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Latest Eco Homes

Rod Percival Green Show Home 3 Jun 09 Eco village section plus share common land 15 May 09 Laba Residence - Dunedin Eco Home - Solar, wind etc 21 Apr 09 Passive solar lifestyle block 10 Apr 09 Volcalite Compressed Pumice Blocks 14 Feb 09 Ecotect Eco Home - The Ball's House 13 Feb 09 Kauritatahi farm 13 Feb 09 The Solabode Affordable Eco Home 11 Feb 09 Profile your eco house

Latest Eco News

Freephone Service Answers Home Energy Questions Yesterday Raise fruit trees in the family Yesterday Keeping NZ in the 'Dark Ages' 26 Jun 09 Greywater expert backs Council approval 19 Jun 09 Imagine How High Petrol Prices Will Go 19 Jun 09 Submit news

Upcoming Events

ECO ANNUAL CONFERENCE 10 Jul 09 - 12 Jul 09 Sustainable Rural Development 22 Jul 09 - 29 Jun 10 An Introduction to Green Building 29 Jul 09 Ecofest 15 Aug 09 - 16 Aug 09 EARTHBUILDING WORKSHOP 4 Sep 09 Submit an event

Latest Articles

Good Wood Guide 22 Jun 09 Attracting Bees to your Garden 28 May 09 How to Store your Garden Harvest 27 May 09 NZ Farmers Markets 13 May 09 Renters Guide to Sustainability 5 Mar 09 Worm Farming and how to make your own farm. 10 Feb 09 Edible Gardening 10 Feb 09 Transition Towns - Aotearoa, New Zealands 22 Dec 08 Submit an article
Harrington Hybrid Homes

Self-sufficient Mobile Home
All home comforts neatly arranged in a warm, cosy, self-sufficient mobile home. The 'Little Cracker' woodburner cooks, and heats water. Wool insulation keeps the bus toasty for hours - or open the doo...
Last comment: Does the wood burner conform to clean air standards as set by many councils.

Keeping NZ in the 'Dark Ages'

Power companies are keeping consumers in the dark with dumb meters. Smart meters are the best way to give consumers control over their electricity consumption and stop power companies dictating to them, according to electricity consumer lobby group REFIT-NZ.

Read the full story

Imagine How High Petrol Prices Will Go

Here is a thought which businesses and car owners should take notice of when considering their plans for the next few years. The global economy is currently undergoing its worst downturn since the Second World War. Yet oil prices are at US70 a barrel and at their low point in February only briefly got to US$35 before shooting back up.

Read more about petrol prices

The Venus Project

The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture.



Read more about the Venus Project

Green directory is world first

Ever wanted to find the best offers on the most sustainable, healthiest and safest products or services in New Zealand? Ecobob in collaboration with The Sustainable Business Network, have created Greenlist.co.nz - the world’s first online directory of green products and services where listings are compared against sustainability attributes.

Find out more about Greenlist

Poles Apart - The Great Climate Change Debate

Gareth Morgan couldn't decide whether he believed in climate change or not, so he hired the best international scientists to answer his questions and these are his findings. Combined with anecdotes from his own recent trips to Antarctica and the Arctic this is something completely unique in books about climate change - somebody who has approached the topic with an open mind, somebody who has the resources to explore such a topic and somebody who has personally investigated all of the issues.

More about the book

NZ can lead world in renewable energy

An internationally renowned energy expert believes New Zealand could generate all its electricity from renewable sources within twenty years. Dr Sovacool is backing the newly formed REFIT-NZ, a community based organisation aiming to educate New Zealanders about measures the rest of the world is adopting to deal with problems around security of energy supply and rising power bills.

Read more & post comments

Become part of an eco paradise

Land for sale in a Motueka eco village. Amazing views and great sun, all day. Nice microclimate. Close to Motueka township with sea and mountainviews.




View details of eco village

Environmental Warrant of Fitness

There is now an environmental certification available in New Zealand that is designed specifically for small and medium sized businesses. The EWOF Site Standard sets a minimum standard of environmental performance while addressing environmental, business, and consumer concerns.

