Far North District Council is holding meetings for feedback on its representation review.
A push to reduce insulation requirements in the Far North has the district council formally requesting a separate climate zone to lower building costs.
Far North District Council wrote to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) urging an investigation into a separate target="_blank">climate zone for the district.
While industry groups welcome the move, MBIE says any changes must go through a formal review process.Public consultation has been completed and findings are expected later this year.
FNDC councillor Felicity Foy has spearheaded the request and explained at a recent council meeting why the change was important for the Far North.
“We would really benefit from this … I think having a healthy home is really sensible but spending money on things that we don’t really need like huge amounts of insulation is not sensible use of anyone building whare in our district.”
She said the cost to build a house is nearing $5000 per square metre and “anything we can do to make that better for ratepayers we should do”.
Foy said they were asking for a different zone for H1 for the Far North to be different to Auckland.
Clause H1 of the NZ Building Code required buildings to provide adequate insulation to retain heat, control airflow to prevent energy loss, and includes specific rules for hot water systems, lighting, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
“In terms of the separate climate zone as well, what we found from this research is that H1 is not about insulation, it’s about energy efficiency.”
MBIE building performance and engineering managers Dave Gittings said the ministry understood council’s request related to amendments to acceptable solutions and verification methods that the sector uses for establishing compliance with the H1 clause.
“Decisions about amendments to acceptable solutions and verification methods are delegated to MBIE’s chief executive.”
The current H1 Energy Efficiency settings came into effect in 2023, following staggered implementation since 2021. The changes were to update insulation and glazing requirements for new building work in over a decade, aimed at realigning longer-term benefits of reduced heating and cooling bills, as well as improved health outcomes from living in warmer and drier homes.
“Since the settings implementation, various sector participants have raised concerns about potential unintended consequences as a result of the changes – including cost increases and overheating and condensation in new build homes,” Gittings said.
Public consultation on proposed changes to H1 settings closed in February and MBIE is currently looking through over 250 submissions.
He added insulation and glazing requirements for new buildings under the Building Code vary across New Zealand and are differentiated by climate zones. The 2021 changes included a review of the climate zone map, increasing the number of climate zones from three to six.
“Each climate zone includes regions with similar conditions with respect to their effect on a building’s heating and cooling energy needs. These zones use National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research [Niwa] climate data for different locations around New Zealand. In this analysis, Northland was represented by climate data for Kaitāia.
“Establishing a separate climate zone for the Far North would require amendments to acceptable solutions and verification methods for Building Code clause H1 Energy Efficiency. The process for doing so is set out in the Building Act 2004.”
New Zealand Certified Builders chief executive Malcolm Fleming said they are glad the Government listened to the building fraternity to make insulation methods more flexible.
“We broadly support the proposed changes to the H1 regulations. With these changes, homeowners and builders can now choose a method that best suits the needs and budget of their project.
“For example, the modelling method can be used in the Far North to factor in the design of the house and the local weather. The H1 regulations also have built-in climate bands with different requirements for different regions.”