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Utilities

Building and renovating

The perfect time to make your home warm, comfortable and cheaper to run is when you are building or renovating. It is your opportunity to go back to the drawing board and really think about how you can incorporate energy efficiency into your home's design.

Designing better new homes

With the right combination of materials, features and technologies you can create a stylish, warm and comfortable new home that uses relatively little energy to run and is better for the environment.

Good energy efficient design needn't cost much more, but you'll enjoy the benefits for many years to come. Start by reading Designing Comfortable Homes - a plain English guide for anyone interested in designing comfortable, energy efficient homes.

Find out more about designing an energy efficient home.

Renovating for warmer, drier homes

Everyone would like to live in a house that is warm, comfortable and healthy - and doesn't cost too much to run.

But compared with houses in other countries with similar climates, New Zealand houses are cold, damp and unhealthy. Most of our houses are draughty, badly ventilated and under-insulated. This makes them difficult and expensive to heat.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to make your home warmer and more comfortable to live in, and it's a great opportunity to do it while you are renovating.

Find out more about energy efficient renovation.