Malcolm Fleming: New Zealand Certified Builders Chief Executive on the study claiming insulation requirements add little to building costs

New research claims the costs of adding improved insulation onto Kiwi homes is far lower than initially reported. 

Earlier in the year, Minister Chris Penk wanted to roll back insulation standards, citing reports of overheating issues and standards adding extra costs to new homes.

New Zealand Certified Builders Chief Executive Malcolm Fleming says the cost of improved insulation for Kiwi homes is significantly less $40,000 - $50,000 cited by some.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now there's a bit of debate about how much the
new insulation rules will actually cost. Building in Construction Minister
Chris penk reckons it could add about forty to fifty
thousand dollars to a new home, so he wants to
roll back these insulation standards. However, according to some new research,
the cost can be as low as maybe twenty two
hundred bucks for a three bedroom home. Malcolm Fleming is
the chief executive of n Z Certified Builders who participated

(00:23):
in this project and is with us now.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hey, Malcolm, good evening, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
It's good to chat to you. Have you ever seen
a three bedroom house insulated for two two hundred bucks?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, that's not the cost of insulation. But we've used
you ended TV Studio, which is a couple of designs
architect designed designs which we're taking the market later this year,
and we've used them as a case study with the
Quantity Surveyor and with EBOSS, with Architects Design Group Save

(00:56):
from Elliott contributing us well, and to look at what
would be the cost of insulation for H one. So
just to recap on H one as it was brought
into the regulation on May twenty twenty three and represented
a really big step up on the existing H one
in relation to get it's closer to international countries that
would you like it to be competed with in regard

(01:18):
to insulation and the cost of thickness to run. So
where used these two plants that without on an intitive
studio to look at what would be the bear minimum
H one or insulation bears, we can apply what and
what would the cost be over and above what that
bill would have been two years ago before H one,

(01:39):
And that cost for three bedroom because we've got a
two bedroom of three bigion three bed and the larger one,
so we're using that and those costs are ten thousand,
six hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
I just said, Dold, and let me just get this right.
So what you're saying is when you look at what
the standards are before H one and then you go
to H one, the different in lifting the standards two
and a half for two point two thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, their difference is ten thousand, six hundred. If you
use a process called scheduling method, which is a bit
of a blunt instrument, that falls to two two thousand,
one hundred dollars extra over and a pupet have been
with a bet of two thousand, two hundred and twenty two. Yeah,

(02:25):
beg your pardon as a calculation method. So I've listen
for homeowners here using a design architect to do their
new homes, ask them to do the calculation method and
keep this giple.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
I mean, because if I was building a new house,
I don't care what the difference is. I want to
know what the total cost is. So how much does
it cost me to insulate the house?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Then? Well as low as a digital two thousand dollars,
but on top of what over what it would have
been before the near ten thousand dollars less than what
it is now?

Speaker 1 (03:05):
How what does a cod do? You do? You know
what it costs to insulator? Three? Injure mouse because Chris
Pink listen, Malcolm, we've got we're debating this right. Chris
Pink says it's fifty k. What do you say it is?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
No, so Chris Pink is saying it is now forty
fifty thousand dollars the house what it wants, but that
we can debate what we have counted with actually giving
some data so that we can actually have an informed
conversation about this rather rely on anecdotes that is about
ten thousand dollars using a blunt instrument approach, which is

(03:41):
everybody isn't if you want to use a sophisticated approach
which a designer can use. It comes down as, of course,
two thousand, one hundred and forty square of.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
The house, Malcolm doesn't. What can we do about these
houses that are overheating because they're over insulated.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, there's been some contribution from Brains that that is
not necessarily the case, but where there has been examples
of that, it comes down to the blunt instrument approach,
the scheduling, which is approaching every sing of your surface,
like looking at the roof, looking at will walk, each walls,

(04:16):
and trying to get one hundred percent of the of
the hy regulation on every single part of the build.
Where As a calculation that understands, okay, you're not your
facing animation for them windows, they get one hundred percent
on that elevation, you're going to have that triple glaze
and you're going to have to have insulation everywhere over

(04:37):
compensating and that could be contributing some overheating. Well, the
calculation money you understand, and you're never going to get
get there in the cost effective manner, but you're going
to do better in the roofs and so forth. To Counterdalan, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, Okay, I see what you're saying, Malcolm. I really
appreciate it, mate, Thank you for talking to us. It's
Malcolm Fleming, Certified Builders, Chief Executive. I don't really know
what the point of that was, but that was amusing.
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