Waikuku Beach House

listed by BOB BURNETT ARCHITECTURE

Innovative Design Award 

Waikuku Beach House
This house recently won an ADNZ Resene Design Award
for Innovative Design.

In this Passive Solar Insulated Precast Concrete Panel House, junctions have been carefully detailed with a continuous thermal break. Conventionally in this type of construction insulation stops short at panel junctions and openings and concrete forms a thermal bridge transmitting heat/cold. The detailing of the thermal envelope in this home means thermal mass is always completely thermally isolated and never conducts any cold from the exterior at any point.

A well designed thermal envelope is a key element to designing a high thermal mass home that effectively captures and stores the energy from the sun. Carefully designed details provide a complete uninterrupted thermal break between the outer concrete skin and the inner structural concrete skin. The details allow the high performance extruded foam insulation to be continuous even at wall panel junctions and corners and at all window and door junctions. Care has also been taken with structural steel to eliminate thermal bridging. There is a separate concrete topping slab with thermal breaks at the perimeter walls which is heated by hot water.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Good to see it happening here but uninterupted thermal breaks on junctions and corners are normal in many parts of the world for too long to call it innovative.
Uninterupted Thermally broken window/door perimeters are also long standard in Europe and north America e.g. RAL Installation.
I have specified this on pre cast and masonry in the past but on each project I had to tell the architect how to do it.
The "separate concrete topping slab" is called screed.
Screed with underfloor heating is already around for decades too.
With the eyes kept open what is happening outside our Islands it could be standard here for quite some time now

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Bob,
When you say Extruded foam insulation are you talking about XPS polystyrene? or EPS poly or something else?

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Interesting construction. Can you say what cost per square meter to build this type of house? Thanks.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

guess what ? now I remember why I generally don't post things to these sort of blogs. Everyone has different opinions, but it is the opinion of the judges that is the most important. They obviously thought it was innovative and good enough to give it an award. Actually the award and what the judges think isn't the most important it is the opinion of the client / owner that is most important and they are very happy and report the house is warm with minimal energy input and works as we thought it would.
We have alot of clients from Europe UK America etc where they perhaps are generally ahead of NZ in terms of environmental design up take and ideas and the way they build is often very different to NZ.
There are heaps of innovations in this house design not just the construction system. However in NZ concrete for building houses be it panel, insulated panel or insitu is less than 5% of the market, so quite innovative regardless of how well it is technically detailed in terms of thermal envelope. These panels use 75mm insulation where normal in NZ is 40mm.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

XPS, brand names are Styrofoam or Foamular. It has better R value than Polystyrene. Even better again but more pricey is Polyurethane foam. All come in 2400x1200 sheets and whatever thickness available from Forman Insulation.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

It would be upwards of $2000 per square meter, but cost would be hugely dependent on many factors. size, design, location, access, level of finishes and fittngs etc, etc, etc.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Bob

in the original post you put the thermally broken corner and window detailing as one of the main innovative designs (with drawing)
I don't doubt that there are innovative features in this house but if I was your customer now, 5 years, 10 years or 15 years ago the constant insulation around the corner and windows is something I would have expected from you as my architect without even mentioning it as well as thermally efficient window frames with insulated glazing.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Bob

I'm very curious: the clients say this house requires minimal energy input - compared to what?

The windows are double glazed, so the best R value cannot exceed say 1.0, and the central room with the tall ceilings have windows to the ceilings, no ceiling fans, no drapes at the upper clerstorey, and windows seem to be 360deg around the room. The specs says it has underfloor heating as well as a heat pump, with solar hot water as well.

I guess I find it difficult to accept the house requires minimal energy input, despite its passive solar design, without some quantification of what "minimal" means in energy input or power cost terms. Are you able to shed some light on this?

Re: Innovative Design Award 

I don't mind sharing my experience and what i have learnt for free, but i'm not going to waste my time with nonsense. Sensible positive questions please otherwise i've got better things to spend my time on. Really R1.0 is Nonsensical. It wouldn't get building consent if R1.0. In Christchurch the minimum code requirement is R2.0. but we always aim much higher than that.
Sure there will be heat loss from the glazing, but it is high performance glazing, Low E argon gas filled units and the glazing works brilliantly the opposite way for solar gain into the concrete mass. FYI there is not 360 degrees of glass as south wall of the living space which I assume you mistake as window is actually partially glazed internal borrowed light between the half height mezzanine behind with the bottom part of the same wall concrete heatsink.
Roof is R5 and wall construction is technically R2.97 but some manufactures say you can basically double the R value due to the added advantage of all the insulated thermally mass. This is recognised in H1 of the building code as when you use solid (concrete) construction they give you a dispensation on the code requirement for R values. With this house being so new I'm not sure about the exact energy use data or what the average power bill is, but they have said they are very happy with how it is performing. I could ask the owners how it is going so far but they are overseas at the mo. For new projects going forward we now have software called ECODESIGNER which uses the 3D CAD model to analyse the designs energy use, solar gain and thermal performance and carbon footprint, etc.
We have designed houses that use no power for Space Heating or Water heating, thats real easy to measure because they have just never turned the switch.
eg. FLW Japanese House (ECO HOUSES)

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Message to Ecobob:

Anonymous posts seem to be back.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Thanks Bob: it really was a question of energy use for this particular house.

