Kiwis are in love with their cars. We have the second highest per capita ownership of vehicles in the world, behind only Luxembourg – a small country awash with E.U. cash. The car provides a false sense of freedom. Our language is littered with metaphors that equate vehicle ownership with power: “in the driver’s seat”; “at the wheel”; “pedal to the metal”. The reality – stuck in a constipated chain of belching traffic – is slightly less glamorous.

Perhaps because of the car’s dual roles as form of transport and status symbol (“You are what you drive.” – Jerry Seinfeld) we are reluctant to add up the real costs of car ownership. What might they be?

Financial:

The initial car price is dwarfed over the lifetime of the vehicle by petrol, interest, insurance, registration, warrants, AA membership and maintenance.

Environmental:

The transport sector – especially in New Zealand – is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Our continued love affair with the car will make it tough to meet our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, let alone the more dramatic cuts recommended by those traditional lunatics of the environmental fringe: climate scientists with a PhD from a respected university…

Health:

New Zealanders are getting fatter. What would the lean members of the ANZAC generation make of today’s flabby specimens with a face the complexion of sweaty mozzarella from a short walk up the hill? We have become over-reliant on the automobile to the detriment of our health. Recent research indicates that 1100 New Zealanders die every year from air pollution to which the automobile is a significant contributor. Eleven hundred innocent people! Can you imagine the outcry if 1100 people died every year from smoking “P”?

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By now you’re probably thinking that I’m a car hater. Where’s Jeremy Clarkson when you need him to stick a steel-capped boot into yet another squalid hippie for advocating public transport? Actually I think cars are awesome. Petrol is a wonder stuff. Pause to reflect that a teacup of this precious substance can propel a one ton vehicle over one kilometre. There are few resources that pack that kind of punch.

Fortunately there exists another option that allows the benefits of car ownership without the attendant cost or environmental overload. Car Sharing addresses the reality that cars are occasionally necessary even for people who work from home or only need to use one infrequently.

The system is simple. A number of brand new, fuel efficient vehicles (usually “Smart” cars or something similar) are parked in designated places throughout your neighbourhood. You book a car via internet or phone, swipe your card to gain entry, and drive away. When you are finished you return the vehicle to its parking place.

Costs are minimal when compared to ownership. I have approached Flexicar - www.flexicar.com.au - in Australia to see whether their system is viable in New Zealand. The following information is taken from their website – all prices are in Australian dollars:

There is a one-off application fee of $50. The monthly fee of $10 entitles you to one hour’s free use of a car. No ongoing commitment; all plans operate on a month-to-month basis. Over 100 kms there is an additional fee of $0.15 per kilometre.

The hourly fee is $12, although use between 11pm and 7am is only $12. Twenty four hours costs $80.

There are discounted rates for students, Healthcare card holders and those signing up to a higher-use plan.

Okay so that’s what you pay for. Here is what you don’t pay for:

Petrol (there is a petrol card in the car - when the petrol gauge falls below 25% you fill it up but don’t pay)

Registration

Insurance

Maintenance

Cleaning

Designated parking

To make it work for Lyttelton Flexicar requires over sixty people to sign up with a mix of residential and business users. This will merit a five car operation – so there will almost always be a car when you need one parked in residential streets around the community. If this sounds like you then check out www.flexicar.com.au for the full details. If you’re interested in signing up then email me:

Sam.masters@gmail.com

PPL is always thinking laterally about how to link with people and groups around the harbour that embody what our aims are. With all the information about carbon footprints and carbon offsets we began to think how we could participate locally. Many of us fly regularly and the idea was suggested about getting local people who fly to off set air miles locally by helping with planting or monetary donations for the Reserve 68 team.

How would this work? Courtesy of the Lincoln University Carbon Zero group you can use their calculator to work out the dollar cost of your carbon offset. http://www.carbonzero.co.nz/calculators/calculators_tourist.asp You then simply write a cheque to PPL (1-4 Harmans Rd Lyttelton) and we will donate the money to the Reserve Committee, alternatively you can figure out how many hours of labour you could provide to plant trees. Working bees are the third Saturday of each month at 1pm at the far end of Gilmour Terrace and the team would be happy for any contribution you could make. This is a great way to help locals re-generate the native plant environment, whilst mitigating the negative effects of flying.

Sue-Ellen Sandilands is the first person to contribute to the scheme.

Lyttelton’s Warm Wall was launched today. It is the culmination of much hard work by many committed supporters of Project Port Lyttelton’s Energy Matters iniative. It is yet another example of Project Port Lyttelton taking a practical step towards building a sustainable community.

Architect Roger Buck proposed the warm wall as a means of reducing energy consumption and showcasing simple yet innovative energy-saving technology. A number of Lyttelton residents volunteered the use of their homes for the showcase installation. Of these, the home of Tom Jones and Helen Hobson, which is the living space within the Harbour Light, was considered to be most suitable. The warm wall was manufactured free-of-charge by Christchurch’s Brian Woods and fitted by home-owner Tom Jones.

Roger says a few words about the warm wall

Why a warm wall?

Warm walls are not new technology by any means. They have been used in a form similar to that shown above in the United States for many years to introduce heat to industrial buildings. Roger Buck was inspired to introduce the technology into the home of Yevrah Ornstein after reading an article in Build Magazine, the magazine of the Building Research Association NZ (www.branz.co.nz). Fortunately for Roger (and ultimately Helen and Tom), Yevrah embraced the idea and allowed Roger to design and build his first wall warm in Queenstown (see below). Yevrah was so impassioned by the reality of his own warm wall that he is now supplying warm walls in New Zealand, www.warmwall.co.nz.

