This column was inspired by an off-hand comment made on a recent visit to our second office – aka Scotts Epicurean – about the hot, humid weather we’ve been having, and the wonderfully cool(er) courtyard space which remains one of Scotts’ best kept secrets.
If the February 2025 weather is a preview of what we can expect over the coming decades, we definitely need to be thinking differently about how we design and build houses.
This is a timely discussion, as the government is currently reviewing the insulation standards in our building code. Without going into detail, the proposed changes are mostly sensible suggestions which should receive broad support from the industry.
One reason for the review though, was the complaint that some new homes are actually overheating. That seems a fairly blinkered view of the problem, insulation itself doesn’t cause overheating. Rather, it’s poor design that allows excessive heat into a building, insulation just helps to keep it there.
In an international context, it is ridiculous to suggest that our insulation requirements in New Zealand are too high. Many other countries have more stringent requirements without any problem. Indeed, we can look overseas for examples of how to live with a warmer climate.
One common theme in many warmer parts of the world is the utilisation of passive ventilation to cool houses.
This is particularly visible in parts of the Middle East and India, where city skylines are dotted with ‘wind catchers’ or ‘wind towers’. These are vents which catch the prevailing wind to bring cooler air down into a building, while allowing warmer air to circulate up and out, typically through the opposite side of the same tower.
A similar approach which is easily implemented is to use opening skylights to create a ‘stack effect’, allowing warmer air to rise up and out of a house while cooler air enters from lower windows or vents.
Circling back to the garden courtyard at Scotts Epicurean, courtyard houses are also common in warm climates. Often a courtyard house will include a pool or fountain, which serve a practical as well as aesthetic purpose, the water helping to cool the air as it circulates through the space.
Rather than an extravagance, courtyards can be relatively small. The tsubo-niwa of Japan are small, quasi-indoor gardens that provide light and ventilation, bring nature into a house, and in some cases collect rainwater.
Courtyard houses also offer an opportunity to improve medium and higher density housing. Townhouses or low-rise apartments can be clustered around a central courtyard or atrium, creating semi-private green space and opportunity for social interaction as well as improving ventilation and moderating summer temperatures.
You can read the original column in the Waikato Business News here.
