Take a look at the most recent photos below. We almost have a shell ready here.

Keep an eye out on more update photos over the coming weeks, because Paul is still busy working on this project for another week or so!

You save money!

If you want to save money throughout your life, buy smaller! Traditional sized houses carry mortgages that typically take up to 40 years to pay off. That includes a large portion of interest that has grown over time. Imagine what else you could spend that money on? Family vacations, an extra car, more fun and leisure activities!

Not only are small homes less expensive to purchase, they are much less expensive to run. That means you’ll be saving money your entire life. Three quarters of people live from pay cheque to pay cheque. There’s no economic security in living this way. What if you lose your job? Or encounter a serious illness or family situation? The last thing you want to be worrying about is paying off your mortgage, or those expensive weekly living costs. Life is there to be enjoyed. Living tiny means less time working and stressing, and more time living.

Small houses are easier to maintain

Anyone who’s lived in a large house will say the same thing: it’s hard to maintain. Think about it. All the extra painting, furniture, garden, plumbing and structural problems that occur over the years. Think of all the time, energy, effort and money it would take to maintain a large property over a lifetime. What else could you be spending that time and energy on?

Living in a small house takes a lot less work. And as you get older, you can keep up with daily duties. That means your lifelong house really can be your house for life! And you can spend all your extra time, money and energy on the things you love.

In addition, with a Park Home, already we’ve removed a lot of the maintenance work for you by building with superior materials to traditional homes, such as the SIP panels and the UPVC windows and doors - these frames don’t require sanding and painting, as with timber frames, after years of weather exposure, and because of their multi-locking systems, they’re less likely to require replacement opening/closing mechanisms or rubber seals, as with aluminium frames.

It’s mentally freeing

Living in a small space means you have to really look closely at your possessions and keep only what is actually important. Say goodbye to clutter and unnecessary storage! Studies show that reducing your possessions can lead to greater happiness and clarity. You house really is yours, only full of things that bring you joy and fulfilment.

With less clutter, debt, work and living expenses comes reduced stress and greater feelings of security and happiness. Without the burden of repaying debt or maintaining the property, you can wake up feeling energised, not overwhelmed. Tiny living doesn’t need to be restrictive, it actually opens up your life.

Your environmental impact is smaller

Smaller houses require less resources to build and maintain. The less resources being used, the smaller the environmental impact. As global warming continues to be a growing problem, more and more people will have to consider making the switch to smaller living. It produces less waste, uses few resources and saves energy both in production and in the running of the home over its lifetime.

Energy prices are continuing to sky rocket. Smaller houses save energy which means less emissions are being released into the atmosphere, AND you’re saving money. You’re saving the environment while saving money. There’s no down side!

There’s a greater sense of community

City and suburban lifestyles aren’t as glamorous as they seem. It can be very isolating. Many people living in communities are disengaged because they are too busy working and stressing about money. That means less time for the important things—family, friends and the community.

Living smaller allows more opportunity for active community participation. There’s nothing better than living in a community that is connected, engaged and built on community values. Even though a small house may seem isolating, it’s actually the bigger style of living that can lead so many people to feel alone. Small living = more community living.

Happy viewing!

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/miniature-houses-may-roll-their-way-into-christchurchs-red-zone-rebuild

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/miniature-houses-may-roll-their-way-into-christchurchs-red-zone-rebuild

At Park Homes we value a minimalistic lifestyle. We believe life is more meaningful when it’s simple. While we prioritise sustainability, we also strive to create simple but effective houses that inspire a meaningful existence. A house doesn’t need bells and whistles to be beautiful. In fact, excessive features and attractions can deter from the serenity of a home.

Picture walking into your dream home. You feel relaxed and content coming home after a long day. You sit down and relax on the couch and enjoy the evening with your family. Now picture what’s around you. What furniture and décor are important? What do you need to have a happy existence? We bet it’s not the number of things, or the monetary value of your home, that make you feel at ease. There are probably only a few things you really need to live the life you aspire to lead.

If you live in a tiny house you’re forced to make critical decisions about what items you really need or be faced with extreme clutter and mess. That can be a blessing in disguise. Many of us with bigger homes and more storage space keep items that are unnecessary and would serve better purpose being recycled, donated or simply thrown out. You must think about your household items carefully if you’re living in a small space. Be smart and think simple.

If you’re interested in living a minimalistic lifestyle you can follow the Minimalists 21-day journey to living a minimal life or start by thinking about our suggestions to making the most of your living space:

1. Think about what household objects bring you joy. If a fire was to strike, what items would you miss the most if they were burnt? What wouldn’t you care about? Start with these items and see if they’d serve a better purpose elsewhere.
2. Ask yourself what items are you saving up for? Would these things really bring added meaning to your life? So often we spend significant time unhappy while strictly saving money for something material. Consider spending money on an experience or better day-to-day living. Perhaps something to enjoy with family and friends that creates lasting memories.
3. Consider donating items you don’t value but are in good condition. There are plenty of places your less valued goods could serve meaning. Look up your nearest Salvo’s or donation bins and make a difference.
4. Discard items you don’t regularly use and refrain from purchasing something unless it’s essential. Before you buy something, wait a while and think if you really need it or whether it will bring you long term happiness. If you know it won’t, don’t buy it.

Depending on what you need, we can connect two or more bases together to match your design to create a bigger home. Our homes have a modular layout that can be combined in hundreds of different ways!

A modular eco-home is perfect for a starter home, off-grid house, guest house, granny flat or holiday house. You decide the size and shape, and we make your vision a reality. We have a huge variety of designs, layouts and shapes available so you can create a unique house that’s right for you!

Because of their modular design, Park homes can easily be extended later on by adding another module. There is no need to move to a new house anymore every time your needs change!

