Affordable, sustainable, ‘research’ home opens in Rotorua

It’s the second house in the NOW home project, managed by Beacon Pathway Limited, a collaborative research consortium. The project is trialing the design and construction of affordable, everyday homes that are warmer, healthier, cheaper to run, and kinder to the environment.

Beacon has partnered with Housing New Zealand in the project and the home will remain part of Housing New Zealand’s portfolio.

According to Housing New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty regional manager Tony Marsden, “One of the aims of the project is to show that good quality, sustainable housing is affordable and results in lower running costs and improved health for the home’s occupants”.

A two-year monitoring period, while Housing New Zealand tenants rent the house, will assess the effectiveness of the design. The home, built using readily available materials, is designed to be affordable for most New Zealanders.

Early results from monitoring of the first NOW Home, which opened in Waitakere City in August last year, shows that energy use has been reduced by about 30%, and town water supply use has been reduced by about 25%.

“We hope for similar efficiencies in the Rotorua NOW Home,” says Beacon general manager Nick Collins. “These will translate into significant cost savings for the home’s tenants.”