Yevrah’s warm wall in Queenstown Close-up of warm wall perforations

How it works

The principal of the warm wall is simple. The wall is fabricated from dark-coloured, powder-coated, sheet steel. The dark-coloured surface of the warm wall absorbs energy from the sun and uses it to heat the air within the cavity of the warm wall. The warmed air rises by convection to a plenum chamber at the top of the warm wall, and from there it is ducted into the building. As the air rises within the cavity, fresh air is drawn in to replace it through small perforations in the surface of the wall. If the opening to the building is at the top of the warm wall, then no mechanical assistance is required to duct the air into the building. If it is desired to have the opening at the bottom or middle of the wall, then a low power fan will be required to draw the warm air down through a central duct within the warm wall and into the building. To remove the dependence of this solution on grid power, the fan could easily be power by a small photo-voltaic cell.

At its simplest, the air into the building is regulated by a manually controlled louvre at the top of the wall. If you want to go more high tech, then a fan and louvres can be thermostatically controlled based on the temperature of the air in the warm wall and in the building.

The wall will offer most benefit in spring and autumn, but benefit will be gained on any cold but sunny day. In the height of summer, the louvres are shut off to prevent hot air adding to the heat within the building.

Fresh Air

An added bonus of the warm wall technology is that you are not just heating and recycling existing air within the building, but actually warming fresh air and bringing it inside. This is particularly useful on those blue-sky winter days when you may be reluctant to open a window and risk losing precious warmth.

Which Wall?

For optimum benefit, the warm wall should be facing the sun in the middle of the day. Helen and Tom’s home was an ideal choice for the warm wall because it has a north-facing wall with only one window. A warm wall may benefit many houses were the windows are facing the view rather than the sun.

What Next?

Lyttelton’s Warm Wall is hopefully just the first of many practical demonstrations of energy-saving measures intended to capture the community’s interest and promote conversation about sustainable living. If you have an idea for the next energy saving showcase or want to get involved, then please contact us at contact@lyttelton.net.nz.

I have recently done a small investigation into improving the insulation of my windows. They are all single glazed, in timber frames, and some are sash windows. I looked at Community Energy Action’s plastic film product, and The Energy Savings Centre’s Acrylic Secondary Glazing.

The acrylic secondary glazing fits a sheet of acrylic over existing windows, using magnetic strips on the existing frame. They claim it will improve UV penetration, condensation, noise pollution, draughts and insulation. It is not visible from the outside, and can be colour matched to the existing frames. The magnetic strips allow a small amount of movement which is normal in timber framed buildings. The quote seemed very reasonable, and significantly cheaper than double glazing! I’m hoping to install at least one window before the winter (dependant on the landlord!)

The plastic film product is a cross between food wrap and cellophane. You attach it to the frame using double sided tape, then shrink the wrinkles using a hair dryer. This has a similar list of benefits to the secondary glazing, but will not last indefinitely. I fitted it to half of my bedroom window, and saw the following improvement in condensation in the morning! (The left half has the film, the right half does not.)

I haven’t managed to find a sensible solution to my draughty sash windows yet though, both suppliers recommended fitting over the whole window opening but this would mean they couldn’t be opened, and I think the plastic film would get caught on the blinds. I’m planning on draught stopping them as much as possible, and thermally lining the blinds. Here’s to a warmer winter!

Yesterday I was called upon to do my bit by visiting homes in Lyttelton and inviting home-owners to complete an energy questionnaire. After 2 hours I returned with just 2 completed questionnaires, 2 rejections and many unanswered doors. I have learnt that the role of the “cold caller” is not an easy one and there is a narrow window of opportunity between people getting home and sitting down to their dinner.

So please be kind to the volunteers who come knocking on your door.

The PPL Energy Matters initiative started in late 2006 when the idea was floated that Lyttelton could generate its own electricty as a further step towards sustainability. This progressed to discussions with local company Windflow Technology who informed PPL that previous wind surveys on Lyttelton Port Company land had shown the area at the foot of the hills to be unsuitable for a wind-turbine due to the nature of the wind. Locations on the top of the Port Hills were also ruled out due to planning restrictions.

Large-scale wind power is just one of very many ways to reduce our consumption of non-renewable energy. From these first discussions, the Warm Wall project was initiated.The aim of the Warm Wall project is to demonstrate how we can make better use of the power of the sun to heat our homes and reduce our need for fuel. The idea for the warm wall came from Roger Buck of Christchurch Architects Roger Buck and Associates.

From a number of candidates, Roger and his team selected the living space above the Harbour Lights Theatre as the most suitable for this technology demonstrator. The wall of interest is made of solid brick with no windows and a northerly aspect. Working with a local business, Roger will design and construct the warm wall free of charge. The installation of the warm wall will be by the Lyttelton community.

To determine what further energy projects will form part of the Energy Matters initiative, PPL members are in the process of visiting all the homes in Lyttelton and inviting the home-owners to complete an energy questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to gauge the interest and understanding of the community in matters such as climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency retrofits, passive solar design, bio-fuel etc.

Hi, This is the first posting on the Project Port Lyttelton Energy Matters blog. The purpose of the blog is to update the people of Lyttelton on the progress of the energy matters initiative and attract comments as we go.