Free advice for smarter home-building choices
5 Feb 2008A council-run scheme, providing free advice to home owners/building professionals on how to make their homes more efficient and sustainable, is taking off.
A scheme that provides free advice on how to make your home more efficient and sustainable is taking off.
Run through councils, specialists are available to provide independent advice on home building and renovation projects to building professionals and home owners. Called Eco Design Advisors, these experts will give you tips on making your home more efficient in terms of energy, water and resource use. Or they will point you in the right direction to find out more.
Since September 2006, Eco Design Advisors have been working at select councils throughout New Zealand. Due to the initial success of the scheme, it has recently been expanded to ten councils located all over the country including: Waitakere City Council, Hamilton City Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, Tauranga City Council/Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Wellington City Council, Sustainable Wanaka/Queenstown Lakes District Council, Auckland City Council and North Shore City Council.
Eco Design Advisors provide advice on all stages of building, whether you’re building a new house or renovating. They have access to a large support network of specialists, design tools and information. However when it comes to assistance with choosing materials, as an independent service the advisors can only recommend generic product categories rather than brand names.
Find out more at www.ecodesignadvisor.org.nz
The following Eco Design Advisors are currently available to provide advice on residential projects within their region:
- Fred Braxton, Waitakere City Council – ph: 09 836 8000 (ext 8886) or email: fred.braxton@waitakere.govt.nz.
- Ian Mayes, Hamilton City Council - ph: 07 838 6773 or email: ian.mayes@hcc.govt.nz
- Richard Morrison, Kapiti Coast District Council - ph: 04 296 4651 or email: richard.morrison@kapiticoast.govt.nz
- Carsten Beetz, Tauranga City Council/Western Bay of Plenty District Council - ph: 027-2751324 or email:
carsten.beetz@wbopc.govt.nz.
- Claire Benge, Wellington City Council - ph: 04 803 8582 or email: claire.benge@wcc.govt.nz
- Jessica Winter, Sustainable Wanaka/Queenstown Lakes District Council - ph: 03 443 4546 or email:
jessica@sustainablewanaka.co.nz
The advisers for Auckland City and North Shore City councils have yet to start their positions. Their details will be posted in this news item as soon as they are confirmed.