New homes and add-on modules are all built at our yard in Christchurch, and it generally only takes a few days to combine modules on-site minimising the disruption construction causes to your everyday life.

Due to their modular structure, Park Homes can be designed to fit into the most irregular and off-grid places. Varying sizes and lightweight materials enable Park Homes to be moved quickly, easily and cheaply.

The final advantage of choosing a modular eco-home is its price tag. Ours are one of the most economically priced ‘passive’ houses on the market! The running cost of an eco-friendly home is also much cheaper than a conventional home. It’s an investment that really pays off.

More design layouts can be found in our FREE Park Homes Info Pack!

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, scroll down to the email sign up at the end of the page to request it and we’ll email it to you right away!

Heating and Cooling

• Passive house heat recovery ventilation systems are 85% energy efficient, making them far superior to other ventilation systems
• A passive house saves up to 90% of energy costs and only 1.5 litres of heating oil per square metre each year—far less than other energy efficient housing designs
• You shouldn’t need much extra heating with a Park Home but if you require additional heating we suggest clean wood burners, pellet fires, gas fires, gas or diesel air heaters or, better yet solar air heaters, reducing reliance upon fossil fuels

Water Heating

• Shower domes are fitted to the top of your shower to keep warmth and moisture inside your shower while leaving your bathroom drier and saving energy
• Solar hot water systems use the sun’s energy to heat your shower. You can choose between an active system (uses circulating pumps) or a passive system (uses gravity circulation)
• Gas or solar water heaters store hot water so you can have hot water whenever you need
• Air source hot water pumps absorb heat from outside air and transfer this heat to your hot water. They can cut your hot water costs by 50-75%

Water Saving

• Water reclamation units capture water and purify it to be reused
• Rainwater storage tanks can be placed under the house or on the roof if space is tight
• Greywater storage tanks save the waste from baths, showers, washing machines and basins, clean and treat it so it can be reused for filling toilets, washing clothes and watering the garden

Waste

• Septic systems hold waste water in a septic tank allowing solids to separate which are decomposed by bacteria while remaining water is pumped out
• Aerated waste systems use biological and mechanical filtration to turn water waste into irrigation water
• Composting toilets can be emptied and, when composted well, create highly nutritious soil, which is great for the garden
• Incinerating toilets leave a tray of ash every 3-4 weeks that can just be thrown away

Renewable Energy

• Solar panels capture the sun’s energy saving you energy costs. Small or large systems can be installed
• Wind turbines harness the power of wind for energy. Small turbines can be used to power charge batteries while large ones can power houses
• Tesla Powerwall 2 is a new invention coming to NZ in 2018, that can we mounted on walls to store energy to use as a backup in blackout or for solar and wind energy storage
• Solar cookers and ovens convert the sun’s energy for use in cooking

Building Materials

• UPVC double (or triple) glazing means superior insulation and better temperature control (cool in summer, warm in winter) so you don’t have to rely on heating and cooling devices
• Energy saving glazing in addition to UPVC makes temperature control even stronger
• Windows in an efficient building envelope with good insulation keeps heat in when it’s cold and out when it’s hot

Lighting

• LED lights are made from lightweight materials that not only save energy but last longer. They don’t have any harmful chemicals like mercury and are very resistance to breakage

Other

• Deep cycle batteries are long lasting car batteries designed to be regularly and deeply discharged
• Bio-paints from the Natural Paint Co. have zero toxicity levels so are better for the environment and for your health

Have you downloaded our FREE Park Homes Info Pack yet?

If not, your 42 pages of inspiring sustainable living ideas is just one click away here: (scroll to the end of the page) http://parkhomes.co.nz/

Imagine if you could change the location of your house or extend your existing home, without buying a new one? Fully transportable homes are available at Park Homes and we’re so excited to tell you more about how they could be prefect for you!

There are so many more benefits to choosing a fully transportable house. For example, you may know exactly where you want to live, but the houses available aren’t what you’re after. You might be certain a Park Home is for you, but you live outside our base in Christchurch. Or maybe you can’t afford the type of houses in the locations you like. A fully transportable Park Home is the answer to these problems!

You’re probably wondering how a fully transportable home works.

1. We build all our transportable homes in Christchurch.
2. They are transported to anywhere in NZ by truck (prices vary depending on location and access - we can seek a quote for you).
3. They’re constructed with lightweight materials and, in most cases, there is no need for traditional foundations. The house can be placed in almost any location as long as the ground is level and firm, and access is favourable.

There are no cut-backs on quality. All transportable homes are designed to handle our NZ climate and are earthquake resistant through zones 1-3. The house can be lifted easily and placed into different positions. Some Park Homes are on wheels so they have flexibility within the plot of land they are placed.

Delivery and set-up costs are so much cheaper than you might think! Depending on the size of your Park Home and the distance it’s being transported, we’ve found delivery to be tens of thousands of dollars less than building on site, it also makes consenting far simpler and cheaper. Fully transportable homes are prepared to make the transition to new electricity, water and waste systems. Once the property is in place, it’s easy to connect to all the utilities. Then you’re good to go!

If it’s time for a new location, you don’t have to leave your lovely house and all the memories you’ve created there behind. You just take it with you!

Choosing a fully transportable home reduces the ‘red tape’ bureaucracy that comes with building a fixed, conventional house.

The ease and flexibility of a fully transportable home is what makes them so great. It’s a fresh, diverse and convenient lifestyle. If you think it might just be the lifestyle you’ve been looking for, contact us and we can get started making your dream into a reality!

