Welcome!
Some exciting new appointments, the development of a fantastic new product, and the completion of a milestone project have kept the ebode team incredibly busy for the last few months, and it is high time we updated you on some of the things we have been up to.
In this issue:
Announcing EKOKIT – affordable sustainable self-build
While we may have been a little quiet on the newsletter front in 2010, we have been very busy behind the scenes, and one of the results is our new EKOKIT affordable sustainable self-build product.
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Since ebode was founded at the end of 2007, we have received a great deal of praise for our ideas and initiatives – but one of the few issues we have been challenged on from time to time is affordability. While an ebode home is a premium quality home, with every aspect of the design, materials selection, consent and construction processes managed for you with the highest levels of quality and sustainability in mind, many people were telling us they were happy to put in a good chunk of their own time, involve family and friends with building skills, accept a few compromises and perhaps delay the addition of features such as solar power in order to have a sustainable home they could afford NOW.
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With this in mind, we got together with Hybrid Homes in Nelson (formerly a competitor but now a valued partner) to provide an affordable, flexible option for those who wish to build their own sustainable home. EKOKIT homes have a more modest finish than an ebode, and, once the Building Consent is issued, you are responsible for arranging all aspects of construction yourself, but, like ebode homes, every EKOKIT features excellent passive solar design and provides a superior level of comfort, health, energy and water efficiency. Technologies such as solar power and water can be added as funds become available, giving you more control over up front costs. The system not only includes drawings and materials, but builder training and support is also available, as well as free access to an online project management system to ensure every EKOKIT home is built sustainably and to a high standard.
While EKOKIT has not been officially launched yet, the website is online, brochures are printed and all EKOKIT designs are for sale via ebode consultants throughout New Zealand, or through Hybrid Homes in the Nelson-Marlborough-Tasman regions. To talk through your options and find out how the EKOKIT system could work for you, just complete the enquiry form on www.ekokit.co.nz or phone 0800 4 EKOKIT (0800 435 654).
Completion of Westmere House
Early in August, ebode’s first urban sustainable home was completed in the inner-city Auckland suburb of Westmere, and our clients moved in just ahead of schedule. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to host an open day on 28 August, providing an opportunity for ebode consultants, clients, partners, friends and other interested parties to explore the home.
Among the 200-plus visitors we had, many were impressed by the NZ plantation timber joinery, cabinetry and floors; the timelessness of features like the Timbercrete thermal mass blocks and the Middle Earth tiles; and the fragrant scent of natural oil and wax finishes. A frequent refrain was, “It doesn’t have that awful ‘new house’ smell.”
However, the striking simplicity and effectiveness of the design was probably the most noted feature. Like all ebode homes, the Westmere ebode is designed and built using passive solar principles, allowing it to generate its own heat as well as effectively self-cool and ventilate. Many people commented on how warm the house was, even though all the doors and windows were open, and were surprised to find that the sun-warmed tiles were the only heat source.
The passive systems in this home are also linked to a state of the art automation system – temperature sensors in the floor and ceilings and a predictive weather station combine with a web-based program to automatically open upper level windows if the house is getting too warm, or close them as the temperature drops. The system responds immediately to the current climate, but the house will also store energy if the weather station predicts cold weather in the next 48 hours.
Once again thanks to the generosity of the home’s owners (a family of five), we are taking the opportunity to monitor climate conditions and energy input for the home on an ongoing basis. This data will be available on the web, allowing us to report on year round indoor and outdoor temperatures, energy consumption and production, and produce other statistics that will help us to confirm our assumptions and prove that ebode homes really are truly sustainable. You may be interested to know that, during its first month of occupation, the indoor temperature in the Westmere house has not dropped below 18.8 degrees, even on nights when the fire has not been lit.
For an up-to-the-minute comparison between the Westmere ebode and a renovated 1930s home nearby, follow the link from the ebode home page, or click here.
Rain water – is it safe to drink?
All ebode homes include a ‘non potable’ (not for drinking) rain water collection system – with rain collected from your roof and diverted to a 22,500 litre tank buried under your lawn. Leaf filters and mosquito proof mesh screens are included as part of the system to prevent silt, vegetation, small animals or insects contaminating the tank, which means the water collected is clean enough to be stored safely for an indefinite time period. This water is then used to supply outside taps, laundry and toilets.
As ebode’s standard tanks are all food grade approved, upgrading to a potable (safe for drinking) rain water system in an ebode home is partly dependent on your preferences, and partly on local council rules and requirements. In rural locations, collecting drinking water from the roof is permitted, and indeed, frequently required as there may be no other reliable supply. However, some urban councils allow only non potable water collection because of concerns that airborne pollution may settle on the roof and contaminate the water that runs off it.
