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We use the highest quality European interior and exterior wraps to create an airtight envelope. Most New Zealand homes are not airtight, and because of this the air changes inside at a rate of 9-15 times per hour.
This “leaking” of air means you have to heat a lot more than you should, driving cost and emissions up.
Our homes have been blower-door tested and the air change is only two times per hour. And our recent builds have only one air change per hour.
We use a heat pump to heat space and water. This reduces your heating costs by up to 66%.
As it only takes 2 hours to heat 300l cylinder, we programme the heating times to best suit your needs and energy requirements. Then the heat pump runs as required (usually less than 30mins) to heat the house.
With an airtight well-insulated home, less heating is required so why have two heating sources when one is fine?
This stands for Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery. With an airtight home, this provides a constant supply of fresh warm air, while removing stale and moist air.
MVHR does this by using the heat from the outgoing stale air to pre-heat the cooler fresh air thereby reducing heating costs. It also manages your carbon dioxide levels and reduces condensation.
A relative humidity level of 40-60% is considered the healthiest level for reducing the likelihood of virus transmission. Pretty relevant these days?
It’s hard to believe, but about 90% of modern living is spent indoors, so we need to focus on keeping this environment healthy.
One myth perpetuated in New Zealand is that our homes need to “breathe” – thereby justifying a non-airtight and expensive to run home. Don’t believe them!
We use a higher standard of joinery than most NZ builders, who use aluminium frames.
We use thermally broken European standard windows. This means they have a higher R value (R1.0), are quieter and more secure.
We also use Euroblinds as standard, which trap air and triple the insulation of the window when pulled down at night.
Our sliders also use smart-slider technology, meaning then lock tighter with less air leaks.
As a typical house maintains a 20 degree interior temperature, the concrete slab it sits on slowly leaches the heat away until reaches the same temperature.
Obviously, this is far from ideal.
We insulate both the sides and base of the concrete slab – using 50mm thick XPS polystyrene on the side and up to 250mm thick underneath over a plastic sheet.
This is not at all common in New Zealand houses.
Whether we admit it or not, all of us need storage!
Nest homes feature a large single garage that allows for one car, bikes, and other toys.
We also provide a 16A connection for electric car charging (easy to install now, harder later), and a ply wall to screw shelves, hooks and tools.
When you buy a home from Nest, you know it has been built by a registered MasterBuilder. A MasterBuild guarantee is available,
Looking to the future, our changing building code requirements mean everyone in New Zealand, will eventually build this way.
In this country we are 10 years behind the rest of the world, but this is changing fast.
Protect your two most important investments- your health and your family home!
