TURN UP THE HEAT

NEW BUILDING CODE REGULATIONS ARE COMING THIS MAY TO INCREASE THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS FOR HEATING AND INSULATION IN NEW BUILD HOMES. DEAN MCGUIGAN FROM GOLDEN HOMES DISCUSSES SOME OF THE IMPACTS OF THESE CHANGES.

How timely this publication is, around the subject of heating. In May, the building industry is about to see changes to the Building Code by introducing new ‘H1’ requirements. “What is H1?” I hear you ask. Well, putting it into words we can all understand, this is an increase in insulation and heating to many facets of a new build.

This is a nationwide change, and the requirements will differ depending on your location within New Zealand. For example, Queenstown will have a higher level required than Northland, as the change in code is climate-orientated.

What does this mean for Cantabrians? For those in Christchurch (and surrounding Canterbury areas), this means items like a higher level of insulation in the foundation slab, better-insulated windows and doors (thermally broken) and thicker batts in the walls and ceiling, to name a few.

It sounds simple, however, it’s actually quite costly. I’ll give you an example: in order to increase the thickness of the batts in the ceiling space, it will be a common requirement to also increase the roof pitch to be able to fit this new batts thickness requirement into the corners of the roof space. An increase in roof pitch also means extra costs.

On average, for Golden Homes Christchurch customers, these new code changes will likely mean an eight to ten per cent increase in house build costs moving forward. One of the positive things is that if you are looking to build with us, we have already been building above minimum building standards, so the increase is not likely to be a huge jump in the building cost.

For other building companies in the industry that have been building to lower insulation and building standards, they may likely see a much higher price increase to be able to comply with the new regulations in May.

Perhaps you are thinking that buying existing instead of new is the answer. Well, I guess it could be if you’re after an immediate band-aid answer and need to get into the market on a tight budget. However, at some point, you will most likely want to sell the home. Today, you would be asking if the home had double glazing. Soon enough, the question will be whether the existing home is built to new standards or old.

The additional outlay now is not one any of us can avoid. However, it is likely to be a valid question that will be asked in the future when you go to re-sell.

Looking at the glass half full rather than empty, these are positive changes. Remember there was a time when single glazing met Building Code, and there was no requirement at all for batts? It seems crazy now!