Greenhouses at the Sustainable Built Futures Centre

?Two ex-state houses have been relocated to a site in Ardmore as part of the University of Auckland’s new Sustainable Built Futures Centre, which will provide a testing ground for improving the energy-efficiency and liveability of New Zealand homes.

You can head along to check them out today as part of the Open Day from noon to 3pm at 79/81 Mullins Road, Ardmore.

A major focus of the  Sustainable Built Futures Centre will be to trial new building products and materials and for students to explore innovative engineering design concepts related to sustainable living.
  
“We don’t really have research that tells us what a good-functioning building is in New Zealand, for example what is the optimum level of insulation for our homes? Should we be installing double-glazing? Should we all be installing rain tanks? Wind turbines? Those are just some of the questions we hope this project will help answer,” says the centre’s  co-director Associate Professor Carol Boyle of the University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
 
Centre co-director Professor Geoff Austin of the University of Auckland’s Department of Physics has research interests in alternative energy including tidal turbine and solar power and says the site and the two classic timber-framed, concrete tile state houses offer opportunities for research not available elsewhere in Auckland.