Read more about EWOF

Featured Eco House: Dunedin

A residential dwelling located at Mission Cove, Company Bay on the Otago Peninsula was designed as a solar passive energy conserving home for Mike and Edith Laba. Solar PV, Wind, Rainwater collection...

Read more: Eco home in Dunedin...

President of the Maldives on Climate Change

Watch the President of the Maldives talking about making his country carbon neutral and talking about climate change.

Click here to watch

Hokianga Resilience

It’s been a refuge for decades, a haven in the sixties for hippies who wanted an alternative life and then those fleeing big cities for a simpler and cheaper life after the 1987 stock market crash. Now the Hokianga is getting ready for a new influx of refugees says resident Terry Kennedy who is helping create a new type of settlement in the north.


More about sustainable living in Hokianga

Being a sustainable tenant

Even renters can make changes to their home to make it more comfortable, save money and reduce their environmental impact. The Renters Guide to Sustainable Living, published by the Alternative Technology Association, shows how it’s done. The 16 page booklet is a free resource for anyone looking to lighten their carbon footprint as a tenant.



Renters guide to being sustainable

Eco House of the Future Comp.

House of the Future Competition is a special feature of Australia Green, the 4th National Green Build, Design and Technology Show, and is the sole initiative of Mick Turner the Australia Green Show Founder and Director. The inspiration for this design competition came from the House of the Future Exhibition held at Sydney Olympic Park.

Read more...

Urban Greening Manual

Low Impact Urban Design and Development (LIUDD) is a sustainable living concept. Urban sustainability and health are achieved through effective management of stormwater, waste, energy, transport and ecosystem services. The greening of cities by planting ecologically with local species is also a vital part of the overall well-being of ecosystems and...

Read more...

Transition Towns New Zealand

Transition Initiatives are bringing people together out of a desire to explore how we – and our communities – can respond to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil. We know we don’t have all the answers but we believe we have the innovation to create those solutions.

Read more...

Growing Organic - Featured Book

The popularity of organic gardening continues to rise as people increasingly want to control the quality and freshness of the food that they eat. And organic gardening isn't just about creating delicious healthy food for the table; it's also about nurturing nature. Specially tailored to New Zealand's growing conditions, Growing Organic is a handbook of eco-friendly and health-aware gardening techniques for sowing and growing fruit, vegetables and herbs, and much more.

Read more...

Down on the Farm - Trees and Big Bugs

It’s always refreshing to hear some good news on the eco front. We get bombarded by so much environmental doom and gloom that positive news is a breath of fresh air. This week Ecobob was invited to take part in a forest regeneration exercise on a sheep farm just outside of Napier.

Read more...

Living Green - Featured Book

Green issues are hot, and they are here to stay. But where can New Zealanders find an authoritative yet neutral voice that is packed with the facts they need to make informed life-changing decisions? Living Green is a ‘bible’ for every New Zealand family.

Read more...

Straw Bale Eco Home

Diamond Harbour often just seems to sparkle with light when you look over at it from the often grey port of Lyttelton. Although just stone’s throw away from the port, it does have its own micro-climate which is a major attraction for people who choose to settle there.

One of those people is Holger Kahl, who arrived in New Zealand 22 years ago from his homeland of Germany. Holger spent time in other parts of New Zealand, mostly Christchurch, until finally settling in Diamond Harbour seven years ago to build his eco-home.

Read more..

Alcohol – it’s a gas!

“For the cost of ten tanks of petrol, people could join a co-operative to produce cheap, cleaner fuel locally... For the cost of ten tanks of petrol, people could join a co-operative to produce cheap, cleaner fuel locally." says Richard Lee

Read more...

Sustainable Wanaka Wastebusters

New Zealand homes have historically been extremely inefficient: 30 years after insulation became mandatory, around 350,000 homes are poorly insulated or have no insulation at all. Many of those are in the Queenstown Lakes District, where many houses were built for summer use only but are now lived in year round.

Read more

Featured Info: Getting Off Grid

Tony Woods gets people “off the grid”. And with big changes coming to the way power’s supplied to your property, you may need Woods’ energy self-sufficiency services sooner than you think. Damian Christie reports.

