PoO noted an RNZ report which said:
Advocates for people living in overheating new builds are dismayed that officials will not consider comprehensive changes to fix the issue until 2031.
Residents of the glut of townhouses and apartments built in the last few years have repeatedly raised concerns about dangerous heat in their homes during summer, because of common design flaws.
The Building Research Association (BRANZ) and Green Building Council are among organisations advocating for changes to the Building Code, which currently does not include any controls on overheating or maximum internal temperatures.
However, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment officials have confirmed they are working on the issue, but it would not be part of a regular code review in 2028, and instead would be considered during the subsequent review in 2031.
BRANZ senior building physicist Stephen McNeil said without regulation, people living in overheated housing would suffer even more as average temperatures increased.
But the bureaucrats (no surprises here) have an explanation.
MBIE’s manager for building performance and engineering, Dave Gittings, said officials were working through how overheating requirements could be integrated into the Building Code, but overheating was a complex issue without a single fix.
The 2031 review was appropriate timing because of the considerable technical and policy work involved, he said.
The ministry would provide informal guidance to designers and homeowners in the meantime.
Officials we are told – are looking at how building designs may need to demonstrate they do not exceed maximum indoor temperatures.
Introducing a requirement such as the one proposed by the Green Building Council would involve “more than simply setting a temperature limit”, Gittings said.
But Stephen McNeil reckons changes could be staged.
“Rather than one big hit where you deliver this perfect regulatory thing that solves every problem, you’ve got to take the industry on a journey and give them time to build into it,” he said.
“Simple measures now will save us a lot of pain down the track because we could capture the riskiest buildings quite early in the piece.”
Five years is too long to wait for action on this issue, surely.
But the RNZ report gives us no indication of the concerns – or otherwise – of the Government.
This is a health issue as much as a regulatory one, and the Government should be keen to chalk up brownie points on its health performance.
Just a few weeks ago The Guardian reported:
At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.
Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.
The exact figure is likely to be much higher because those data cover only about half of the continent and does not include August totals.
So who is calling the shots on the policy that determines what can and should be done in this country to avert a similar rate of heat-related deaths?
Government ministers – or unelected mandarins and their minions at MBIE?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE.
However, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment officials have confirmed they are working on the issue, but it would not be part of a regular code review in 2028, and instead would be considered during the subsequent review in 2031.
BRANZ senior building physicist Stephen McNeil said without regulation, people living in overheated housing would suffer even more as average temperatures increased.
But the bureaucrats (no surprises here) have an explanation.
MBIE’s manager for building performance and engineering, Dave Gittings, said officials were working through how overheating requirements could be integrated into the Building Code, but overheating was a complex issue without a single fix.
The 2031 review was appropriate timing because of the considerable technical and policy work involved, he said.
The ministry would provide informal guidance to designers and homeowners in the meantime.
Officials we are told – are looking at how building designs may need to demonstrate they do not exceed maximum indoor temperatures.
Introducing a requirement such as the one proposed by the Green Building Council would involve “more than simply setting a temperature limit”, Gittings said.
But Stephen McNeil reckons changes could be staged.
“Rather than one big hit where you deliver this perfect regulatory thing that solves every problem, you’ve got to take the industry on a journey and give them time to build into it,” he said.
“Simple measures now will save us a lot of pain down the track because we could capture the riskiest buildings quite early in the piece.”
Five years is too long to wait for action on this issue, surely.
But the RNZ report gives us no indication of the concerns – or otherwise – of the Government.
This is a health issue as much as a regulatory one, and the Government should be keen to chalk up brownie points on its health performance.
Just a few weeks ago The Guardian reported:
At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.
Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.
The exact figure is likely to be much higher because those data cover only about half of the continent and does not include August totals.
So who is calling the shots on the policy that determines what can and should be done in this country to avert a similar rate of heat-related deaths?
Government ministers – or unelected mandarins and their minions at MBIE?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE.
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