1.  Know your carbon footprint
   You can’t start reducing if you don’t know where you’re over-consuming. Try the WWF calculator, it shows your impact and gives suggestions on how to reduce your energy use!
2. Put in a clothesline
   Make use of those beautiful sunny days and hang your clothes on the line! If you do install a dryer, use it sparingly. Most of the time you don’t need what you’ve washed urgently and it’ll save your clothes from the damages dryers can cause too!
3. Run full washing loads
   Don’t just wash one or two things. Wait until there’s enough for a full load to save water. Look at the settings on your washing machine; if you don’t have an eco-friendly option, try a short, cold cycle on single rinse only.
4. Buy energy-smart appliances
   Take a good long look at the range of white goods and appliances that you need. Most of them will have an energy star rating. Better ratings mean lower environmental impact and smaller energy bills.
5. Choose energy efficient light globes
   There’s really no benefit in choosing ones that aren’t! Less energy, less running costs.
6. Switch off your lights
   Don’t just buy energy efficient globes, make sure they’re not switched on when they don’t need to be! It takes two seconds to turn a switch off when you leave the room. No excuses!
7. Use a water-saving showerhead
   We all love a long hot strong shower, but we don’t need a perfect shower every day. You can reduce your water usage significantly without losing much comfort. Try one and see how it goes! Our newest favourite (and one that will feature in our upcoming show home) is the NEBIA system, which saves 98% of the water used in a regular shower. Incredible!
8. Fix leaks quickly
   We all know how annoying a leaky tap can be. And they’re not just frustrating, they’re incredibly wasteful! If there’s a leak, don’t wait. Find the source and give your local plumber a call if you can’t fix it quickly.
9. Recycle following local guidelines
   It can be easy to mistake what can and can’t be recycled. Look up your local councils recycling requirements to check you’re following the rules. New initiatives are often coming out, like in New Zealand where we can now recycle our soft plastics and foil packaging at local grocery stores.
10. Start a compost
    Put all your food and yard scraps into one compost. You’ll reduce your landfill waste significantly!
11. Dispose of hazardous waste properly
    If you’ve just moved to a new house you’re probably going to have plenty of hazardous materials like paint, varnish, solvents and household cleaners to dispose. Don’t just throw them in the trash. Look up your local guidelines to find the best disposal location (or better yet, use plant-based paints and varnishes like we do, from the Natural Paint Co.!
12. Grow your own produce
    If you’ve got the space in your garden, why not plant a few herbs, veggies or fruit trees? The more local the produce is, the more environmentally sustainable—and you can’t get much more sustainable than growing your own food! Even a couple of small herb plants makes a huge difference
13. Go native!
    Native gardens are the most sustainable type of garden. Get to know your local ecosystem. It’s easier, cheaper, and the wildlife will love it too!
14. Buy used furniture
    New house doesn’t need to mean new furniture! There are so many sites to buy good quality pre-loved items like eBay, TradeMe and Craigslist. There are some real gems to be found and you’ll save so much money!
15. Switch to reusables
    So many disposable items like coffee cups, food containers, shopping bags, baby nappies and batteries go to waste when there are perfectly good alternatives available. Invest in some good quality reusables to save unnecessary waste.

What top tips do you have to share with us?

Living with Earthquakes

We’ve seen the destruction earthquakes can do. 185 lives were lost in 2011 when the 6.3 magnitude quake tore through Christchurch. Families lost their loved ones, their homes, their city and their safety. We watched huge parts of the city, surrounding suburbs and areas beyond be completely destroyed, damaged and entirely reshaped. But as we know, earthquakes in New Zealand stretch far beyond the devastation in Christchurch.

Every single year earthquakes continue to rock New Zealand. They are a devastating part of our history, especially when in civilian areas. Unfortunately, we know they will be a part of our future. Ensuring your home can withstand any future large-scale earthquakes is of the utmost importance. Many buildings were signed off as safe in Christchurch before 2011, but simply couldn’t withstand the strength of the quake. Others were found to have had major safety faults that should have been fixed sooner. When an earthquake hits civilian areas, we need to be prepared and minimise the potential damage.

What makes Park Homes different?

Building homes that can resist the damage of earthquakes was Paul’s vision when starting Park Homes. He and his team strive to build houses that keep people safe and feeling confident during an earthquake. How do Park Homes do this? Park Homes are designed to move independently from the ground. When an earthquake strikes, the ground shifts. No matter how well constructed the house seems, if it’s fixed rigidly to the moving ground, it can’t withstand the damage of a powerful earthquake.

Our signature innovation, the ‘floating foundation’, forms the base of a Park Home. This means our homes can move independently from the ground. This flexibility means your house can move with an earthquake, rather than being ripped apart by it. Even in cases where a more traditional foundation is needed (slopes or high wind areas) our homes are designed to be more flexible and able to withstand some resistance. The risk of structural damage is greatly reduced and, most importantly, the occupants stay safe!

Disaster earthquakes can happen at anytime. It’s a hard reality but an important one to acknowledge and prepare for. Park Homes are designed to minimise damage and keep everyone safe during a disaster. You can maintain a relaxed peace of mind, always knowing you and your property will stay strong during earthquakes.

Stay safe!

(Photo: Getty images on CNBC)

Sustainability and affordability are two of the greatest things about passive houses. They feature HIGH levels of comfort, with LOW levels of energy use. Part 1 of our project explained what a passive house is, why you should want one and how they are achieved.

We want to talk a little more about our role in creating passive houses. There are lots of elements we need to consider for each house. We look at every part of the house, from the outside structure and insulation, to the inside heating and cooling. We plan, construct and organise your home to reduce the use and cost of energy, while still maintaining the vision for your home.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Different houses are exposed to alternative climates and weather conditions, and every house owner lives a different lifestyle. These are the things we take into account when designing both a Certified Passive House, or simply a house that has many Passive House elements. The decisions we make are all about efficiency and comfort and of course you, your budget and your lifestyle.

