There is a lot to building better that when considered in the design, add no additional cost to building. Naturally when considering Airtightness and Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation options, these costs are added onto the build cost but eliminate the need for owner purchased appliances like dehumanifers, additional heat pumps and air conditioners. It’s a case of increased construction cost coming out of another budget. Plus, the improved quality of construction reduces every day power bills. With space heating and water heating making up approx. 2/3rd of our power bills, it’s a no brainer to make savings in the design to reduce these.

The Passive House standard ensures that your energy use is minimal with maximum comfort and health. It is easy to not believe that if you cannot see that facts and figures. While building to this standard is 5-10% more than a minimum code compliant home (effectively the worst preforming building legally permitted to be built in New Zealand) there are cost savings beyond the build cost. Most of us borrow from the bank for our homes.

The cost to involve an Architectural Designer really does depend on your project and what you are wanting to achieve. Smart Living Spaces prices projects based on the work that is required to professionally deliver a quality Architectural Service. If budget is a very real concern for you, I recommend booking a complimentary chat with me, Sharon, so we can quickly identify if your project is the right fit for Smart Living Spaces and what might be the right approach for you.

This is a very common question. There is no one answer as it depends on many factors. Resource Consent Processes add additional time onto a process and the availability of other consultants with their workload also affects delivery times. Council state 20 working days for their consenting process, but often that takes longer. You may also need time to make some decisions or have some item such as finance sorted before moving to the next stage. We talk about time frames at a Design Consultation and ways to make it work smartly and quicker

There are three ways that fees are typically structured, Fees that are a percentage of the build cost, fixed fees or time charge, I use a hybrid of two of these at Smart Living Spaces, namely fixed fee and time charge. A percentage-based fee is not accurate to reflect the work and can often mean that clients are unfairly charge for a value that is not related to the design, but by client material choice. Fixed fees are for the steps where I can eliminate assumptions and exclusions, and time charges apply for the steps where you only pay for what is required, not what is assumed as a worst-case scenario.

My aspiration is to provide accurate fees for the work required to be done professionally and efficiently. It is about pricing right for your project.

The short answer is No. While there are steps like Homestar, Passive House, Measure Up and Resource Consent that don’t apply to every project, there are stages within the design process that have been designed to incrementally increase the level of detail whilst balancing that with consultation and space for you to have input and be consulted on design decisions.

No. You don’t need a builder before you start, but if you have one you would like to work with, I am happy to meet with them at the Architectural Design Consultation and to work with them collaboratively through the design process. If you don’t have a builder in mind, that isn’t a problem. I have a few builders I work with regularly on projects and who share my ethics, morals and principals. I can happily recommend them to you.

I wish I had a crystal ball for my clients or in fact anyone who booked a complimentary phone call. ” Uncovering the best option is like an onion, it becomes clear in layers and the only way to unravel the layers is to start asking questions. No one can have all the answers up front, but I do my best to provide with the outlines of the picture that you are wanting to create.

The first step is to book a complimentary call or book an Architectural Design Consultation. I understand if you want to have a chat with me first before committing any further and I love hearing people’s stories. Once you have booked am Architectural Design Consultation through our booking system, you will receive a survey asking questions about your project that will make our meeting productive and informative. I look forward to meeting you.

We love our indoor-outdoor flow in New Zealand. Passive Houses use mechanical ventilation to create the required air changes per hour that a healthy building requires. However, this system doesn’t mean that you cannot open windows and doors. It actually means that when the doors and windows are closed (like at night or during winter) you will still have fresh air in your home and not have an unhealthy damp interior environment.

Passive Solar design is often confused with Passive Homes and there is a myth that a Passive House doesn’t require any energy to run. In truth no building can have a healthy interior environment and require no energy to operate. Passive House aims to balance a healthy environment (with the right amount of fresh air and comfortable temperature year-round) with the most energy efficient design, solution and systems.

Coupled with Homestar and low carbon materials, this winning combination are ways to great low carbon buildings, both for operating and embodied carbon

Our New Zealand Building Code only focuses on heat loss, which is not an issue in a warm climate.

Passivhaus is based on energy modelling using climate data relative to a building’s location, so the actual performance is accurately predicted relative to the physical environment it is located in.

There are 7 climate zones, New Zealand has a combination of two, Warm Temperate and Cool Temperate climate zones. Ironically Germany where Passivhaus developed has a Cool Temperate climate zone like NZ. Passive Houses are built all around the world, with design adapted to achieve a healthy, comfortable and energy efficient building relative to the actual physical environment.