In our view, this concern can be easily dealt with by installing the appropriate filter system/s for the location – for example, the ebode head office next to a busy road in central Auckland has been running an experimental potable rain water collection system for four years, and has found after independent testing that the water collected is cleaner than the water from a control tap supplying council water. So, in a nutshell, we at ebode are living proof that rain water can be safe to drink anywhere in New Zealand, and we are happy to negotiate on behalf of clients in any area to collect rain water for potable use.
Upcoming projects
Construction will begin on several new ebode homes in the next few months, and we also have a number of others in various stages of design. We thought you might enjoy seeing images and a bit more information on three projects around the country that we will be breaking ground on before Christmas.
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Kaikoura house – nestled between the sea and the mountains, this home has been designed to ‘speak’ to the Kaikoura ranges – and accommodate a constant ebb and flow of surfing, skiing family members.
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Gisborne house – this home has a strong focus on natural, healthy materials and warmth generated by the sun, to match its location on an organic orchard in sunny Gisborne.
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Pukerua Bay house – a truly ergonomic house which has been carefully custom designed to make the most of its steep slope and bush views just North of Wellington.
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Visit our facebook page or become a fan to stay updated with pictures and more information about these ebode houses and more as construction progresses.
ebode people
It seems that every time we send out a newsletter, we have a host of new people to introduce. This time, we focus on three front line team members who have come on board recently to help us cope with the increasing level of enquiry we receive.
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Michael Herman joined us earlier this year as our South Island consultant. Since moving from South Africa to Christchurch in 2002, Michael has made a huge contribution to his new community – he hosts the weekly ‘Eco Living’ radio show on Plains FM and is one of the key organisers of the Eco Expo and Eco Living exhibitions held every year in Christchurch. His background in professional communications, sales, media and publishing has frequently put him in an ideal position to promote a ‘greener’ point of view, and we are delighted that Michael will be putting his extensive knowledge and skills to work for the benefit of ebode customers.
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Patrick Holmes is our new Auckland-Northland consultant, and was initially attracted to ebode as he sought alternatives to the poor standard of housing encountered when he and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 2005. With plans to build his own ebode home in the near future and lots of related research under his belt, Patrick is uniquely positioned to assist others looking to design and build a truly sustainable home. Originally with Lloyds Bank in the UK, for the past 15 years Patrick has held senior roles in the “third sector”, mainly in the areas of fundraising, marketing and organisational development. He is currently CEO of Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand and in the short term will continue to fulfill this role alongside his ebode consultancy work.
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Renee Kirby Nicholas is enjoying working for a smaller organisation, having previously been part of a management team in New Zealand's largest telecommunications company. She also enjoys ebode's strong focus on sustainability, which fits well with her personal values. Renee and her husband are committed to living their lives in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way. "Our main goal is to live healthy lives and not send ‘stuff’ to landfill. A few ways we do this is by not buying ‘stuff’, buying recycled/organic/quality where possible, and being active members of the Freecycle community," says Renee.
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In the next bulletin, we look forward to telling you more about new additions to our design and construction teams.
Coming events
ebode will be participating in the following events in the next couple of months, so please drop in and say ‘Hi’ if you are attending, and feel free to bring any interested friends or relatives. We have a very limited number of complimentary tickets to all of the Home shows, so if you would like one or two, just email us with the name of our new affordable sustainable self-build product – the first correct answers for each area will get the tickets. If you miss out on the free ones , click on the links below to buy tickets online at a discounted rate.
Auckland Home Show (Green Urban Living, Hall 5) – Wednesday 8 to Sunday 12 September - ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane. ebode Director of Design Niel de Jong will be speaking daily at 4.30pm in the Green Urban Living Seminar series in Hall 5.
Wellington Home & Garden Show – Friday 8 to Sun 10 October 2010 – Westpac Stadium, Waterloo Quay
Canterbury Home Show (Eco Living) – Friday 15 to Sunday 17 October 2010 – CBS Canterbury Arena, Addington
The Story of Stuff
Have you ever wondered how to subtly encourage family members or friends to stop buying you, your children or themselves all that useless, disposable ‘stuff’ that seems to accumulate in your home?
Some of us at ebode found ‘The Story of Stuff’ a great help in communicating the ‘less is more’ message in a fun, friendly way – and we thought you might too – click here to see what we mean.
Thanks for reading - from the team at ebode.
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