COMMENT: Words matter. The words we use provoke emotion, and instil a purpose in what we are describing or talking about. Different words can be used to name the same object, and suggest different ways in which we might feel about that object, or use it.

For instance, ‘home’ and ‘property’. Both can be used to name the same object. One word suggests a forever sanctuary, with memories weaved through the curtains, laughter and tears seeped into the floorboards, and promises, dreams and aroha enveloping all who live there.

Property? That’s a bit different. It’s a colder word, especially when used for a house or apartment. It’s the kind of word that belongs more on a balance sheet, and much less so on the cover of a well-thumbed photo album. Property suggests an asset. And that’s a problem, because sanctuaries are warm, safe, healthy places. Assets are valued solely on their dollar value, and warmth and health are less important.

When what could be a home is instead called a property, it loses something. It is no longer primarily a place to raise a family, to thrive in for many years. It suggests a place that primarily exists to get bought and sold, or rented. And it’s difficult to imagine that New Zealand’s housing affordability crisis is not at least in part caused by treating too many homes as properties, as assets.

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This isn’t just an affordability issue, though. It’s about healthy, warm homes too – or, rather, the lack of them. If New Zealanders can’t afford to own their own home, they’ll rent. And as government statistics show, rentals are damper, and have more mould than homes lived in by their owners. Yes, there are the healthy homes standards designed to improve rentals but there are worrying reports that the vast majority of rental properties don’t meet these yet.

New homes are often built to a far too low standard too. The Building Code, which outlines the minimum levels needed when constructing, is woeful, and has been internationally criticised.

Houses New Zealand

New Zealand Green Building Council CEO Andrew Eagles: Too many homes are treated like assets. Photo / Supplied

On top of this, the average new house in New Zealand emits five times too much carbon pollution. That’s coming from energy use for devices such as TVs, fridges and heating. It also includes the emissions created during the manufacture of building materials.

Unaffordable, damp, mouldy and polluting. These are some of the myriad issues facing the housing sector.

While the Government is making some progress with the likes of the Building for Climate Change programme, which is intended to slash carbon emissions and improve the Building Code, it’s all more pedestrian than a Sunday afternoon sponsored walk.

These are some of the reasons why New Zealand homes need independent, green certification schemes, right now. Certification like Homestar and HomeFit, both of which are run by the not-for profit Green Building Council, can prove that new homes and existing homes are better places for people.

Green home certifications such as Homestar help New Zealanders easily see if a home is going to be built to a higher standard than the current Building Code, and if the insulation and ventilation is decent – which all helps to make homes warm and dry. Homestar is designed to help create warm, healthy places in which to create memories.

Making New Zealand homes better will help us tackle climate change, and give families healthier, warmer and drier homes.

Far too many Kiwi homes are cold, damp and unhealthy, they pump out far too much carbon pollution in their construction and in the energy they use, and far too often saddle Kiwi families with high household power bills.

That’s why we’ve recently launched a new updated Homestar, the most ambitious ever version. We’re hoping Homestar will provide healthy, cosy homes for thousands of families, and play a much- needed role in slashing climate change pollution.

All Homestar-rated homes will now be able to show how they’re using sustainable materials that don't pump out huge amounts of carbon pollution when created. This type of carbon pollution, which has been belched into the atmosphere during the production of building materials, is often called ‘embodied carbon’.

And all new Homestar homes must use energy-efficient appliances for everyday things like heating, hot water and lighting, meaning both carbon emissions and household bills should be reduced. Carbon emissions created through using energy to power and run a home are referred to as ‘operational carbon.’

Rated on a scale from six to 10, a 6 Homestar home will reduce carbon through mandatory energy and operational carbon targets, unlike homes built to the current Building Code. A 10 Homestar home will have to show predicted energy consumption and carbon emissions are significantly lower than in an average New Zealand home.

Besides cutting carbon pollution, the revamped Homestar targets a number of other key areas.

These include making it easier to keep a home warm in winter and cooler in summer, well ventilated with fresh air and dry. It will keep household bills lower through energy and water efficiency, building with healthy, sustainable materials and reducing the amount of waste dumped in landfill.

Green certifications like Homestar help make the places we live true homes, which are warm and dry, and where the most important part of the building is building memories.

- Andrew Eagles is chief executive of the New Zealand Green Building Council