HOMESTAR

Homestar  is the independent system that rates the health, comfort and efficiency of New Zealand homes, on a scale of 1-10. A rating of 6 Homestar or higher provides assurance that your home will be warmer, healthier and more energy efficient to run than a typical new home design.

A Homestar^TM rating takes into account energy, water, waste, ventilation, health and comfort, and other environmental factors of a house. We can predict the energy consumption of your new home with our design software and the Homestar^TM evaluation tools.

• Catalyst Homes is committed to designing new build houses that achieve 6 Homestar^TM or higher ratings
• Achieving a 6 Homestar^TM home will cut power bills by around 50%, yet only costs a few percent more on the new build cost
• An 8 Homestar^TM home or higher is so energy efficient that it may achieve zero nett energy usage
• Building to the current NZ building code will achieve 3 Homestar^TM but most older homes are lower than this.

Talk to our team about how we can design a new home for your family, which will be warm, dry, healthy, low cost to power, and bear a 6 Homestar^TM rating or higher.

With sustainable home design, Catalyst Homes have a small environmental footprint. The houses built to reach 8 Homestar^TM rating or higher are designed to target zero energy use through a combination of optimum thermal performance and of PV solar and water heating panels to provide energy to the integrated systems.

We reduce the investment required to achieve a good rating, as it is our policy to design Homestar^TM features and requirements into all Catalyst Homes plans. Attempting to upgrade an existing home design to meet higher Homestar^TM ratings very seldom works and can be very costly.

It is accepted that homes with a high Homestar^TM rating will achieve higher resale values and return more than the investment made in the improvement.

Homestar^TM ratings are assessed by qualified professionals and certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council. Catalyst Homes has a Certified Homestar^TM Practitioners on staff.

We have designed a number of 7 Homestar^TM and 6 Homestar^TM dwellings for clients in Auckland and north of Auckland, which showcase our sustainable architecture experience.

Catalyst Homes Founder, David Wildish, was instrumental in the Matakana Green subdivision being covenanted to a minimum 7 Homestar^TM standard. This innovative development alone will more than treble the number 7 Homestar™ buildings in NZ.

The overarching aim of the Homestar^TM rating tool is to improve the performance and reduce the environmental impact of new and existing New Zealand homes.

The current building standard in NZ will achieve approximately a  3 Homestar^TM rating. This is well below many other developed nations where similar rating systems are used. We feel that building to the minimum level is well below a sensible, responsible, or healthy standard for the NZ population.

The Auckland city council has been setting the standard for Special Housing Areas at 6 Homestar^TM in recognition that the minimum building code is not at an acceptable level.

Some of our Architectural team have lived and designed in countries where the standards are set much higher and are used to delivering a much more efficient and comfortable homes than many Kiwis are used to.

Work with us and we will lift the standard of new home design in New Zealand.