Perhaps at some stage this post can be updated with the energy input info (imported energy, apart from solar gain).

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Also, the time it takes to post on this forum is significant, so thanks for the detailed/lengthy reply above.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Nice house Bob! Great work!!

Every time that we can work with a client to produce a house that is significantly better in terms of energy efficiency is a step in the right direction for housing design and construction. Publishing projects like this only helps people to see what can be done.

There will always be people who have different opinions and priorities and it is easy to criticise when you haven't gone to the ultimate degree. Too often however, we lose sight of what it is that we are setting out to achieve - a comfortable, warm family home that is a joy to live in.

In an environment such as the one you have built for the connection that the living spaces of the house has with the outdoor environment is also critical so while the house might technically be over-glazed for maximum energy efficiency there are other priorities to consider. My guess is that heating requirements would still be minimal.

Some people would like us to believe that every European house is built to these standards. I have a German trained architect who has recently started working for me who says that very few new stand alone houses are built in Germany, and even fewer are built to the standards that are suggested because of the cost, they are simply unaffordable. That is not to say that we shouldn't strive to do the best that we can here, but in my opinion we should not become obsessed with any one design factor at the expense of the whole of the house. Bear in mind also that unlike Northern Europe 9 months of the year we are likely to have windows and doors open for ventilation at some time in the day, our climate is different and we should build what is appropriate for here, not what is appropriate for somewhere else.

For the last big snow in Christchurch we were away for the week in Queenstown. We arrived home at 6:30 on the Saturday night after a week of having no heating on in the house and still with snow lying around, expecting the house to be cold. The temperature in the Lounge was 18.8 degrees C, heating provided solely by the sun that was available during that week and held by the insulation.

This to me is just one of the tests of whether a house works or not, the ultimate test is how happy and healthy the occupants are who live there.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Hi Dean,

I don't know from where in Germany the architect comes from. But I have a lot of contacts there and high energy efficiency is required by law and there are lots and lots of free standing houses built to the legally required high standards.
I am going to import a complete passive house out of Germany and it will cost me less than a house like GJ or so including freight !!.
Five years ago I worked on a tilt slab project and suggested to the architect to do exactly the detailing as showed by Bob at the beginning of the thread. This architect is well known and he belittled me for that and laughed at me. "Thats not how we do this" However the owner forced him to correct those details.
And there many other occations were I adviced designers and architects of such shortfalls in their planning and quite honest I am tired to be belittled and five years later someone gets rewards and I get nothing because I don't have the title architect or designer or I am not a born Kiwi.
Advanced know how is not always connected with big cost but people who come to New Zealand with know how get rather held back and punished for that until the same "local" people have caught up and claim it as "their" innovation.
I have advised other people out of the building industry not to immigrate here as they are most likely wasting themselves by working for years with their wings cut.
The NZ building industry needs a serious stocktake and serious improvement in quality and value for money. This is a fact and not at all negative.
Also why would you want half the house open in summer with all those bugs around??????

Re: Innovative Design Award 

And over 90% of New Zealand house have very high energy consumption, change the temperature rapitly with the weather and lot's have damp and mould problems. Therefore you can't say building for the climate is taking place on a larger scale.
There are already some house in New Zealand which are build to German?European specs and their perform great.
I have lived in Christchurch too and I found the climate quite similar to Europe apart from the Winter low temperatures. The planet Eart has a large variety of climates but really there is nothing realy unique in New Zealands "climate"

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Sure, in Germany their minimum requirements are much higher than ours. Her comment was that by far the majority of people live in apartments and a freestanding house is an impossible dream for most. For her and her partner that is a huge part of the reason why they are here in NZ, they can have a lifestyle that they could never afford back home.

The mainstream section of the industry has had little focus on the basics of energy efficiency for years and your experiences I can relate to, I have been considered by many to be a freak and a weirdo for years trying to waste peoples money on crazy ideas simply for trying to harness the sun, but personally I see little point in getting upset about other peoples ignorance or lack of understanding and I am certainly not going to let myself get held back by it. But even so do you not see it as encouraging that the industry is now giving recognition (which thankfully shows both an understanding and appreciation of) to what Bob has done with this house?

