JUDGING CRITERIA

SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT USING WHAT WE NEED, LIVING WELL AND

LEAVING ENOUGH FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. SUSTAINABLE HOMES
SUPPORT A SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE.

SHaC 09 asks collaborative, tertiary-led teams to design and build or retrofit a sustainable home,
develop a campaign to inform the public about how their design supports sustainable living and pass on
information and techniques about their design to the building community.

Team outcomes will be judged in several categories. Each category has a number of possible parameters that you may want to consider.
Your team will supply a report with reasoned arguments, simulation and modelling results, and other research outputs to convince the
judges of the benefits you expect in each category. How you make the trade-offs necessary to realise your vision will be based on how
people in your region live – and will want to live – in your affordable, sustainable house and community in five years’ time.
In October 2009, judges will review the house, your communications campaign, the resources you develop for designers and your final
report. Your final report will describe the house and show the improvement your design exhibits when compared with your reference case
and regional averages. Note that although reference is frequently made to “your house”, solutions are also welcomed for proposals for
multi-unit housing proposals. The site shall be included when considering each of the judging categories, for example, site water use and
runoff, site contribution to a sustainable community, and others.

MINIMUM STANDARDS
Pick a type of housing currently being used, and design a new house that requires fewer resources and supports delightful, sustainable
living. Show in a report how your new design delivers a step-change improvement over regional averages and typical house. Renovations
are also welcomed. At the minimum, your house must meet Beacon’s high standard of sustainability™(see appendix below), and be rated
by the EECA Household Energy Rating Scheme (HERS). The use of other thermal modelling tools such as BRANZ’s ALF3 is recommended.
Successful teams will make improvements in each judging category. Houses must meet all required building regulations. Your house
must be furnished and fitted with appliances that the team show lead to a delightful, sustainable lifestyle.

JUDGING PROCESS
You will report on your goals, strategies, and achievements in each category. Your report is crucial, as it will present your arguments,
simulations and other justifications that demonstrate how your new design is a significant improvement over your reference house and
regional averages. Pick some of the potential parameters in each category to discuss.
Seven categories consider the house and its link with the community. One category covers the communications campaign that explains
the house to the general public and to the design and building community. Judges will examine your house performance in each category,
and recognise where you have made significant progress.
Successful teams will consider and make improvements in each category, when compared with their reference house and regional
averages. The suggested design strategies are an indication of the areas the judges will be thinking about.
CATEGORIES

Energy
Vision: No net non-renewable energy consumption is required by the house and site.
Potential Parameters: Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from construction, operation and transport; annual required heating
energy; net annual energy consumption; peak electricity demand; life-cycle energy; transport energy use.
Design Strategies: Passive solar design, thermal insulation, high performance building envelope, passive and active solar heating,
heat storage, reduction of peak demand by low-energy lighting, appliances and equipment, reduction of heat and
air movement through the building envelope; electricity generation from renewable sources; renewable energy
technology, electricity load shedding; energy storage, embodied energy reduction, embodied carbon reduction,
energy intensity of materials, materials with recycled content, durable materials and locally produced materials,
providing occupants with better feedback on availability and quantity of resources used, consider life cycle
energy and carbon.
For More Information: BRANZ’s level.org.nz, ALF3, EECA HERS Accurate, BRANZ Housing Energy End-Use Project (HEEP) Final Year 10
Report, Sustainability.govt.nz/Energy, PassivHaus UK Specifications, RightHouse.

Water
Vision: Mains water requirements and water leaving the site as waste are minimised.
Potential Parameters: Mains water demand is reduced, 90 litres per person per day or less should be achievable. Stormwater flows are
attenuated and wastewater is reused where possible. Water services are considered in an integrated manner.
Design Strategies: Water efficient fittings and appliances; on-site water capture and reuse; water supply flow rates optimised to
balance required performance amd conservation; local retention of stormwater runoff, stormwater treatment
train with consideration of raingardens and swales; wastewater minimised and/or reused; information on water
use readily available; in-house water supply flow rate optimised; plumbing system designed for water and energy
efficiency, site design, recognition of local soil and climate conditions and low water use garden design applied.
For More Information: BRANZ’s level.org.nz and http://www.sustainability.govt.nz/water

Materials
Vision: All the materials are re-used, recycled or made from renewable resources. Building materials are durable,
typically they will last long as or longer than it will take to grow or produce those resources again. All materials
are made entirely from materials grown or manufactured in New Zealand.
Potential Parameters: Locally sourced-renewable materials, recycled materials, durability, expected life of materials and assemblies,
material efficiency, adaptability/flexibility over life of building, building material waste, material off-gassing,
embodied energy of materials, contribution to house resource use.
Design Strategies: Materials that are renewable, readily available, affordable and easy to build with; selection of durable materials
and systems according to intended use; comprehensive design to protect materials from damage and decay;
design for ease of maintenance, optimized house size form, function and structure, reduction of building material
waste protocols and practices, design for ultimate disassembly with little waste.
For More Information: BRANZ’s level.org.nz, Ecobob REBRI, Cradle 2 Cradle Design Protocol.
Waste
Vision: Development does not adversely affect the environment or increase the environmental loadings and pressures of
waste, wastewater or stormwater.
Potential Parameters: Quantity and quality of waste produced during construction and operation; ability for building components
to be re-used or recycled at end of life; sediment and erosion during construction and operation; waste water
reduction.
Design Strategies: Minimization/reduction of impact; optimization of new infrastructure, services, transportation; use of existing
infrastructure, services and transportation.
For More Information: BRANZ’s level.org.nz, Waste Management Institute of New Zealand, Reducing Building Material Waste.

