The architecturally designed High Performance House, with Warmframe technology at HIVE received a Homestar design rating of eight – the highest in the village.
Warmframe is a prefabricated home that showcases the benefits of off-site construction, minimising construction waste as well as lowering build cost and increasing the speed and quality of construction. Developed by industry partners New Zealand Steel, Frametek-RFS, InsulPro, Fletcher Aluminium, Resene and Beacon Pathway; Warmframe combines steel framing, insulation and high performance double glazing into a single composite roof or wall unit for a home that is significantly better insulated than building code minimums.
A high level of thermal performance is possible because of the integration of InsulPro insulation and thermally bridged aluminium framed double glazing into Axxis® steel framing. The resulting composite system aims to eliminate thermal bridging that is common with traditional framing systems. More information about the construction is available at Warmframe website.
Salmond Architecture designed the single level, two-bedroom residence, and Director Anne Salmond, says that the Warmframe system delivers superior warmth, while allowing for flexibility of design. “The Warmframe system is exceptional and it certainly has assisted in gaining a high Homestar rating of eight, but it’s more than just creating excellent thermal insulation, a house is the sum of it all its parts so we need to look at every single detail, large and small. “It was when selecting the fittings and appliances of the house that the Homestar ratings tool really added value. It’s an extra level of checking that allows us to select the most energy or water efficient fittings and fixtures such as the highest WELS rated plumbing and appliances, LED lighting, and even an edible garden of veggies instead of the usual decorative flowers,” says Anne.
The building achieved such a high Homestar rating by focusing first on thermal performance. In addition to high levels of insulation, the design minimised gaps by excluding downlights and routing major plumbing through internal walls to avoid large holes in external ones. The next step was to look at energy savings such as using solar panels for hot water and electricity generation, water efficiencies such as a rainwater tank for irrigation, and finally reviewing materials selection and waste management.
An additional feature of Anne Salmond’s design is the modular configuration of the building. The two bedroom option on show is just the start. The possibility of adding further pavilions, such as additional bedrooms, to this core pavilion, makes the design highly adaptable for different sites, family sizes and even life stages. The High Performance House design is just one such plan at HIVE that demonstrates an emerging trend of designs that can grow and contract with family size.
Summary of the key features:
- Unique wall system that aims to eliminate thermal bridging, so no cold spots and maximum benefit from insulation
- Very high levels of insulation (well above code)
- Minimal ‘holes’ in the thermal envelope. No recessed ‘downlights’, which would otherwise dramatically impact the integrity of the thermal envelope.
- Major pluming is routed up through internal walls to avoid large holes in the external wall.
- Thermally broken double glazing
- Size and modular design. The compact, 2 bedroom base pavilion is designed to be easily added to as the family changes size
- Manufactured off-site. This allowed for high level of quality control, especially regarding insulation – attention to detail.
- Building process also produced very little construction waste
- LED and fluorescent lighting throughout
- Rainwater collection, plumbed in to toilet
- Solar PV