Photo: 123RF
A public health researcher is calling for the government to leave home insulation standards as they are.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk is considering reducing the amount required, amid concerns it is adding tens-of-thousands of dollars onto the cost of a home.
An upgrade to insulation and glazing requirements was made in May 2023, the first improvements in more than a decade.
Otago University Public Health researcher Lucy Telfar-Barnard says there is solid evidence for retaining the improved standards.
"There is a 20-year history of solid research in Aotearoa New Zealand showing that insulation not only improves energy efficiency but also our health, with the benefits of insulation outweighing its costs," Telfar-Barnard said.
"Less insulation means more health sector costs and lower productivity. Even a top-up to existing insulation provides health benefits that make it worthwhile. The health and social benefits of insulation are nearly six times greater than the cost of the insulation," she said.
Penk told Checkpoint in July new houses could include costs of $40,000 to $50,000 extra depending on the insulation standard they were held to.
"The evidence is that construction costs have increased by 41 percent since 2019. Housing affordability is the second-worst in the OECD as I understand it. ...When people are saying - the ones who build the homes - are that there are $40,000 or even $50,000 additional costs to new builds, simply that makes housing unaffordable for many Kiwis," Penk said.
But Telfar-Barnard said she had been speaking with people in the building industry, who said that number does not add up.
She said reversing the changes will take insulation standards back to about half or even less of the levels required in places like Australia, Ireland and the UK.
