$100 million will be spent over three years on the Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes programme, targeting low-income households for home insulation. It is expected to insulate around 46,000 additional houses.

As well as providing energy efficiency gains, insulating homes reduces health risks such as respiratory illnesses and serious diseases like rheumatic fever.

The Government’s investment will be matched by funding from trusts and other third parties. This will see insulation available to those households in most need, at low or no cost.

An earlier scheme, Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart has seen around 215,000 homes insulated since 2009. When that scheme ends in September 2013, 230,000 households will have benefited.

Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes will be delivered through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

The New Zealand Green Building Council recently compiled an interesting article on saving energy in existing commercial buildings.

Commercial buildings in this country account for around 9% of total energy use and 21% of New Zealand’s electricity use, the latter of which costs New Zealand businesses around $1.25 billion every year.  About $280 million of this could be saved, cost-effectively, through energy efficiency measures.

Find more information on the NZGBC website here.

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