So you can see it is no simple task creating a passive house, and no ordinary tradesperson can do it. You have to complete a Passive House Certification process. A tradesperson must prove they are extremely knowledgeable about passive houses and can meet all required standards when creating one. They also must continue to prove their skills to maintain their certification.

Passive House Build Project Update

Now we have some exciting updates on our project! After a gruelling 5 days of study and an intensive examination, we are pleased to announce our beloved Paul Hennessey has achieved certification as a Passive House Tradesperson by the International Passive House Institute in Germany! We were told that only 50% of applicants pass the exam and become certified, so, Congratulations Paul! The most successful construction teams are made with high quality training and experience, so Paul’s latest achievement is making our team even more ready for passive house projects.

We’ve been working hard to get our new passive house ready to showcase and we’re excited to share how we’re going. So here's the first part - the foundation! This is going to form the restraining pad for our signature floating foundation. The house will be a 2-module Park Home, totalling 66m2. The first of its kind in NZ - a fully off the grid, fully transportable, Passive House Approved Park Home (that's if we can get it certified!)

We can’t wait to share the rest of our passive house journey. Stay tuned for updates on our construction, and to learn more about how a passive home could be a perfect fit for you!

Sustainability is gaining recognition all over the world because it is becoming abundantly clear that living sustainable lives is no longer optional, it is something we must do to preserve our qualities of life and of all the lives on this planet.

Are tiny homes sustainable? Read the part 1 of this post here.

Could you imagine living in a tiny home in 3 months from now?

Enjoying living the sustainable lifestyle is no longer a dream. In fact, moving into your tiny home is easier and quicker than you ever thought possible!

1. Tiny homes cost a fraction of purchase price of a traditional “McMansion”
2. Affordability of tiny homes ensures smaller mortgage payments, which makes home ownership available to most of those who otherwise would find it hard to afford to buy a home of their own
3. Tiny homes can be built in under 3 months getting you into home ownership sooner!
4. Your tiny home can easily be transported to wherever you want to live
5. There is no need to sacrifice on life’s luxuries either! Tiny homes can be fitted in with all the modern comforts and more. A dry and warm house is much easier to achieve because using quality building materials and windows and doors is less expensive for a smaller home.
6. Legitimate tiny home building companies ensure tiny homes are built to meet or exceed current building standards
7. When built using quality materials tiny homes can be 100% recyclable while designed to last 100 years
8. Tiny homes can have a modular design and be easily expanded later if needed

Keep your eye out for The Beginner’s Guide to Building a Tiny Home that will be available from Park Homes very soon!

Sources:

Park Homes NZ website

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/low-impact-living/can-tiny-houses-help-environment

https://greenfuture.io/sustainable-living/tiny-houses-sustainable-living/

http://www.humble-homes.com/sustainability-small-houses/

Are Tiny Houses Sustainable?

The tiny house movement makes homeownership possible for people who couldn't otherwise afford it. It also gets major points for sustainability. Here's why tiny homes and small homes contribute to sustainable living:

1. They reduce the need to fill your space with waste. The amount a person consumes, be it physical products or other, is reduced. You’ve only got so much space to work with after all.
2. Small houses use fewer building materials. An ordinary house requires about seven truckloads of timber, whereas a tiny house requires half of one truckload (if timber framed, even less with SIPs). This means fewer trees cut down for timber, less fuel used in transporting materials, and other associated benefits.
3. More potential for environmentally friendly supplies. Because less material is needed, it's easier to build using recycled materials which are not always available in enough quantity for larger homes. By the same principle, it's more feasible to use more expensive, environmentally friendly materials instead of cheaper, conventional ones.
4. The physical footprint of the foundation is also a lot smaller (trailer or concrete foundation) reducing the volume of earth that must be disturbed and possibly the amount of machinery used to create it.
5. They can be incorporated into subdivisions. Tiny home subdivisions can be used to revive urban spaces and declining rural communities. 
6. Reduced heating and cooling requirements. Smaller space = less energy required to maintain that nice cozy or cool temperature.
7. Typically, small and tiny house owners have a reduced electrical usage. Often their entire electrical needs can be met using solar panels, further reducing environmental impact. An article from Colby College reports that the average sized (241sqm/2,598 sq. ft.) house consumes about 12,773 kilowatt hours of energy per year. A tiny (17sqm/186 sq. ft.) house, on the other hand, consumes only 914 kilowatt hours annually. Carbon dioxide emissions follow a similar pattern. Tiny houses averaging a yearly 907kg/2,000 pounds, while an average-sized house tops off at a whopping 12,700kg/28,000 pounds.
8. They can be fitted for life "off the grid." Some homes have the typical amenities of a "habitable structure," like running water, flushing toilets, and electricity. Others take advantage of composting toilets and solar panels for electricity generation. 
9. The lifespan and replacement cost of materials is also important to consider,  as well as the impact the replacement of these materials has on the planet. For instance, a tiny house may have a single bathroom instead of four bathrooms, meaning fewer fixtures to repair and replace over the years.

Keep an eye for the part 2 of this blog post coming out in 2 weeks time on our Facebook page

Do you want to help the environment, be less reliant on power companies and save money long term?

A passive house is the perfect way to help achieve a higher level of energy independence while doing your part to cut down on CO2 emissions.

A passive house refers to how a building is structured and insulated, its orientation, as well as its ventilation. The aim of the passive house is to reduce reliance on heating and cooling technologies such as heaters and fans by optimising the way in which the house is built.

Passive house elements can be achieved through a variety of ways by Park Homes, with some of the most common ways being installing more efficient windows, using Structurally Insulated Panels as a form of insulation as well as circulating air and pre-warming it when needed via a Passive House approved, heat recovery ventilation system.

The key to a successful passive house is one that is weather resistant and can withstand extreme changes in climate, one that reduces on your power bills as well as reduces your carbon footprint, as well as remain unchanged in its efficiency after years and years.

