Cornerstone Eco Homes give the AFFORDABLE choice of ECO SYSTEMS to help save the PLANET, while keeping it simple with some STANDARD PLANS, CORNERSTONE Building System high INSULATED envelope, SOLAR energy, Te WERA BOILER H20 & water conservation. Cornerstone Eco Homes Ltd as a Home building company, was started to fulfill the need in Christchurch initially after the Earthquakes which rocked its in
habitants to a rude awakening at 4.35am. Christchurch City Council started the "Share an Idea" to get community participation which was overwhelmingly in favour of green initiatives, since power outages were part of what they had to endure.Then came the Japanese Tsunami/Earthquake where even more housing stock would be required. The Group home companies seem to find it hard to move from the groove that they are in, whereby if a client wanted to use a different building system, window joinery, boiler then that was definitely going to cost them extra.... The Solar panels which have been coming down in price with demand, well that is usually going overboard for them. This being the case Cornerstone Eco Homes has set about finding the Affordable Eco products, adding value to the standard home without compromise. We start with the Bones of the building being the structure. Cornerstone Building System or Cornerstone Structural Insulated Panels are double the insulation standards in New Zealand, as well as the Bracing values. This means more COMFORTABLE & SAFER Homes. Add to that the Cornerstone Fully Insulated Raft Floor slab for added insulation and protection. Then the final part is to put the lid on with high insulation to the roof, & this total envelope of high insulation retains the indoor temperature as desired keeping energy input to a bare minimum whether for heating or cooling. Cornerstone Eco Homes offer UPVc window joinery which have a better R value than even thermally broken Aluminium Windows, plus the mitre joints of the windows are welded therefore no ability to allow water to get inside the walls. Space heating accounts for approximately/3 of the energy use in the home and Water heating approximately 1/3, so to utilize the "te Wera" Boiler, which is a multi fueled cylinder which can run on solid fuel, electricity, gas, diesel & solar. providing the potable water for the household, as well as running Radiators & underfloor heating from the same unit... This was a "no brainer" since very little space heating is required in a highly insulated home. Giving people peace of mind when disaster happens. Up to this point in the build process these are things that we can not easily change and far more important than the flashy add on's
Solar panels are more affordable so even starting with a few panels and net metering is good to get started then add to it as desired. At least we should be looking at installing an invertor to be solar ready. Water collection from the roof & storage is something that clients are encouraged to add to help disaster proof their home. It can always come later if it comes above the budget. The main thing is with more frequent disasters of all kinds we want our home to be our safe haven, where we can live comfortably and most of all the build should be affordable. Currently Cornerstone Eco Homes with double the insulation of other standard timber or steel frames homes, and offering the windows that don't leak and higher thermal value, therefore a home that with rising energy prices runs on far less energy even without the solar panels which would provide energy for lighting which is LED and Appliances. Folks are encouraged to consider Gas for cooking as this could actually mean an OFF GRID HOME, which is very feasible.
