Homestar Self Assessments
Filed under: Blog, Homestar Responses: 4 Comments
In my previous post I outlined what the Homestar home assessment was and how to get started. The first step is doing an assessment on your home using the self assessment tool on their website. The tool was pretty easy and walks you through each step asking a series of questions. The questionnaire is broken down into several steps:
Home Details
Some pretty basic facts about the house (size, number of bedrooms, etc.) It also asks you the type of house you have and shows photos of the different types. As we live in a villa this was pretty straight forward.
Energy
This section covers what type of heating you have, hot water, lighting and also if you generate any of your own electricity.
Health and Comfort
Windows, ceilings, walls and floors. This section basically goes over how well insulated your home is aling with how well things like sunlight affect the house. The one issue we had with this questions is that it doesn’t really show a roof type where there is a bedroom in the ceiling as we have. A quick check with my wife the architect and we came to the conclusion that a Skillion roof was the closest match. This is probably one thing they need to add to the questionnaire. There were also some interesting questions on downlights as in the conclusions this made me aware of some issues with these types of light which are so prevalent in NZ.
Water
Some pretty straight forward questions your appliances and if you use any of your grey water. An area which I think will have an important role to play in the future.
Waste and Home Management
These 2 sections start to cover some less major physical aspects of the house and more around some of the lifestyle choices. Questions about compost bins, recycling and home security. All easy questions to answer but great prompts for things that you can easily do to change your habits. We personally have that already so did quite well in this section.
Site
The final questions are about outside and where the site is located. You can’t do too much about some things like how close you are to public transport but there are a few things around planting that are good to think about.
So how did we do at the end of it? I’m pleased to report that we got a 4 although I expect that if we had the official measurements done it would come out slightly lower as the house is cold in winter. The results also come with a handy summary of things that you can do to increase the score and comfort of your home. One eye-opener was that recessed lighting can be really bad for the efficiency of your house. Basically since there is no insulation over the top of them and they are hot, air gets sucked up through them and out into the roof. It is definitely something that we will be looking at during the renovation.
There were also a lot of other recommendations but I will leave some of the decisions we made to another post. We’ve just had a Homestar Practitioner around and he did a more thorough look through the house and pointed out some areas where we may be able to improve things.
Interesting result, my attempt with a brand new house where I was aware of the downlight issue and used “Orbit” cabinet lamps, surface mounted with a GX53 bulb (11 watts) and double glazing with laminated glass (quadruple glazing if you think about it) was that I could not get higher than 6 without both a $50,000 solar power supply, payback 20+ years AND a grey water tank (on a site that has no use or space for grey water, being hard against a hill and the sea)
The lack of flexibility reduces the quality of the assessment.
Our internal temperature is usually 10 degrees above outside and in Wellington, that means over 18 degrees most of the time, without heating – the heatpump gets little use!
One of the things they said is that it is really hard to get a high score with the assessment and your home will be very comfortable at a 5 or 6. We are interested in the whole grey water thing as our house feeds into old pipes in Auckland and anything we can do to reduce storm water going into the harbour is a good thing. It is hard in an urban environment and as you’ve pointed out quite cost prohibitive right now but I’m sure over the coming years it will become easier.
Also good note not the lights you chose. With the covers and proper installation they can work but you really have to plan that when you start. A new build is probably easier than a renovation to get that in.
Stay tuned for some of the choices we have made based on our more thorough assessment.
The self assessment online is really just a starting point to see roughly where you stand. To get an accurate score an assessor would have to come around and run the house through the “certified tool” which is a lot more comprehensive than the online tool and the only way you can achieve the higher scores.
It is vital to get a Practitioner in right at the start of your project as they will provide design advice and also tell you what evidence/paperwork you have to collect as you go along. (if you don’t have the paperwork to prove you points claims then the assessor will not be able to validate it).
EnviroSpec is setting up to be a “One stop shop” for all your Homestar needs, from initial Homecoach review to Professional Pracitioner Services and Certification at the end of your project + also provides product and materials selection database.
Down lighting can be an issue in older homes. If your downlighting (recessed ) is directly into the roof space you will lose a lot of heat (just put your up near the ceiling in winter when the wind is blowing and you will feel the air exchange!). However it counts less if it is in between floors where the cavity is enclosed between ceiling & upper floor space, providing there are no openings or gaps into that floor space.
Every home is different which is why it is important to a) get the help of a certified HomeStar Coach to assess your home with advice, or if you are intending to make changes soon, engage a Homestar Practitioner in your planning. Follow this up with a Homestar Certified Rating from a Homestar Assessor
Real Estate.co.nz has acknowledged identifies this tool so if you are selling your home (or renting), your Homestar Certified rating will be added to the property web page (along with validation) advertising your property. It may not seem relevant now, but I am sure those gearing towards it will find added comparative value in it as it is taken on board by home owners 5 years or so onwards