Page 80 - Build 161

Departments/Research
By Roman Jaques, BRANZ Senior Building Environment Scientist
Optimum upgrades
Information BRANZ gathered when monitoring thermal performance during an upgrade of ageing apartments will be useful to landlords wanting to carry out similar work and to minimise the impact on tenants.
Figure 1: Kotuku Apartments, looking to the west. Courtesy of Opus Architecture.
to use as case studies for the project, and the multi-million dollar Kotuku Apartments upgrade and renovation was chosen (see Figure 1).
The Kotuku Apartments are located in Kilbirnie and comprise four 4-storey blocks constructed in the 1960s. Originally housing some 104 people in studio-style units, the apartments are part of the council’s multi- million dollar improvement project carried out over 2013–17.
The extensive upgrade included adding new family spaces to the existing studios and improvements to the internal xtures and appliances, the landscaping and the thermal envelope – windows, walls, roofs and oors.
Social aspects of the upgrade were handled by CRESA (Centre for Research Evaluation and Social Assessment), which was engaged to help understand tenants’ energy-related behaviour and experiences.
Monitoring thermal comfort
BRANZ monitored the indoor temperature and humidity to assess occupant thermal
BRANZ has now completed a multi-year project looking at practical ways to renovate the Kotuku Apartments in Wellington to achieve the best outcomes for occupant health, comfort and satisfaction. An earlier article, Apartment upgrade (Build 154, pages 52–53) backgrounded the project.
Plenty of rentals will need refurbishing
Many rental houses perform poorly in terms of occupant health, comfort and satisfaction, particularly those occupied by low-income tenants. While plenty of
new housing is needed in New Zealand, most of the current stock will be in use for years to come, making housing retro ts an important industry sector.
Historically, there has been a lack of good guidance for those wanting to upgrade and protect their housing investments, espe- cially for apartments. The BRANZ project addressed this.
Council upgrade project
Wellington City Council offered BRANZ several of its low-income rental properties
78 — August/September 2017 — Build 161