Coming back to New Zealand just before the first of the Christchurch earthquakes he took a job with New Zealand Sustainable Forest Products, a West Coast-based supplier of sustainably logged hardwood beech timber.
Marketed under the Foreverbeech brand, the company produces interior and exterior timber that can be used for cladding, decking, joinery, furniture and flooring. The timber can be stained or oiled to create anything from a Scandinavian-style blonde wood through to something more traditional in appearance.
Curtis saw an opportunity to bring together a suite of complimentary building products and suppliers to give home builders access to a range of materials to build homes that performed to higher levels. "We're far from being a timber mill now. We've had to be active on a number of fronts."
More importantly, he wanted to prove a better home could be built for a similar price to what is currently available in the market. "This house is a $1600 per square metre house. The current rate in Christchurch is $2000 per square metre for a standard four inch wall; which is common to market but is of low performance," he says. "Homes should be valued upon the whole home performance, and that includes the quality of its air."
Curtis built his Rotherham home using post and beam construction, which he admits looked like a barn during the build, but now it's complete has light and airy rooms with high ceilings. He chose that style of construction because it gives a high level of structural performance in areas with strong winds, earthquakes and high water tables.
Curtis chose a New Zealand-made Pyroclassic fire to heat the home. "Where Pyroclassic is concerned; we looked into the engineering/performance that makes Pyroclassic stand out and relied upon Consumer magazine for independent evaluations," he says.
"The Pyroclassic wood burner provides high levels of radiant heat into large spaces. Radiant heat is the aspect needed when the home design is based on breathable materials and whole home performance."
Curtis also says local councils are challenging the use of wood burners when they should be regulating the fuel source and cites eco-firewood.co.nz as one example of a controlled fuel source. "Solid timber can be controlled in the same way if the wood merchants were supported in this aim. Pyroclassic is a wood-burning engine we should duplicate for use in many wood burners.
We see this within the car industry where VW Gold engines are connected to many car brands, he says. "The car industry and VW is a good example of what to do when you have a good engine; you make sure it has a constant supply of good quality fuel. You don't kill the engine because the fuel supply is unregulated."
The home also has thick walls stuffed with Terra Lana wool insulation to cope with the southern winter. Curtis says the product range could be used with any style of house and is even fielding approaches from building companies interested in adding the environmentally friendly line-up to their homes. "We want consumers to know they can play a large part in sustainable development without impacting their daily lives or stepping away from the constructors they trust."
This article is an Element Advertising Promotion.