There are many ways to implement passive house elements in your build, which we can help you decide so that it suits your lifestyle. We can adapt a passive house solution to your specific needs, whether you want the bare essentials or want to really future proof your home from rising power costs and care for the planet long-term.

Passive House Build Project Update

You may be aware that “Papa 1”, the original Park Home prototype, which also served as our show home, was recently sold to make room for all the upgrades and improvements we’ve made to our designs over the past year. In light of this, Pascale and Paul’s new home will be built to showcase the most exciting features and technologies available to us right now, so that you can come and see how a Certified Passive House looks, feels and performs, all while being still fully transportable and fully off the grid!

Watch out for updates as they come up and follow the Passive House story on the blog.

Having nightmares about being stuck with a massive mortgage or fighting a losing battle to save a deposit?

What about eco-friendliness, sustainability and looking after our planet? Does that even exist in the developers’ agenda?

We too thought there was something wrong with the current housing market! That’s why we started the Park Homes housing revolution….!

1. Enter Home Ownership Sooner. With house and land packages becoming more and more expensive, an affordable and modular, yet luxurious Park Home could be the best way for you to own your first home sooner and avoid having to wait to move into your own home.
    
2. Pay Your Home Off Quicker. Not being able to afford your own home means being forced into renting and not being able to start working towards something you can call your own. By investing in a Park Home you can have your own home at the fraction of the usual cost, and pay your mortgage off in less time.
    
3. Be Part of a Solution to Reduce Waste. We are using up our planet’s natural resources at an alarming rate and there are consequences. Our homes are environmentally low impact, and you can be content that you are playing your part to change the world for the better.
    
4. Tailor-Made for You. The price of housing now means you have limited options, settling for what you can afford rather than getting something you truly want! All our homes are designed to your unique specifications, meaning a more individualised home, just for you.
    
5. Luxury Homes Made to Last. You may be forced into buying a home that doesn’t meet the high standards you deserve due to this housing crisis. By investing in Park Homes, you can be assured we use the best materials possible to help ensure the safety and longevity of your home. Our homes are built to last 100 years!
    
6. Low Running Costs. Because of the intuitive designs, smaller footprint and use of solar panels, a Park Home costs less (or nothing!) to power. This means you can pay off your dream home sooner and enjoy reduced bills for the rest of your life!
    
7.  Environmentally Friendly. Being environmentally friendly means the houses can be equipped with solar panels and other clean technologies to help reverse the CO2 we are transmitting into the atmosphere. This means you can sleep easy knowing you are making a difference.
    
8. FREEDOM to Move When You Want. Because of our signature engineering, these houses are portable too! Need a location change? With these houses, you have the freedom to get up and go.
    
9. Earthquake Safe. Special attention has been paid into the design of the signature floating foundation of our homes. These homes will survive an earthquake or a flood!
    
10. Built in Three Months. Yes, that’s right! It only takes 3 months to build your own modular Park Home. This means you get to move into your newly built home sooner than you thought possible, with freedom to add extra modules throughout its lifetime as your family grows.
     
11. Your House, Our Family. Our business is family friendly and works with you. Don’t waste your time with companies that will fit you into whatever is available, at Park Homes, we care about you and want to help bring your dream home to life.

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]]>11 Ways Park Homes is the solution to the NZ housing crisisTiny HomesPascale HennesseyWed, 19 Apr 2017 00:06:50 +0000http://parkhomes.co.nz/park-homes-blog/2017/4/19/researching-wants-and-needs-around-nz57ce9103725e25df3e05ee44:581012c1725e25ff5499996b:58f6a8582e69cf2839d69568Take part in our research by heading along to http://tinypedia.co.nz. Happy days!

We decided that it would be a good idea to find out what Kiwis think about tiny and small houses, what they need out of them, why they want them, how they build them or what they look for in a builder, what struggles or challenges they've had in bringing them to life or having them approved by councils, and so on.

To this end, we're conducting research over a 3-month period, the results of which will be open  to all. We will publish the data (anonymously, in order to protect participants' privacy) on a new info site called Tinypedia. 

If you are interested to take part, by all means, head along to http://tinypedia.co.nz and click the button to complete the survey. It will take only a few minutes and you may choose to answer as little or as much as you feel comfortable.

Many thanks and much love from all of us at Park Homes :-)

• Sustainable and eco-friendly building options
• Toxicity in your home and how to reduce it as you build
• Recycling and reducing waste, both in the building industry and in our personal lives
• Energy efficiency in your home
• Living off the grid and more in alignment with our natural environment

What is toxic burden?

Our bodies are designed to filter out toxins present in our environment and food through breathing, perspiration, and eliminating waste. Our blood is filtered and cleansed, our hair is a pathway to remove heavy metals and other poisons and we flush our organs clean with fresh water (hopefully!) daily.

However, the rapidity with which we are advancing technology, industry and commerce, and increasing production, population and pollutants is staggering. Perhaps too fast in fact for our own body's evolution to keep up with. 

Thing about toxic burden in your body as the added pressure put on your car when it's covered in snow or hasn't had a service in a few years. It's gonna struggle. Another example, consider when you're under a lot of stress, what happens? You might get sick, or suffer adrenal fatigue, gain weight or lose sleep. The burden of stress on your system is more than your body is equipped to sustain long term.

Toxic burden comes from many areas, some of the obvious ones are:

1. Chemicals in food such as preservatives, colours, artificial flavours, sweeteners or pesticides 
2. Harsh cleaning chemicals 
3. Chemicals in makeup, skin care or cosmetics and fragrances, directly absorbed into the skin
4. Pollution in the air such as exhaust fumes from traffic or sprays from farming and agriculture
5. Cigarettes or alcohol

Some others may not be so obvious but can be reduced or eliminated in your home, helping to keep you and your family healthy and strong.