The detailing shown is not necessarily new, I first saw similar details on a house built by Bradfords of Ashburton that Chris Prebble designed in Christchurch about 15 years ago and have since used them myself, but the implementation of them is certainly not common and combined with the other initiatives Bob has introduced into this house the judges obviously saw it as the most innovative in the competition. In my opinion I consider it to be innovative because it so seldom happens.

Anything that improves the quality of construction which flows on to have a positive impact on our living environments must be encouraged.

As for having the house open - it's a lifestyle choice, being a part of the environment around you, being closer to it. I love living like that, we hear the native birdsong in the valley and occasionally they will even fly through the house. To me it fits with living on an island in the South Pacific, a lifestyle of sunshine and soft breezes, bbq's and walking barefoot on the grass with the beach 15 mins drive one way and the mountains an hour the other way. I think we often forget what we have here in our great consumerist rush to emulate the lifestyles of big cities, I hate the feeling of being closed in when it is a lovely day outside.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Its all about compromise at the end of the day regarding building and budget defines the overall result. Yes it would be great if every client could afford to build 100% energy efficient homes, but the truth is that will never happen!
Dean is spot on the mark in regard to the NZ lifestyle and how we live.
Its not a real evening barby without a few mozies!
Well done Bob on this project.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

""""Its all about compromise at the end of the day regarding building and budget defines the overall result."""


Yes it is and when the building leaks because they compromised detailing and still do because they had to build so big. It doesn't matter because the warranty will be up the owners changed and the taxpayer will shoulder the cost.
Wonder what excuse you have for this.


""" Yes it would be great if every client could afford to build 100% energy efficient homes, but the truth is that will never happen! """

We had many clients over the years who wanted to build energy efficient and prepared to spend the money but the had to listen all the time silly comments from the builders and architects.
No we have many people going sick accross NZ because they can't afford to heat their shed.
And the existence of Winter is denied too...


"""Dean is spot on the mark in regard to the NZ lifestyle and how we live. """
Thats fine believe it or not we spend a lot of time outside but that was my own opinion if I may have one too without you falling into what "we" do against me because not all people in New Zealand live uniform and you cannot speak for all


""Its not a real evening barby without a few mozies! "" Good on you


""Well done Bob on this project. """

Didn't get my point at all or you didn't read it............




Dean face the reality the days when NZ living was affordable are long gone and the house prices are one of the highest for one of the lowest standard of housing in the developed world.
If this expensive houses would be of decent construction at least people could afford to live in them.
Nearly forgot of course there is the taxpayer to pay to fix the problem and the industry keeps in denial...

Now looking forward to the next denial :-))))
Denial, it is all about denial isn't it?

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Lets see your designs posted so we can hen peck them!
If Germany is so bloody advanced in everything and NZ is so head in the sand, I think relocation would would your best bet!

Re: Innovative Design Award 

so you want everyone to relocate who doesn't want to live in a shed. How arrogant is that ??
NZ is the perfect place and perfect climate for a next to zero energy house without breaking the bank.
Lucky for me and many others I don't depend on the likes of you.
I am a taxpayer of many years in this country and I hate to see the Goverment spending money to fix the shortcut culture of the building industry. And there is no need to swear or getting personal OK ??
Open up your mind would be your best bet!!!!!

Re: Innovative Design Award 

I am glad to see changes coming into NZ; even small changes are better than none. There is a bright side to the poor quality of housing here. Build you own energy efficient home. Then buy some shares in the energy companies because NZ houses will be sucking up a lot of energy for a long time to come, and power prices are going to be rising steadily! Leo

Re: Innovative Design Award 

I'll second that. Every discussion here seems to end up as a europe is great, NZ is rubbish argument. It gets very old, very quick!

Would also love to see some of "guess whats" designs to back up the strong opinions on the work of others.

Good to see Dean posting on here again too as he seems to know what he's talking about and is not so heavy handed with his opinions.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

I think that you misunderstand me. I agree that the minimum standard of houses here in NZ needs to improve significantly - no argument there at all, and that is what I have spent my career to date working towards.

Bleating on about how bad things are here and that they will never be any good doesn't solve any problems. The only joy that a pessimist gets out of life is being able to say "I told you so".

The biggest problem is changing what peoples expectations are for new housing. There are few consumers who realise what they could have and what the difference for them would be. Working together, sharing knowledge, experience, examples of built work, raising awareness, increasing understanding of what the problems with our houses are and what the range of solutions can be all contributes towards a better future. That's why I am so pleased to see Bob posting this house here, and encourage others to do the same and I should put up a few myself. There is always something to learn from everybody's experiences.

Re: Innovative Design Award 

Guess what?

Can you please provide a web page of the passive house company that you are importing from.

Many thanks.