Keep NZ Earth Building Standards up to date

If we are to radically reduce the C02 emissions of the built environment, the materials with which we build are hugely important. Earthen materials have a low carbon footprint and are relatively easy to construct and, because New Zealand has a suite of Earth Building Standards, gaining consent is relatively straight forward.

The standards are highly regarded internationally and have provided Building Consent Authorities, architects, engineers, builders and home owners a clear pathway toward building and consenting earthen buildings for the past twenty years. However, lessons learnt from the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes, and the results of new research need to be incorporated. To save our standards, and to remain world leaders in earth building technology, they must be updated.

EBANZ is working in partnership with Standards NZ to bring development work on the standards to its conclusion. Funding is estimated to be $95,000 and to date donations have raised around $55,000 but we still have $40,000 to go.

EBANZ has teamed up with YIMFY (Yes! In My Front Yard); a charity promoting and developing ways of making buildings that foster the health and well-being of both the people who occupy them and the global ecosystems of which they are part. A tax credit can be claimed for donations to the earth building standards through Give A Little.