If I hadn’t seen him building a windfarm with my own eyes, I might have thought Tony Woods was a spy. Or an international arms dealer, or a drug smuggler (but with a base in Timaru).

Read more...

Featured Info: Healthy Building Materials

Our immediate environment affects our physical and psychological health. Given that most of us spend around 80% of our time indoors, and a lot of the rest of the time looking at the outside of buildings, buildings are a major part of our lives.

Buildings also affect the natural environment, both locally and globally. Gas and solid fuel burnt for heating and hot water contributes towards climate change. Waste from the construction industry makes up about 40% of total landfill in New Zealand.

Read more...

Featured News: Smart thinking on renewable energy

An Australian state has given renewable energy a huge push with a new law designed to make investment in small scale renewables very attractive for the average household and business. Under a new law passed last week households and businesses in the Australian Capital Territory which generate their own power will be able to sell power back to their retailer for nearly four times the price of electricity. Retailers will be required to buy the electricity at that price with the cost passed on to all other consumers.

Read more...

What happens when the lakes run dry next year and the year after?
What happens when the lakes run dry next year and the year after? New Zealand’s electricity consumers have again been left vulnerable by the failure to ensure this country has adequate long term energy supplies, Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand said today. The launch of yet another winter power saving campaign tonight should be a wake-up call for this country’s electricity policy makers, said SEAN...
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DonateNZ
DonateNZ Donate NZ provides the ultimate simple portal where individuals, organisations and companies can donate time, expertise and goods in any condition to schools, early childhood and not-for-profit organisations in New Zealand. The process is simple! All you have to do is list what you have to offer then community organisations like those above have...
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COMPOSTING GUIDE
COMPOSTING GUIDE Compost is a mixture of organic material and is used as fertiliser. Generally, the ingredients used to make compost come from our gardens and kitchens (food scraps) although organic material is anything that was once living. Compost results from the eventual decomposition or break down of the ingredients. It can take anywhere between two and 18 mon...
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Oxfam Trailwalker 2009
Oxfam Trailwalker 2009 Oxfam Trailwalker 2009 April 4-5 2009, Lake Taupo Oxfam Trailwalker is most life changing, team building, foot slogging, friendship forming, group hugging, experience ever…and it’s calling your name! Day will turn in to night as teams of four run, walk, or do a bit of both along a 100km off-road course past stunning scenery. The aim is to fin...
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Worm Farming and how to make your own farm.
Worm Farming and how to make your own farm. Worm Farming When I told my long suffering husband that I was getting 5000 new pets and he had to help me come up with names for each one, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! Worms would have to be the best low maintenance pets available. They don’t need daily walks, don’t scratch the sofa, don’t require costly trips to the vets or get th...
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World Environment Day - SIFT
World Environment Day - SIFT The Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust (SIFT) is a Canterbury-based Fund Management organisation whose vision is to lead, support and facilitate the promotion and adoption of sustainable practice and initiatives. World Environment Day (WED) commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimul...
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Welligton Car Pooling Web Site
Welligton Car Pooling Web Site Here, we do all the work for you. All you need to do is register, follow a few quick steps and we’ll find carpooling matches for you. We make it easy for you to say goodbye to those long solo drives to and from work, and hello to more money in your pocket with lower fuel costs each week. And that's just one of the many reasons to carpool.
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Couple builds an off grid sustainable earth house
Couple builds an off grid sustainable earth house They decided to design and build a home that was eco-friendly and could generate its own electricity. They used rammed earth for the walls, mixed with concrete – it is 450mm thick. 16 solar panels sit on the roof, generating electricity and another eight solar panels heat the hot water. The eco house is very well insulated with double glazed window...
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Wave power device gets green light

Wave power device gets green light A New Zealand developed and designed wave power device could be close to operating commercially within 5 years, thanks to a government grant. Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee announced today that Wellington-based company Power Projects Limited is to receive $760,000 from the Marine Energy Deployment Fund for a wave energy device it i...
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Attracting Bees to your Garden
Attracting Bees to your Garden Creating a Bee Friendly Garden Nothing evokes the sense of an organic garden like the hum of honeybees toiling among sun-warmed summer flowers. Honey bees are important for pollination of all our fruits and berries and many of our vegetables crops. They don’t need us but we certainly need them. World wide their numbers are on the decline and exp...
Read more...


