ and take great care to balance.
In the words of a Te Whare Iti occupant: "Now that we’re living in our new home, you can tell it’s been thoughtfully designed. The … clever windows to ensure ventilation, [&] even the window sill design!."
Read more relevant stories here:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/community/1619940/no-regulations-on-too-hot-homes-likely-until-2031
https://www.branz.co.nz/design-build/articles/too-hot-to-sleep-summer-overheating-a-growing-issue-in-new-zealand-homes-study-reveals