Reducing toxicity in your home

The way I see it, start small and gradually improve little by little. There are so many things that could help you live a less toxic life, but the idea is sustainability over a lifetime rather than a yo-yo diet of sorts.

My 10 favourite ways to reduce or eliminate toxicity are:

1. Buying organic where possible. So easy to do nowadays, and so worth it. Better yet, grow your own garden - getting into the soil is good both for your body and your mind.

2. Turning off wifi where possible, at least at night when trying to sleep (yes, your phone will still sound its alarm if on airline mode!). The amount of electromagnetic waves surrounding us is insane, and totally unnecessary when we're sleeping. Do yourself a favour and turn it off once in a while.

3. Earthing mats or sheets can also be used to reduce the electromagnetic fields when driving, sleeping or working at a computer - it's almost as though you're working with bare feet on the ground when you have your feet resting on an earthing mat.

4. Put salt lamps in your bedrooms and living areas, they are cheap to buy and neutralise the ions, cleanse and purify the air. Plus, they look so soothing and cosy!

5. Use eco products for cleaning both your body and your home. Better yet, get yourself a Kangen unit (happy to direct you to a supplier near you) and clean your house with WATER. Honestly, the best buy ever was our Kangen water machine. It is the ultimate in planet-friendly cleaning products. It produces alkaline water for drinking, slightly acidic water for cleaning the skin (dubbed "beauty water"), strong alkaline water for emulsifying oils (put in the washing machine or use to clean pesticides off of inorganic vegetables), and strong acid water that disinfects like bleach or dettol, but is actually just water - it's so good that the Japanese have used these machines in their hospitals for over 40 years, using the strong acid water to sanitise all their tools, surfaces and walkways. Incredible! 

6. Use natural fibres as much as possible in clothing and furnishings around your home and avoid carpets and foams with flame-retardant chemicals (which do not, in fact, prevent a fire or delay it more than a few seconds) as these are highly toxic and have been shown to cause a wide range of hormonal problems, including infertility.

7. Take the best multivitamin and antioxidant you can find - this will help nourish your cells, of course, but also helps your body build up the ability to naturally fight against cellular degeneration and early ageing from stress and toxic burden. 

8. When painting, use natural paints (plant based) or at least low-VOC paint. You have to live within those four walls, so make them safe!

9. Build with sustainable, recyclable and/or regenerative materials where possible.

10. Use glass, ceramic, stainless steel or cast iron cookware and storage containers. Reduce the use of plastics, especially the throw-away kind and especially with regards to food.

Tell us your favourite ways to reduce toxicity in your home and life >>

• Sustainable and eco-friendly building options
• Toxicity in your home and how to reduce it as you build
• Recycling and reducing waste, both in the building industry and in our personal lives
• Energy efficiency in your home
• Living off the grid and more in alignment with our natural environment

One Planet, One People, Please...

In this post we will discuss off-grid systems, the concept of "reduce, reuse and recycle" within the building industry, and how to build houses with heart ♥️.

Off-Grid Systems

What is it to live off-grid? Good ol' wikipedia will tell us that it's,

"a system and lifestyle designed to help people function without the support of remote infrastructure, such as an electrical grid.

 "The term off-the-grid (OTG) can refer to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. People who adopt this lifestyle are called off-gridders.

"Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services. A true off-grid house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services."

In a nutshell, an off-grid house is a house that sustains itself in line with whatever resources mother nature has to offer in abundance (e.g. sunlight, wind, rainwater).

Park Homes can be either fully connected to services, partially connected or totally off the grid. This means that the range of options available to people is quite vast, and able to suit all manners of lifestyles. The beauty is that even an on-grid Park Home can still be very economical to run and earth-friendly, and can even be created ready to be connected to your chosen off-grid systems in future if necessary.

Here's a taste of some of the semi- or fully off-grid systems that are possible with a Park Home:

• Solar electricity
• Gas or solar hot water
• Solar furnaces (for heating or cooling)
• Heat-recovery ventilation (for heating and cooling, and for maintaining an even interior temperature year round, as well as circulating fresh air to prevent condensation or moisture build up)
• Composting, gas burner or macerating toilets
• Rainwater collection and filtration

Other items that we are proud to install, to conserve our planet's resources and save costs in energy expenditure are:

• Super sustainable water-saving taps and showers (we quite like our latest additions, the Nebia shower and Altered: Nozzle for all faucets)
• Shower domes - a Kiwi invention, and our favourites are the tortoise shell style ones from bathroom direct called "steam stoppers" - these prevent heat and steam escaping from the shower, meaning you don't have to have showers as hot, nor do you need to worry about using energy to remove steam from or reduce condensation in the whole bathroom. 
• High energy star-rating appliances (as used in our lived-in show homes)

Recycling

We recently learnt that, in addition to usual recycling services in our locality, that another initiative has started up whereby you can drop your soft packaging and plastics off to special bins outside participating supermarkets (soft packaging that isn't usually recyclable). These items are then turned into fence posts and park benches, things like that. 

Because of the above initiative and our other efforts to use recyclable materials, Park Homes are almost 100% recyclable. In addition, our construction waste has reduced to a mere 2-4%, simply by systemising and exercising our recycling prowess. Looking at those stats above, we are so proud of our efforts to raise the bar in the building industry, not just in creating warmer, drier, more energy-efficient and sustainable housing at an affordable price, but also in our impact on the environment.

Houses With Heart

Lord of the Manor, Queen of the Castle...at Park Homes, we believe that your house truly is your sanctuary, and it should work in both with your own lifestyle, and with mother nature. No matter what your desires and requirements for a home, know that Park Homes are all created with passion and purpose, with our ethos at the core of every decision we make as a company, and the Park Homes Family will cherish your home as much as if it were our own, start to finish. That's a house with heart ♥️.

