PRES/27. Canterbury Sustainable Homes Working Party. Sustainable Buildings - Regulation. Chrissie Williams

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1 PRES/27 Canterbury Sustainable Homes Working Party Sustainable Buildings - Regulation Chrissie Williams

2 Purpose: Purpose and Objectives To recommend legislation change to mandate sustainable homes in post earthquake repairs and rebuilds in greater Christchurch. Objectives: To use opportunities in the earthquake recovery to promote legislation change to support sustainable homes in the rebuild To increase resilience in greater Christchurch by reducing reliance on centralised systems

3 Who was involved Project Convenor: Lois Easton, Beacon Pathways Other Project Team Members from: CDHB/ Community Health Environment Canterbury Selwyn District Council Christchurch City Council Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu CAFÉ Architectural Designers New Zealand

4 Scope Greater Christchurch area Homes, neighbourhoods and subdivisions - including residential and local facilities Using performance based criteria

5 Tasks 1. Identify what performance based criteria/sustainability features we want to promote through legislative change 2. Update the Beacon Pathway 2010 stocktake 1 of what has been done elsewhere in NZ 3. Review this stocktake to consider what is relevant and identify the gaps 4. Agree what to progress for further work 5. Investigate legislation options eg RMA, LGA, Building Act 6. Provide an evidence based case for each legislative change sought 7. Discuss with relevant councils 8. Report back to the CSHWP and CERA 1. in Policy Options for Sustainable Homes: A Resource Manual for Local Government

6 Possible legislative and other mechanisms to influence design and construction New Homes Retrofit Subdivision/ Development Building Code Council Bylaws District Plan Rules Assessment Criteria and Design Guidelines Council Infrastructure Standards Regional Plans

7 Features considered Higher insulation standards, better thermal design, better solar orientation Minimum water efficiency requirements dual flush toilets Supplementary water supply rainwater tanks NEW HOUSES On site wastewater systems, composting toilets, grey water systems Minimum hot water efficiency requirements Alternatives to electric hot water heating eg solar water heating, heat pumps Range of dwelling sizes (ie not all giant sized) where covenants have already been put in place on subdivision Better construction waste management/ waste reduction Houses insulated to current code as part of repair/rebuild work EXISTING HOUSES Efficient, low pollution heating systems installed as part of repair/rebuild work Water efficiency for earthquake repairs/renovations Waste minimisation for repairs More housing choice specifically more smaller and affordable houses. Reduce use of restrictive covenants which drive high cost/large dwellings SUBDIVISION/ DEVELOPMENT Better design quality, better use of land, more accessibility to services and community facilities including public transport More water efficiency and greater resilience of water systems water charging Wider use of alternative wastewater treatment/disposal methods Reduced impacts on biodiversity

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11 NEW HOUSES ISSUE Higher insulation standards, better thermal design, better solar orientation Higher insulation Minimum standards, water efficiency better thermal requirements design, dual flush better toiletsolar orientation Supplementary water supply rainwater tanks On site wastewater systems, composting toilets, grey water systems Minimum hot water efficiency requirements EXISTING HOUSES SUBDIVISION/ Provision of supplementary water supply/rainwater tanks Alternatives to electric hot water heating eg solar water heating, heat pumps Range of dwelling sizes (ie not all giant sized) where covenants have already been put in place on subdivision Better construction waste management/ waste reduction Houses insulated to current code as part of repair/rebuild work Efficient, low pollution heating systems installed as part of repair/rebuild work Water efficiency for earthquake repairs/renovations Waste minimisation for repairs More housing choice specifically more smaller and affordable houses. DEVELOPMENT Dealing with house Less size/affordability use of restrictive covenants in new which subdivisions/developments, drive high cost/large dwellings Better especially design quality, regarding better use of land, covenants more accessibility to services and community facilities including public transport More water efficiency and greater resilience of water systems water charging Wider use of alternative wastewater treatment/disposal methods Reduced impacts on biodiversity

