Alistair and Carol Niven had been living in inner-city Auckland when the first lockdown of 2020 motivated them to move to the country for a quieter, more relaxed life. Their search for the right lifestyle property eventually led them to a working orchard in the hills of Katikati, with 320 avocado trees.
It was here that the couple decided to build an energy efficient and smart home. The couple had a blank slate and some big ideas: “We wanted to build a home that had functionality and sustainability and was future-ready,” says Alistair. “It was about having a house that was simplistic in its style but technical in its production.”
It’s no doubt that this trend is likely to grow in New Zealand’s collective conscience, especially as we look for more avenues to lower our impact on the environment. Alistair and Carol feel stylish, sustainable living is achievable for Kiwis, as it’s about every inch of space being wisely utilised. It’s also about thinking and tackling problems creatively.
The couple are very enthusiastic about both design and sustainability and directed this project from beginning to end. The brief to their architect was simple: a home that made the most of its location and views with plenty of room for the couple and their dog, and a separate area for guests.
With the drawings in hand, the next step was to plan how the house could work for them: making life easier and more energy efficient.
A sustainable build
The couple wanted their home to be as sustainable as possible – from the type of building materials they used, to the way in which the build itself could contribute to a smaller energy footprint.
This started, quite literally, from the ground up. Instead of commonly used polystyrene for an in-ground building slab, they opted for a raft floor instead: a raised slab filled with 250kg of recycled plastic from Hawke’s Bay that is concreted over.
“That means you’re actually above the ground by 450 millimeters,” explains Alistair, “and that creates a thermal break between the ground and your house.”
This thermal break helps to regulate the temperature in the house year-round and reduces the need for additional heating or cooling as fluctuations in the ground temperature don’t flow up to the home.
“Having a sustainable floor base that would retain the warmth for us was really important so that we didn’t have to run electricity or burn wood,” says Carol. They also installed double glazing with argon gas to help maintain the inside temperature.
The house was built using laminated recycled timber with Ecoply on top for strengthening due to the high wind zone. It’s clad in cement board and painted with Resene Cool Colour paint to reflect heat and prolong the cladding’s durability. The choice of dark greens for the roof and exterior means the house blends in with the avocado trees and sits more easily in its natural surrounds.
There is pre-wiring for the addition of solar panels, an EV charger in the garage, and even provisions for future driveway resurfacing enhancements. Another key energy efficiency comes from their Rinnai Smart Cylinder, which ‘learns’ their pattern of hot water use, so will only heat what is required.
An energy efficient home
Alistair says that having touch-screen control from his smartphone is a game-changer and adds to the overall enjoyment of living in their home. “It’s so much cheaper to run a house too and you can run everything very simply.”
He says their power bills have come down thanks to the energy efficient features, and the fact that Wiser lets them control exactly what is on and when. “I think the bills will come down further too, because we’re living within the home’s sustainability programme.”
Style and substance
The overall impression of their home is one of light and space. Large picture windows offer sweeping views over the orchard and out to Mount Maunganui and beyond, while the 2.7m wall stud, pitched ceilings and light timber floors all add to the airy feel.
“I love that when we’re sitting in the lounge area and you look out over the orchard you feel as though you’re suspended in nature – it’s magical,” says Carol.
The dark tones of the kitchen are the perfect setting for the beautiful black light switches and power points which blend beautifully with the black cabinetry, dark stone splashback and black bench tops.
An intuitive home
Alistair’s plans for a smart home meant finding a system that could bring all the individual parts together in one easy-to-use application. They saw how a PDL Wiser Smart Home by Schneider Electric could achieve that. “It’s controlled on your phone – one touch and the whole house transforms. And it’s so easy to use.”
Wiser can control and dim lights throughout their house, and control appliances such as the wall heater in the master ensuite. “If we’re out and coming home and it’s a cool evening, I can actually crank up the heat in the bathroom from my phone, so there’s a warm bathroom to shower in,” says Alistair.
Even the entrance to their house can be operated via Wiser – an electric maglock secures the large reflective glass front door, which they can see via the security cameras on their phone screen and then unlock remotely.
And the avocadoes?
Alistair and Carol sell their avocados locally, as well as having a Global Gap Certification which allows them to export globally. They also sell to subscription services such as Bay Farms, provide produce for local restaurants in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland, and sell at a local farmers market. Where they can’t sell the fruit because it’s marked and damaged, they press for Grove avocado oil in Te Puna.