How have you improved your impact on the environment? How can we improve even more as a company? Feedback welcome! >>  

This post is Part 2 of a Multi-Part series about creating a more sustainable future. Topics covered in the series are:

• Sustainable and eco-friendly building options
• Toxicity in your home and how to reduce it as you build
• Recycling and reducing waste, both in the building industry and in our personal lives
• Energy efficiency in your home
• Living off the grid and more in alignment with our natural environment

This post will touch upon Passive House concepts, the importance of ventilation and heat exchange, and why your windows and doors are one of the most important features of creating a house that saves you money throughout the lifetime of the house.

Firstly, what is all this Passive House business about anyway?

There's a lot of people and companies chucking the term "passive house" around at the moment, seems to be a bit of a buzz word in the industry, just like "eco" (is that eco for ecology or eco for economy?). In any case, here are a few salient points to highlight what constitutes a Passive House, versus a code-minimum compliant house:

• Passive houses can be any design, size, orientation, or aesthetic, and has no set rules on what building materials should be used in order to achieve PH standards.
• The idea is to create a home that is healthy, dry, warm when it needs to be warm and cool when it needs to be cool (that is, the internal environment is 100% controlled by the occupants, rather than by the temperatures outside or whatever heating source is available inside), and that costs less in energy and money to run optimally, throughout the entire life of the house.

• Passive houses do not have to cost an arm and a leg. The principles are to reduce energy loss through clever insulation and heat recovery ventilation systems, which can be expensive if you want them to be, and can be affordable if you're on a budget. The point is, a code-minimum house will never save you any money in the long run, even if your upfront costs are less.
• Passive homes are genuinely more sustainable in nature, as they are built to withstand or adjust during extreme changes in external environment - think weather and global warming or cooling, think available energy sources and the policies that govern those resources, and of course the economy and the rising prices of electricity, gas, oil and fossil fuels in general. With solar systems running your whole house, or at least part of it, and a home whose internal temperature adjusts only marginally, year round, with few, if any continuous costs for upkeep, it means maintaining your home and lifestyle looks very different to what's currently the norm in New Zealand.
• Park Homes NZ Ltd, we love incorporating as many Passive House elements as standard in all our homes, no matter how basic or ballistic you go in your design :-) 

GLAZING, Insulation, heating & cooling:

Glass

We've already covered in a previous post, why we use UPVC windows and doors as a standard feature in all of our Park Homes. One of the other features we recommend to improve the insulation of these windows is having Low E (emissive) Glass. I could explain this to you in my own words, but this little analogy from Vitro Glazings seems to do just the trick:

"Low-e glass has a microscopically thin, transparent coating—it is much thinner than a human hair—that reflects long-wave infrared energy (or heat). To use a simple analogy, low-e glass works the same way as a thermos. A thermos has a silver lining, which reflects the temperature of the drink it contains. The temperature is maintained because of the constant reflection that occurs, as well as the insulating benefits that the air space provides between the inner and outer shells of the thermos, similar to an insulating glass unit. Since low-e glass is comprised of extremely thin layers of silver or other low emissivity materials, the same theory applies. The silver low-e coating reflects the interior temperatures back inside, keeping the room warm or cold."

Ahh, gotta love a good analogy.

Whilst low e glass isn't totally essential in your home, it's certainly one of those invisible things that makes for a much warmer home in winter, or a much cooler one in summer.

general Insulation

Park Homes are constructed using Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs), which means their structural frame and their insulation are all in one piece and, once fixed together to form the shell of the house, become very strong and perfectly air and water tight. The R-Values of a standard Park Home is already higher than what the building code calls for, thus already much more insulated, and because the EPS core is what forms the insulation, rather than bats, there are no air gaps that form over time (for example, as the bats sink), thus the integrity of your insulation is not compromised with the passage of time. 

I've already talked in more depth about SIPs in Part 1 of this series, or you can download our info pack to find out more about the materials we use in construction of our Park Homes.

Heating & cooling

Whilst I won't go to deeply into this at this point, I will say that one of the major factors that makes a Passive House truly efficient, is the heat recovery ventilation system. That is the pumping heart of the house.

To have a system that brings in fresh air and pre-heats it by the outgoing air, keeps air circulating to reduce condensation in winter, and also means that you're not having to pay excessive amounts  to warm up that air again, as it's done automatically. 

In addition, solar furnaces are free to run and can heat or cool your home (if done correctly), and they're inexpensive to construct. We'll have one of these operational in our next show home, so come check it out once built :-)

Watch out for Part 3 in the series, Living Off the Grid and Loving the Land.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). Photo Credit: LongPanel.com

This post is Part 1 of a multi-part series about creating a more sustainable future. Topics covered in the series are:

• Sustainable and eco-friendly building options

• Toxicity in your home and how to reduce it as you build and beyond

• Recycling and reducing waste, both in the building industry and in our personal lives

• Energy efficiency in your home

• Living off the grid and more in alignment with our natural environment

Why Park Homes Utilises Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) to Construct Your Home

When looking to create a home that is warmer, drier and healthier for you, whilst being friendlier to the environment at the same time, we looked for resources that are not typically used in housing. One such resource was SIPs, which are commonly used for cool stores and freezer rooms, for their qualities of super insulation and structural strength.  These panels have been around a long time, but their improvements over the years have made them more eco-friendly and sustainable than one might think. They are also becoming more common in residential building all over the world, including here in New Zealand.  

What are SIPs? 

There are many forms of SIPs, the best way to describe it is to think of a sandwich, made of two outer skins (the bread) and an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam core (the filling). Some skins are constructed out of wood, composite particle board, magnesium oxide board, or straight up colour steel. Our preferred SIP system is steel, as it is strong, lightweight and has minimal needs when it comes to decoration once installed, keeping the cost down. 

