Ade, R; Rehm, M and Vishnupriya, V (2024) A wintertime thermal analysis of New Zealand Homestar certified apartments for older people. Building Research & Information, 52(6), pp. 680-692. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
The New Zealand Building Code mandates maintaining habitable spaces and bathrooms in elderly homes at a minimum internal temperature of 16°C with adequate ventilation. This study assesses the thermal wintertime performance of 40 subsidized apartments designed for older residents within a 7-Homestar certified building in Auckland. The building performs well, falling below the 16°C threshold only 5 per cent of the time across all units. However, inconsistencies exist, particularly on the top floor (Level 3), which is colder than other levels. This reveals a potential flaw in the typology approach of green certifications, like Homestar, where certifying a single dwelling within an apartment building does not guarantee uniform thermal performance across all units.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | green building; indoor environment quality; thermal comfort; underheating |
| Index terms: | thermal comfort, apartment building, elderly, indoor environment, mandate, building code, New Zealand, ventilation, green certification, thermal performance, guarantee, thermal analysis, older people, green building |
| Subjects: | regulatory law, design practice, political science, sustainability assessment, air quality, environmental science, construction type, Geography, energy systems, demography, environmental engineering, contract structure |
| Topics: | Procurement, Design Practice, Legal Issues, Construction Technology, Engineering Principles, Sustainability, Geographical Context, Urban Studies, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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