The recent announcement that Chris Penk wants to roll back the 2023 H1 changes is outrageous.

The recent announcement that Chris Penk wants to roll back the 2023 H1 changes is outrageous. For a long time, New Zealand has been lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to quality building construction, and removing the H1 improvements will be another step backwards.

While the H1 changes introduced in 2023 were a step in the right direction, there are omissions in the new legislation which we knew would lead to overheating and moisture issues in buildings. Overheating is not caused by too much insulation or higher-performing windows but rather a lack of knowledge about how to design homes that perform well.

There is established international building science that clearly and easily explains how to build a home that will perform well in winter and summer. Using existing building science delivers a home that is healthy for its occupants without requiring huge amounts of power to heat or cool it. We know that applying this building science to homes in New Zealand’s climate works.

The article published on 16 July 2024 states that “government experts told Penk the old standards were "significantly lower" than other countries with similar climates, including relevant parts of Australia, the UK, Ireland, and the US.”

So why is the government ignoring internationally recognised science and not using it to shape our building legislation, even though they know we can do better?

It appears the answer is because of pressure from some ignorant and short-sighted members of the building industry who do not understand building science and good design.

Within the New Zealand building code, there currently aren’t any requirements to design or build a home that will perform well. There is no requirement for the designer to consider overheating in summer, or condensation and low temperatures in winter. As it stands currently, it’s a complete lottery as to how well a home will perform and you won’t know who has won or lost the draw until the home is built.

We believe low building standards and the resulting poor-performing homes is unacceptable, and that all New Zealanders deserve a warm and dry home to live in. We implore Chris Penk and the government to rethink the rollback of H1 improvements, and instead take a step further and introduce performance requirements to the legislation. Until there are performance requirements in the legislation, we will continue to have brand new homes that don’t perform well, resulting in its occupants receiving excessive energy bills to cover heating and cooling costs. Rolling back the H1 improvements won’t change that.

Referenced article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/350345208/government-considers-rolling-back-insulation-standards