Another thing we like about these SIPs is that they form an incredibly strong structure, yet remain lightweight. This is an essential element of a Park Home, as the shell of the home needs to be of a suitable strength, durability and weight to match our innovative, earthquake-resistant base - the Park Homes Signature Floating Foundation.

SIPs are also 100% recyclable so job site waste is kept to a minimum in comparison to traditional building projects that use timber framing. They last forever, and keep your home warmer and drier, without disintegration and loss of insulation integrity over time, unlike more commonly used insulation bats or foams.

Industry professionals in NZ and around the globe stand by SIPs and their use in the residential field, in order to create a future where homes are warmer, more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly. One company had this to say about the environmental impact of these panels:

What About Your Personal Health?

Respiratory disease, allergies and other diseases that are shown to be linked to indoor air quality have paved the way for products that are less toxic and that indeed lower the lifetime toxic burden you're exposed to in your home.

SIPs are airtight, giving you control over your internal environment, and the Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) core used in these panels is manufactured using a revolutionary, low environmental impact process. EPS is inert, in that is has no gasses or dust that come off it during manufacturing, and it contains no CFCs (Chloro Fluoro Carbons), no HCFCs (Hydro Chloro Fluoro Carbons) and no formaldehyde. 

Other Benefits

• Reduced heating and cooling costs over lifetime of home
• Higher R-value than standard housing
• High recyclability, low environmental impact of materials and of the Park Homes on the land itself, due to our specially designed bases)
• Low maintenance requirements
• Heightened energy efficiency in the home due to the airtight thermal envelope (Passive House effect)

Watch this space for more about why and how Park Homes is paving the way in creating sustainable housing that is friendly to your wallet, your health and our planet.

Recent shots from the aftermath of the Kaikoura/Culverden earthquakes in NZ 2016. Photo Credits and Copyrights in order of appearance: Richard Bicknell; RNZ/Alex Perrottet; RNZ/Rebekah Parsons-King; TVNZ

Your home is your castle, your fortress, your safe haven. So what happens when the walls start falling down around you? The ceiling caves in? It shifts off its foundations? What happens when your home is no longer keeping you and your family safe? 

In this post we explore the concept of creating an earthquake-resistant house and the birth of the vision for a home that cares for not only the environment, your health and your finances, but also your life when threatened by crisis. First and foremost though, our hearts go out to anyone who suffered during this recent quake, because we know first hand what it's like to have your world turned upside down by mother nature. Kia kaha to you all.

How destruction happens in a quake

How can a house shift from it's foundations or crumble to dust in a strong earthquake? It really comes down to one reason: anything that is fixed to the ground can and will eventually have its structural integrity compromised when the earth shifts.

If you've ever been in your vehicle or watched cars on the street during an earthquake or strong winds, you'll notice that they move about with the waves, not against them. The reason being, the vehicles are moving independently from the ground and therefore are not put under stress and strain to resist the force coming at them. If you imagine a house in the same situation, able to move independently and with some flexibility from the ground, rather than being fixed so rigidly that the force of an earthquake rips it from its foundations, then you have an earthquake resistant house.

After the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, NZ, many of us saw the destruction caused, we felt the fear of our homes caving in on us and crumbling down around us. I was in a double-brick home, my family home, as it fell apart, cracked open like a wailing wound, and liquefaction filled the back yard and driveway. The fear I felt was that it was no longer safe to be indoors, in this house "built like a fortress", as my father would say. Outside, the roads opened up, warped, bubbled and cracked...it was like a war zone, and it was terrifying. 

We didn't go back inside other than to collect a few belongings. Shutting the doors knowing we probably wouldn't be back. That was the longest week of my life and the one that left us with such uncertainty of the future.

Paul, being a project manager for an architectural building firm at the time, recounted that it didn't matter how deep, how strong, how expensive the foundations of his big homes on the hill were, they may have even been perfectly intact after it all, but the houses? They were all destroyed. Not one of them survived unscathed. That was the catalyst and birthplace for Park Homes' signature floating foundation.

What's a floating foundation?

Whilst I won't go into too much detail here (this is, after all, our signature structure and own innovation!), in a nutshell, a floating foundation is the structurally engineered frame which forms the base of a Park Home, whether that home is a single module or multiple modules put together. What this allows the house to do in the event of an earthquake, is to sit atop the ground and move freely with the forces, rather than against them. Sometimes people ask if the house will shift or move like Dorothy's home in the Wizard of Oz - the answer is NO! Of course, it is still a house, even a lightweight one at that, but a house that has weight, downward force and lateral restraining pads keeping it in place.

Even if the Park Home is to be built on a hill or in a high wind zone and therefore requires a traditional foundation of sorts (say piles, for instance), and thus has to be fixed to the ground, its design is such that it maintains some level of flexibility and thus is less likely to compromise the integrity of the house when it moves in an earthquake.

How does a Park Home perform in a major earthquake?

So you may be wondering what happened, what it felt like, what the damage was, after this major 7.8M quake? I can tell you straight that the home performed as it was designed to: with the waves, rocking gently rather than shaking and jumping wildly. There were no cracks in the walls, there wasn't even one household item out of place. I must say, in the two major quakes (Valentine's Day quake 2016 and Kaikoura quakes 2016) and multiple aftershocks that I've experienced in this Park Home, I've never felt safer.

I'd love to see more families feeling safe and protected in their homes when disaster strikes, and I'd also love to see Park Homes helicoptered over to the folks in Kaikoura who've been hit the hardest! Maybe the NZ government could take us on as a rehousing project? I'm sure the NZ Army helicopters could lift one of these babies in a heartbeat :-)

Take care out there people!