12 Issue Regulatory Rationale Expected Change Option Impact and Effects NEW Houses: Higher insulation standards, better thermal design, better solar orientation Some aspects best dealt with in the Building Code (unlikely) District Plan possibilities Bylaws may be possible Optimal options good passive solar design better window location and sizing use of thermal mass Alternative options higher insulation window performance standards Thermal performance requirements in the Building Code have gradually increased over time. Research shows that the current standards are still resulting in houses being designed and built which are poor thermal performers and where heating costs are often beyond the ability of low (and some middle) income households to pay. Many of the new houses will be replacing homes which were heated by wood burners. Because of the Air Quality issues, these new homes will not be able to be heated with a burner (even if rebuilt on the same site) and will almost definitely be electrically heated with resulting increased costs for householders as well as increased demand for winter heating and summer cooling impacting on the electricity system. Big impact on new houses More affordable heating costs for new homeowners Reduced drain on grid of large numbers of households moving to all electric heating New housing stock which would be future proofed in terms of possible thermal changes to the Building Code in future years

13 Emergency water supply 80% of the Christchurch water supply was restored within two weeks of the February earthquake Boil-water notices remained in place citywide until April 2011, due to the risk of cross-contamination from broken pipe works Chlorine was introduced to the water supply to address potential contamination issues, and remained until December 2011 Advice is 3 litres per person to meet daily drinking needs, but more is needed for cooking, hygiene, washing dishes and clothes and for pet care If more homes had rainwater tanks they would have had access to an emergency supply, particularly for non-potable purposes such as clothes washing or garden watering. There would have been reduced demand on the Councils supplies

14 Alternative water supply In Christchurch City in summer 2011/12 level 3 restrictions were imposed because of the reduced storage in the water supply system MoH guidelines indicate that only about 5 litres per person per day needs to be biologically and chemically safe Average domestic water use is about l/p/d all of which is currently cleaned to a potable standard. Clothes and cars are washed, toilets flushed and gardens watered with high quality drinking water Using rainwater for some of these activities would reduce the demand on potable water.

15 Supplementary water supply Rainwater Tanks An invaluable alternative water supply when a disaster damages the reticulated system

16 Reduces the demand on the main water supply Benefits Reduces the extraction from groundwater Reduces householders dependence on mains water Offers more resilience when water restrictions are in place Reduces costs in the delivery of reticulated water supply Avoids oversizing of water supply network and associated costs inefficiencies Can delay capital works Reduced energy costs in embodied energy of infrastructure operational costs of treatment and pumping, Lower households water bills (if water is charged for by volume) Reduced storm water runoff Prevents the impact of storm water run-off on the local environment Reduces peak flow in storm water system Education and awareness On site systems give timely feedback to the householder on water consumption increasing awareness about the limits of water availability and cost of infrastructure/maintenance Rain tanks are part of a broader societal shift towards more ecofriendly behaviour and tanks facilitate a transition to more sustainable values and behaviours.

17 Plan change 75 for the Kapiti Coast District Plan Current water supply can meet potable and hygiene requirements but cannot always supply outdoor needs. In making their case for a plan change the council considered resiliency of their system, especially in the light of climate shocks and water use efficiency, using non-potable water where appropriate. Now has mandatory requirement for rain tanks for water conservation as a rule in their District Plan. Introduced this through Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) Section 32 analysis, and Plan Change notification and consultation process. The rule is triggered when there is an application for land use change or sub-division.

18 Local Councils approach Rainwater tanks/grey water systems signalled for investigation in CCC s Water Supply Strategy as Action 12, scheduled for 2014/15. In the WDC Water Conservation Strategy rainwater collection and reuse is recognised as a way to reduce peak water demand - regulatory measures will be reviewed in the 2013 strategy review. SDC has no specific reference to domestic rainwater collection in their fivewater strategy.

19 Rainwater Tanks Legislation Options Process District Plan Changes Scale of Influence Local Likely Timeline Priority Likelihood of success 2-3 years but would benefit from RPS or other policy work to set the scene High Success would require education and good consultation Regional Policy Statement Canterbury Region Would take several years to be given effect to and filter through to implementation Medium Medium to high, needs good collaboration with ECan Regional Plans NRRP and Land and Water Regional Plan Canterbury Region Planning process just beginning Low Medium to high, needs good collaboration with ECan Building Code National 12+ months Low High but entirely dependent on involvement in code review and degree of interaction with DBH. Bylaw Local 6 month process Medium Medium needs support from council to recognise a problem and begin bylaw-making process.