Imagine How High Petrol Prices Will Go
Imagine How High Petrol Prices Will Go Here is a thought which businesses and car owners should take notice of when considering their plans for the next few years. The global economy is currently undergoing its worst downturn since the Second World War. Yet oil prices are at US70 a barrel and at their low point in February only briefly got to US$35 before shooting back up (See image bel...
Read more...


Greywater expert backs Council approval
Greywater expert backs Council approval The Kapiti Coast District Council’s decision to approve Plan Change 75 and make the fitting of a greywater system and/or rain tank compulsory in all new dwellings has been applauded by an expert in greywater irrigation. Steven Roberts, Managing Director of Kapiti firm Watersmart, says legislating for the re-use of water from washing machines and...
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Good Wood Guide
Good Wood Guide Good Wood comes from ethical and ecologically sustainable sources. When you choose Good Wood, you support a solution to deforestation and related climate change, you protect unique biodiversity and you help local forest communities find alternatives to poverty and loss of livelihood.
Read more...


Freephone Service Answers Home Energy Questions
Freephone Service Answers Home Energy Questions Cold temperatures this winter and the recent announcement by the Government of subsidies for insulation and heating have put home energy issues on the agenda for many households. This has seen a surge in calls to Home Energy Advice Centres (HEACs) around the country. The HEAC was launched as a pilot scheme in Wellington in March 2007 with funding f...
Read more...

Eco Houses

Do you own or live in an eco house? You can list your eco house on Ecobob for others to view. You can even sell your eco house.

You can make it easier for people to live in a sustainable way by listing your house as an example.

Browse eco houses | Search eco houses


Latest Forum Posts

Post a topic or ask a question

Good story, unfortunately all too true, greed is part of the human condition, fools and their money ...

In the past week I have watched a steel framed double story house being assembled in Porirua, Wellin...

In the middle of winter today Wellington, the roof space was 22 c, sun was out but very patchy, no h...

Hello Letsgoeco, If I was designing your straw bale house, I would be considering the following: ...

But is it 25 due to a contribution from the rooms below because you don't have 250mm pink batts?

I'll bite .. I take the roof air becuase on a day when the air temperature is under 10° outside it c...

Hi Rex, Yes, that is correct. In my mind, that is the biggest drawback of PVL: you cannot use it on ...

Hello Anon, What Jeroen might have added, is that the PVL sheet width suits a trough section roof...

Hi Anonymous, Embodied energy is about half of that of crystalline framed modules. See http://www.al...

Jeroen, What is the embodied energy in your laminates? I know the crystalline industry is making the...

Hi Anonymous, I probably should not respond but cannot resist. We believe that the best thing to do ...

Probably because they are in fact more expensive than suggested.

I stumbled upon this conversation and have read with interest. I built this house (2st)42 years ago,...

Why are you kiwis so bloody shy of being open about prices? Its like trying to get semen from a stee...

Did you have your pellet fire running all day or just some, and for how long?

Hi Mike, I cannot quote prices on a public site but the "ballpark" would be that PVL is in...

Hello Jeroen, I accept your knowledge in this area as my is not first hand but only my reading of...

Hi Rex, That is not correct sorry, if bonded on an approved roofing substrate by an approved PVL ins...

Hello Jeroen You mentioned the flexi modules you have are significantly less expensive than rigid fr...

Hello Jeroen, I would like to agree with you, that flexible PV modules glued to Zincalume corruga...

Hi Rex, The link was on PV material that is compatible with metal roofs. It is substantially more at...

Hello Jeroen, If the Owner has a spare $17000-$24000, and uses electricity to run only a 26"...

If you are thinking about a color steel or zincalume roof and also plan some PV solar for your home,...

Hot air claim under fire. Herald on Sunday June 21 2009 "Any claims that they heat your home ar...

The best thing about single glazed windows is they act as a dehumidifier - just wipe away the moistu...

Post a topic or ask a question