Site purpose

Smarter Homes exists to provide clear, independent, factual information about sustainable home design, building and lifestyle options. Readers who access this information will be able to make choices that make their homes warmer, drier, healthier, more affordable, more comfortable and kinder to the environment.

The site is aimed at home owners and renters, people looking to buy or build houses, and at building and property professionals who want an overview of smart home and building issues.

Who's behind Smarter Homes?

Smarter Homes is owned by the Building and Housing Group within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (formerly the Department of Building and Housing). It was created in a joint initiative by the Department of Building and Housing, the Ministry for the Environment, Consumer, Beacon Pathway Ltd and URS, with assistance from a number of other organisations interested in helping consumers access good quality, reliable and independent information about smart homes.

Any reference to the Department of Building and Housing on this website is legally deemed to mean the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Smarter Homes is free

All information on this website is provided without charge. Where you are linked to additional information in another resource or website, for which you have to pay, this is made clear.

Smarter Homes isn?t a substitute for professional advice

Smarter Homes is not intended to provide specific information about building projects and building compliance issues. It is not a substitute for specific advice from building industry professionals or legal practitioners. The Department of Building and Housing disclaims any legal liability arising out of the use of the information and advice on this website.

Links to other websites

The fact that this website provides links to other websites does not imply that the Department of Building and Housing approves or endorses any information on those other websites or any views expressed on them.

Where we link to other sites, we clearly say so in the text surrounding the link. Links to document downloads are also clearly indicated. This is a reminder that the Department of Building and Housing has no control over the availability or accuracy of content on linked websites.

Online comments

At the bottom of each page of Smarter Homes, you'll find a comments feature. Any views expressed in the comments feature are the opinions of the individual who makes the comment. Publication on the site does not imply endorsement by Smarter Homes or its owner.

Copyright

Unless otherwise stated, copyright for all information on this site belongs to the Department of Building and Housing.

Information on this site may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media by New Zealand Government and local government agencies, and by non-commercial organisations, without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a misleading context.

Where the material is being published or issued to others, the source and copyright status must be acknowledged, and the Smarter Homes url - www.smarterhomes.org.nz - must be clearly displayed. When it is displayed in an electronic format, this url must be a live hyperlink.

Commercial organisations, businesses and trade organisations require permission to reproduce any Smarter Homes content.

At times this website may contain documents or links to documents that are copyright protected. Permission to reproduce copyrighted documents may therefore be required from the copyright holders concerned.