Indoor Environmental Quality

Vision: The design of your home allows you to maintain a healthy indoor temperature all year round, with no additional
energy for heating or cooling.
Potential Parameters: Indoor environmental quality, including thermal comfort, emissions (VOC, ODP), moisture, particulates,
ventilation, daylighting, and noise.
Design Strategies: Support occupant control of the thermal comfort. Source, specify non-, or low, pollutant emitting materials,
finishes and products. Specify non-emitting alternatives. Seal materials that contain pollutants. Vent pollutants
outdoors. Allow occupant control of indoor air temperatures and humidity, Minimize indoor moisture sources.
Ventilate, Hard surface flooring to prevent mould growth.
For More Information: BRANZ’s level.org.nz

Affordable and Suitable for Purpose

Vision: The house will be affordable. The occupants will be delighted by the house, its size, cost, and features.
Potential Parameters: Cost today, estimates of cost to design and build in five years, desirability and marketability in five years,
functional adequacy, delight, aesthetic compatibility with regional and local styles, provide delightful
streetscape, meeting diverse and conflicting goals simply, simple and rational, supports evolution of
requirements for occupants and society, integration into community, easily built or manufactured, environmental
sensitivity of site.
Design Strategies: KISS, collaborative design, lateral thinking, low cost, simple, robust, durable, quality over quantity, kiwi
ingenuity.
For More Information: Waitakere City Sustainable Building Guidelines, Christchurch City Council Sustainable building guidelines, UK
Code for Sustainable Homes: A step-change in sustainable home building practice.

Supporting a Sustainable Community

Vision: Supports well-being, good quality of life, and healthy local environment today and into the future. Development
does not adversely affect the environment or increase pressures.
Potential Parameters: Land use efficiency; site location (greenfield, brownfield, infill); personal mobility; transport energy;
accessibility; functionality; mixed use; inclusiveness; human scale development; safety on the site and in the
community; reduction in energy and emissions from commuting transport and related infrastructure; reduction
in environmental loadings; supporting future local food production; optimization of new infrastructure, services,
transportation; use of existing infrastructure, services and transportation, protection of natural habitat;
development density, site stewardship, site landscaping and ecology.
Design Strategies: Distinctive identity, local character, civic identity, efficient use of land, pedestrian, cycle, and vehicle friendly,
avoiding segregation, support social ties, link with multiple transport systems, plan for reduction in fossil fuel
availability, emulate the natural hydrology as much as possible.
For More Information: SustainableHouseholds.org.nz on Sustainable Food, MfE Issue: Sustainable Transport, NZ Urban Design
Protocol, UK CABE Building for Life: Delivering Great Places to Live, UK CABE Sustainable design, climate
change and the built environment, (Otago Team Contribution) NZ Transport Energy Statistics BEACON
Neighbourhood Sustainability Framework, Natural Step Articles on Sustainable Communities.

Communications Campaign
Teams are required to conduct and report on a communications campaign to express their vision for sustainable living and how their
house supports this. Teams are also to develop materials to explain to the design community how to adapt and re-use the sustainable
aspects of their design.
Vision: People in your region know how your team house design contributes to sustainable living and understand what
features can be reproduced in their current or next house. Designers, builders, and the local council are familiar
with your team designs and how to apply them successfully.
Potential Parameters: Number of other SHaC Teams who used resources developed by your team during the project, clarity and
usefulness of materials, number of people in region aware of project, with positive associations of project, who
would be willing to purchase the house at the expected cost in five years, who would be willing to purchase the
house at the as-built cost, quality of final presentation on house to judges.
Design Strategies: Public display, workshops, and demonstrations, final report available for reprinting, Develop for and solicit
feedback from other teams, students, and practising professionals during, and following the course of the
challenge.

Beacon’s High Standard of Sustainability™

The benchmarks set represent:
• A 35% reduction in energy use in new homes
• A 15% reduction in energy use in existing homes
• A 40% reduction in water use in both new and existing homes
• Average indoor environment temperatures which meet the World Health Organisation minimum standards
• Adequate ventilation without excessive draughts
• Provision for waste minimisation during construction, renovation and operation of homes
• Consideration of sustainability issues in the choice of materials used for construction or renovation of homes.