SUSTAINABLE LIVING
Homestar Rating
Homestar is a simple way of representing how warm, healthy and sustainable Kiwi homes are. The scale runs from 6 to 10 stars, and getting a 10 Homestar rating means you have a world-leading home.
It’s important to remember that the overall standard of New Zealand houses is pretty low. At the moment, most Kiwi homes would only achieve a 2-3 on the Homestar rating scale; a new home designed and built to today’s Building Code would achieve around a 3-4 on the Homestar scale.
Longevity apartments are designed to achieve a Homestar 7 rating.
Read more about how Homestar works here.
Reduced Utility Bills
Homestar reduces the cost of running a home, especially in terms of energy and water savings. Over seven years (the expected home ownership period), homes rated 6 Homestar enjoy annual savings on energy and water bills of $573-$729 per year.
Homestar 6 is the minimum warm, dry, healthy standard of home that Kiwi families deserve. A cheap home built just to the substandard Building Code will almost certainly perform poorly, and rack up higher household bills. Building to the minimum Homestar 6 standard will give you a better home and, because it rewards good, simple design choices, like placing windows to maximise sunlight, the costs are minimal, and the benefits for you and your family are extensive.
Conservation and Sustainability
Longevity is serious about conservation and environmental impacts. We've worked closely with local councils, governments and suppliers to ensure our developments tread lightly on the earth. These measures also reduce ongoing maintenance and utility bills.
Green buildings are quality buildings with clear economic, social and environmental benefits. Green Star is an internationally-recognised rating system for the design, construction and operation of buildings.
Green Star-certified buildings use less water and electricity. Green Star hospitals showed improved recovery rates, schools and universities reported improved health of students and teachers, mixed use building tenants had fewer sick days, offices with plants made staff happier and boosted productivity..
Longevity gains inspiration from the Green Star rating tools to find best practice design and performance features to include in the master design.