Welcome to Beacon's Knowledge Base
This is the repository for all that Beacon has learned since 2005. You'll find the reports and learnings from our research and demonstration projects into:
- How our homes can be warmer, drier, healthier, affordable, cost less to run, and low carbon
- How our neighbourhoods can be adaptable, sustainable and a place people enjoy living.
Find our main website
Want to know what Beacon’s been up to lately? Head over to our main website:
New homes
Come here to find research into designing and building new homes and the results from our demonstration new homes:
- The Waitakere NOW Home
- The NZHF HomeSmart Home
- The High Performance House at HIVE
Existing homes
Come here to find our research into upgrading existing homes and our demonstration retrofit projects:
- Build Back Smarter in Christchurch
- HomeSmart Renovation project
- Papakowhai Renovation project
Neighbourhoods
Come here to find the tools we’ve developed to guide good practice, sustainable neighbourhoods and developments
- The Medium Density Assessment tools
- The Neighbourhood Sustainability Framework and tools
Resources for homeowners
Come here to find out how to make your home warmer, drier, healthier and cheaper to run.
- A homeowner manual
- Fact sheets and checklists
- Where to go for advice
Resources for councils
Come here to find:
- A Resource Manual for Local Government
- Water demand management tools
- Housing typologies in your area
Resources for government
Come here to find:
- Beacon’s High Standard of Sustainability
- The National Value Case for Sustainable Housing
- How large scale house upgrades can create jobs
Early research
Come here for the reports from Beacon’s original research programme:
- Energy
- Water
- Indoor Environment Quality
- Systems/Materials
- Market Transformation