20 Issue Regulatory Change Rationale Expected Option Impact and Effects NEW Houses: Supplementary Water Supply Bylaw: The three Councils could have a common bylaw requiring a supplementary water supply for new houses say a litre tank for all new dwellings District Plan Provisions: Canterbury s water and storm water infrastructure has been seriously compromised by the earthquakes. Many households were without water supply for weeks during each of the earthquakes. Big impact on new houses. Greater resilience The three Councils could have a common District Plan provision requiring a supplementary water supply for new houses say a litre tank for all new dwellings Provisions could spell out that a resource consent is required if supplementary supply is not included. Requiring new homes to have a basic level of resilience through supplementary supply (for non potable uses such as garden watering) will help reduce pressure on both water and storm water systems A precedent is the Kapiti Coast District Plan. Reduced water demand in summer Mitigating storm water runoff during rain events

21 Lois Easton, Beacon Pathway Tricia Austin, University of Auckland David Hattam, Selwyn District Council

22 Restrictive Covenants New house sizes have increased by 50% in the last 25 years from 134m 2 to 209m 2. A significant contributor is the increasingly common use by land developers of minimum house size covenants on lots created during subdivision. ln Rolleston* 75% of new house sites had a restrictive covenant requiring a minimum house size of 160m 2, with a typical requirement being 180m 2. 25% of sections had a requirement of a minimum house size of 200m2. For the sections with no explicit size controls almost all required house designs to be approved by the developer with houses greater than 180m 2 predominating in these subdivisions. Only 3% of sections created since 1990 had no minimum size covenants. Where small lots were created of around 350m 2, the minimum house size was often 160m 2 * Research undertaken by David Hattam (Selwyn District Council) and John Raven (Lincoln University)

23 Restrictive Covenants The cost of land is less than 20% of the cost of a section, so reductions in section size (without reductions in house size) do not result in significant increases in affordability e.g. in Rolleston the cost of a half size 350m 2 section is around $20,000 less than that of a full size section. Restrictive covenants are imposed by developers after the Council has signed off the issue of title - under the RMA there is no mechanism available for Councils to address this issue. Conditions could specify no covenants on a subdivision consent but this would have to be put on a consent notice at the time of issue of title and the covenants would be put on at the same time. Reforming the RMA to enable District Plans to override covenants might be something for the long term The rebuild of Christchurch may require more immediate action such as special powers enabling the District Plan to override residential covenants

24 Issue Regulatory Change Rationale Expected Option Impact and Effects NEW Homes: Range of dwelling sizes where covenants have already been put in place on subdivision May need legal advice about what is possible we might want to try and see a proportion (e.g. 50%) of new houses built in a subdivision exempt from Affordability post EQ is a significant factor for those displaced from there red zones Big critical if affordable housing outcomes are going to be achieved existing covenants around This is a major issue dwelling size or all houses for affordability Affordable exempt (ideally). reducing house size housing which can reduce the meets the Currently covenants can be cost of new houses needs of the removed from titles by a by tens of Christchurch court order, so this may thousands of community require a specific piece of dollars able to be legislation aimed at built in new removing those types of subdivisions covenants from subdivisions in the Christchurch area.

25 Issue Regulatory Change Option Rationale Expected NEW Homes SUBDIVISION/ DEVELOPMENT: Range of dwelling sizes ensuring that covenants and agreements are NOT put in place restricting size, materials and design in such a way that pushes up housing costs District Plan Change: A single approach across the three Councils is best. It could be: introducing a Rule that requires a minimum proportion of housing in a development not to be subject to restrictive covenants introducing Assessment Criteria around not using restrictive covenants to govern particular issues introducing a Rule that requires a minimum number of sites to be housing of less than a certain size Affordability post EQ is a significant factor for those displaced from there red zones The size of a house is a major factor for affordability potentially reducing the cost of new houses by tens of thousands of dollars Impact and Effects Big critical if affordable housing outcomes are going to be achieved Affordable housing which meets the needs of the Christchurch community able to be built in new subdivisions

26 Results Higher insulation standards, better thermal design, better solar orientation Rain water tanks Covenants

27 Conclusions Colaborative effort to research and collate information Existing research available to substantiate the performance based criteria especially some of the Beacon Pathway research Identify and endorse community leadership eg Kapiti District Council Most effective and cheapest interventions at subdivison and building compared with retrofitting