Kris Wilson Sustainable Architect

On Wednesday Kris Wilson the owner of Design House LTD. came and talked to our class about sustainable housing.

He taught us that:

• 50% of waste comes from architecture
• Natural is not always the best product
• Small is good
• Timber used for building houses is grown in NZ
• Concrete traps the suns heat and when the sun is gone puts out the heat
• Look at a building and orientate it towards the sun and make the most of the free heat
• Use local materials
• Steel has a longer life than timber
• Adapt to the environment not vice versa
• 100 brochures leave the same carbon footprint as 1 CD
• Pine is the most widely used for houses.

And heaps heaps more!

Kris's Website

Eco. Friendly Houses

Here are a few good websites for some information on Eco friendly houses.

NZ Eco. House: This is a few aspects of Eco. homes.

Eco. Bob: This showcases some Eco. homes that are for sale but have pictures and aspect lists ETC.

Eco. Home: A story of some people building their own Eco. home.

Eco. Plan: A plan of an Eco. House

Eco. houses usually consist of solar power so power that is powered by the suns rays on a solar panel. You can also make Eco. friendly mud bricks which are made of mud and clay made into a brick shape then left to dry so you can from walls with it. The special thing about mud bricks is that you can carve your name and leave a special mark. You cannot always get Eco. Friendly things but it is best to go with the most Eco. friendly option so even if it is not entirely good for the environment you are still helping the environment.

Is Uranium dangerous?

The M.P for the green party Keith Locke urged pacific countries to stop mining uranium as it is dangerous.

Here is his statement from the web page Radio NZ

But Keith Locke says uranium is very dangerous in any form.

“I think we should discourage Niue from allowing this form of exploration because we don’t want Pacific countries involved in uranium mining. And there’s a big controversy in Australia right now about the export of uranium to countries like China, where it might be used to make nuclear weapons.”