Key points:
- Building Minister Chris Penk reportedly believes insulation rules add up to $50,000 to the cost of a new home and create overheating issues.
- Officials say our previous rules were well below those in other countries with similar climates.
- In public consultation, 99% of submissions supported raising insulation standards.
A health expert has slammed the Government's plan to reduce New Zealand's insulation requirements for new builds.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk wants to roll back upgrades to insulation and glazing requirements introduced under the previous government in May last year, RNZ reported yesterday.
Penk said the requirements add tens of thousands of dollars onto the cost of building a home.
"There are also frequent reports of moisture and overheating issues that are leading to increased energy usage making the requirements counter-productive," he told RNZ.
"In the middle of a housing crisis, while Kiwis are still living in cars and emergency accommodation such as motels, it is critical that we don't create artificial barriers through well-intended but badly implemented policies."
But Otago University public health professor Philippa Howden-Chapman is concerned about what it could mean.
"I was staggered, frankly," she told Breakfast this morning. "This was impeccably developed and implemented policy that had the support – after extensive consultation – with everybody involved, from builders, manufacturing, the public, and so forth."
Penk said yesterday that "builders frequently raise concerns" with him over the cost of the requirements.
"To reverse [the requirements] on the anecdotal evidence of one builder in Tauranga, I found it very strange that the minister would do that," Howden-Chapman said.
"Insulation has a dual function, to keep warmth in and to keep the excess summer heat out. It's a very, very useful, proven product," she said.
Howden-Chapman said New Zealand's standards were still well below those in other places, including Australia and the UK, she said.
"It was an extraordinary decision."
Research has proven the positive effects of insulation, Howden-Chapman added.
"Children are less likely to get sick, less likely to have days off school, parents are less likely to have days off work, less likely to use pharmaceuticals, less likely to go into hospital, and we know that people who are vulnerable from heart conditions or from respiratory conditions are less likely to die in winter when there's insulation in the house.
"Why would we want to roll it back?"
In a statement, Penk told Breakfast: "The cost of building a house has increased by 40% since 2019 and out-of-control building costs have a chilling impact on first home buyers and tragically push the Kiwi dream of homeownership further away.
"I have instructed the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to look into the real-world impacts of these changes, but no decisions have been made at this stage."
Howden-Chapman said that was a "narrow" view.
"If you build a home better at the beginning, it lasts for longer and you have less maintenance on it.
"I think the idea that improving standards in line with the rest of the world to deal with climate change and health issues is going to increase the cost of housing substantially is a fairy tale," she said.
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