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Hi there

With the recent seismic activity in the South Island (Canterbury) the need for sound construction and logical site planning is paramount.

Building design will be influenced by the level of seismic resistance desired. This can range from prevention of nonstructural damage in frequent minor ground shaking to prevention of structural damage and minimization of nonstructural damage in occasional moderate ground shaking, and even avoidance of collapse or serious damage in rare major ground shaking. These performance objectives can be accomplished through a variety of measures such as structural components like shear walls, braced frames, moment resisting frames. Also base isolation, energy dissipating devices such as visco-elastic dampers, elastomeric dampers.

We have been investigating visco-elastic damper applications for some time now. This has resulted in a favourable variance........The question is,  how to incorporate this in plan submission and get it through council???

We will keep you posted.

John 

Hi there,

what is this all about...green credentials, what's the big deal??

Green Credentials takes into account the two core principles of Net zero energy (off-the-grid technologies) and Carbon neutral footprint. The Green Credential Eco Standard achieves the best possible balance between energy efficiency, sustainability and affordability, with the aim to exceed all current environmental design standards.

Zero Net Energy: Zero net energy means a home is self-sufficient with regards to energy generation – This is also known as being ‘off the grid’. This is achieved through our super-insulated building envelope, home orientation (passive) and by specifying energy generation systems, such as solar or wind turbine (active). All homes are specified with a mechanical room to ready them for future technologies.

Carbon Neutral Footprint: Our second environmental goal is to have homes that are carbon neutral to manufacture. Because we control every step in the manufacturing process, emissions and wastage throughout the supply chain are more easily quantified and can therefore be minimised.

John

Hello again,

The key objective of the Structural System, Bas- elements, is to firstly meet our One Build - One Code standard and secondly to reduce onsite labour.
We utilises helical piles (also known as ‘screw piles’) to get out of the ground quick. Helical piles also have the added advantage of being light on the earth, as they create minimal disturbance to the ground when drilled. The underground heat exchanger is also drilled into the ground during the foundation phase.

Because the home is pre-built and assembled off shore, containers can be delivered, in sequence, directly to the site. All heavy lifting is done by crane and fork lift. A small team of 6-8 Authorised Installers can complete the structural element and have the home watertight in 4-10 working days.

Being pre-engineered means that all our homes come prewired and plumbed from the factory. This dramatically reduces the construction window, and minimises onsite labour. Depending on the local by-laws of your region, electrical work can be signed-off by a register electrician on site and plumbing by the building inspector once the waterlines have been pumped up.

John