Supplier Funding
At various points on the website you'll see suppliers mentioned. Most of the videos have one or more suppliers listed under 'supported by' and we wanted to be clear about what that means.
Discounted products
We have shown the cost of products as they would be to the typical homeowner, i.e., excluding any discounts we negotiated.
We negotiated discount on a number of products in the house in return for association with the project. This was before construction started and, most importantly, before the communications side of the project began (more on that below).
Within New Zealand there are companies supplying products that perform to the level required to achieve the goals we set in our project. We were fortunate they saw value in supporting our vision to bring them together to demonstrate what we believe to be the future of housing in New Zealand.
Throughout the site you'll see many references to what it cost to build the Zero Energy House. In every situation we have shown the cost of products as they would be to the typical homeowner, i.e., excluding any discounts we negotiated.
Communications funding
A communications plan was funded by suppliers in return for promotion alongside phases of content related to their products.
As the design phase neared its end we sat down with our friends Matt & Shoba from Roots Before Branches and discussed the possibility of running a communications program alongside the construction of the house.
At the start of 2012 Roots created a communications plan involving the production of a short video series, rebuild of the website, writing of articles to support the build stages, and ongoing media engagement to spread the story of Zero Energy.
That plan was pitched to suppliers providing products for the house, many of whom agreed to contribute funding in return for promotion alongside phases of content related to their products.
The communications work extended to the creation of a public display stand for the 2012 Sustainable City Showcase, parts of which have since been displayed at home shows in Auckland, Taupo, and Christchurch. In late 2013 another phase of online content started with a focus on the performance and cost data associated with the house. We're pleased to announce we'll be returning to the 2013 Sustainable City Showcase to present this new phase of content.
All of the above has been made possible by support from the following suppliers:
- eCubed Building Workshop (design services),
- GreenStuf (insulation),
- Grundfos (pumps & water sensors),
- Heirloom Joinery (window joinery),
- MacDirect (cladding),
- Methven (taps & showerheads),
- Metro GlassTech (glazing),
- Philips (lighting),
- Resene (paint),
- SolarCity (solar), and
- Viking Roofspec (green roof membrane).