The H1 Energy Efficiency (H1) clause in the New Zealand Building Code for residential buildings under 300m2 and commercial buildings over 300m² underwent significant changes in November 2022 as part of MBIE's Building for Climate Change program. This initiative, launched in 2020, aimed to guide the building and construction sector towards achieving New Zealand's emissions reduction targets.
One of the key benefits of the H1 Energy Efficiency Building Code changes is the enhanced insulation requirements for new homes. These requirements ensure that homes have higher insulation levels, leading to improved energy efficiency and reduced energy bills.
The H1 Building Code changes primarily focus on increasing insulation requirements and introduces six new climate zones to reflect the varying weather conditions experienced in different parts of New Zealand. Recognising the impact of thermal bridging, where insulation effectiveness is compromised by heat loss or gain through building elements and penetrations, is also a crucial step in enhancing the overall performance of building envelopes.
Compliance with H1 must be demonstrated either through the schedule method or modelling, as outlined in H1/AS1, H1/VM1, H1/AS2 and H1/VM2. Buildings are broken into two categories <300m2 and >300m2. The calculation method used for housing cannot be applied to buildings over 300m². These changes have increased insulation requirements for floors walls and roofs, challenging conventional insulation practices for commercial buildings in New Zealand.
Kingspan, a global leader in high-performance building envelope technologies and systems, offers a range of proven innovative, integrated insulation and building membrane systems that not only meet the required changes but also achieve world-class performance levels without compromising on ease of construction and cost-effectiveness.
Compliance without compromising net lettable or saleable space is achievable with Kooltherm. Kooltherm, a closed-cell phenolic insulation, boasts exceptional insulation and fire performance properties. Being a thermoset material, it hardens and chars in fire situations, emitting very little smoke unlike thermoplastics such as polystyrene, which melt, soften, and emit thick black smoke. Kooltherm outperforms glass wool and other bulk insulations, achieving a product R-value of R2.35 at just 50mm thickness.
Kooltherm is ideal for use as continuous insulation, either internally or externally, to mitigate thermal bridging. It achieves compliance and beyond without requiring drastic changes to wall thicknesses. Specialty products are also available for soffit and slab applications. Kingspan Thermakraft also offers the Polyisocyanurate (PIR) Therma insulation range for flat roofs waterproofed with mechanically fixed single-ply waterproofing or metal roofing, typically part of a warm roof construction.
Kingspan Insulation New Zealand is ready to support your transition to smarter construction, higher performance, and compliance with the updated H1 Energy Efficiency Building Code.