Ina Holst has written article for the GB Weekly all about our Little Greenie project:
“Fancy chicken shed” challenges fashion with function
Over the next few weeks, The GB Weekly will take a closer look at some of the ecohomes visited on the Ecofestival tour a fortnight ago.
Eco-architect Michael Thomas of Sustainable Building Alliance hosted the tour and shared his knowledge with the participants. He was part of the selection team and said the homes for the tour had been chosen on the basis of wanting to show a wide variety in type of construction, when and how these were constructed, by contractors or owner-built, the different systems used in the buildings and how these were applicable for people here in the Bay.
The first house selected for this series is “Little Greenie” introduced in the ecohome brochure as being “modern, unashamedly practical, and completely rejects frills or fashion… it is seriously hot.”
The sizzling little gem is the show home of Eco—Action Design and Build and part of Golden Bay Hideaway at Wainui Bay, which provides tourist accommodation.
As you enter the property, the road climbs up through a tunnel of native bush interspersed with glimpses of the sea. Tucked away in 100 acres of native forest, Little Greenie sits above the glistening waters and golden beaches, its clean straight lines challenging fashion with function, as Lawrence McIntyre puts it.
Lawrence designed and constructed the technology-smart holiday unit with support from his family, partner Antje and sons Omani and Finn, and his friend Grant Collings.
From his background in chicken farming Lawrence has acquired a natural knack for temperature control systems. Referring to the house as a “just a fancy chicken shed”, he said it reflected his “chicken—farmer thoughts” and had been less difficult to design than a hatchery.
Of course Little Greenie is far from just a chicken shed, and the way in which the high—tech components and common sense have come together is convincing. Little Greenie encapsulates Lawrence’s beliefs in low maintenance and longevity, ease of construction and value for money. Quality insulation and design solutions that enhance energy efficiency, solar passive heating and heat transfer were critical
The house is oriented to the sun so that capture of the sun’s heat is maximized. In turn, the use of raw materials such as concrete, mud bricks and double—glazed, argon—filled windows ensures this heat is stored as thermal mass. Polystyrene has been sandwiched between the ground and the concrete floors to act as a thermal break. Overlaying wool-block insulation creates an R (R-regulated) value of 5.1 in the walls and of 7.4 in the roof. R-values are applied to rate the insulation of building materials and walls, roof windows and floors. The average R—value in ordinary homes is half the Little Greenie’s figure.
The design allows for the redirection of warmth behind half adobe internal walls, resulting in delayed heat at the south wall. Similarly, warm air is directed through air vents into the compost toilet for improved performance.
The home’s solar hot water system also supplies underfloor heating, backed—up by a wood-burning boiler. Low—wattage LED lights are installed throughout the house.
”I am not a perfectionist, but I am after High quality, and everything has to be practical, simple and long-lasting,” said Lawrence.
So, the construction avoids unnecessary joints, reducing water entry points and extra building costs, Special attention has been paid to keeping maintenance to a minimum so more time can be spent enjoying the spectacular views from a deck-chair.
Many of Lawrence’s ideas were collected on his travels, and while living in Germany he was impressed by the energy efficiency of the homes and the consistent temperature maintained in the rooms within.
With Little Greenie, Lawrence fused his ideas of low—impact, alternative building with long-standing and proven New Zealand building techniques such as using normal stud walls and trusses for the roof. Many of the materials, services and expertise were sourced locally. “The local suppliers and craftspeople have been fantastic. They really enjoyed working on this house and the council has been very supportive, too.”
Tags: ecohome, Energy Efficiency, little greenie