The Star: January 31, 2019

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6 Thursday January 31 2019 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi The Star News Innovative father and son duo First there was the castle and now there is a self-sustainable, eco-friendly tiny house. Anan Zaki talks to the father and son behind the creations MAJESTIC: The Chapman Castle was Dennis Chapman and his son Alan’s first project, now DENNIS CHAPMAN built a castle overlooking Tai Tapu six years ago. Now his son Alan is building a tiny house, with inspiration from the castle. The tiny house in Tai Tapu is off the grid and self-powered by solar panels. The house can generate enough power to charge an electric car, which will keep its two residents self-sustained. It also has a large thermal mass, which means the temperature of the building does not change. The technological features were right at home for Dennis, who made his money in electrical engineering companies Enatel and Swichtec. His son is also an electrical engineer with his own company Darc Technologies. “We built the tiny house to see if we could utilise all the technol- the pair have built a tiny house. ogies we used in the castle into a a grander scale. tiny house that was economically “We didn’t set out to build accessible to everybody,” Alan a castle. We actually set out to said. build a thermally efficient building that was fully automated,” Meanwhile, 4km away, the Chapman Castle takes things on Dennis said. The family loved the Dunedin Railway Station’s stone entrance way and drew inspiration from that. “Because it was all stone and there were slip windows . . . we decided we needed a theme,” Dennis said. From there the idea of a castle was born. But the castle was no ordinary castle. “In the castle, in the middle of winter we’d have no heating for a week and the temperature will only change by two degrees,” Dennis said. “To retain heat and store water in the castle, we’ve got 30,000 litre water tanks – four of them. Half of them are thermally insulated so we use those to store heat to the house.” The tiny house in comparison has 3000 litre water tanks. The Chapman’s hope to take the building concepts from the castle into the market to develop more eco-friendly houses. The castle also generates enough electricity to not only power the itself, but three electric cars and supply power to the grid. Other innovations include translucent light panels instead of windows in order to prevent heat escaping the house. “The psychology of that is it looks like you’re looking at a window. You’ve got the light coming through the window, even at night,” Alan said. A musical afternoon with Carl Doy Saturday 9 February, 1.30pm Anthony Wilding Retirement Village You’re invited! Please join us as one of New Zealand’s most successful musicians, Carl Doy (ONZM) enchants us with an afternoon of music. Carl has released 19 albums throughout his career, and most recently completed five series as Musical Director for Dancing with the Stars. This concert programme features a mix of old and new songs, not forgetting of course, a medley of your requests on the day! Tickets cost just $15 for Ryman friends. To purchase your ticket, phone Susie on 338 7696 5 Corbett Crescent, Aidanfield
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday January 31 2019 7 Local News Now Fire rages, homes at risk design tiny house after castle DESIGN: The Chapman Castle is an eco-friendly house. With modern LED technology, panel lights are cheaper than installing windows or skylights. The heat lost through the windows costs more than running LED lights, Dennis said. As both father and son confessed, the tiny house is an experiment. Alan plans to move in to the house once it is completed in March and live there for a year. “The experiments we’re doing here is to prove what’s possible. Maybe it’s not that cost effective at the moment, but it will be in the future,” Dennis said. The roof is made of foam steel, which is commonly used in large commercial buildings like supermarkets, not homes. “It has an advantage, it gives a relatively simple structure to build and gives really good insulation,” Dennis said. “It does have some downsides we’ve found. It costs somewhat more than what we expected and we’re not sure why that was, so we’re dreaming up new methods at the moment.” The house is also movable. After a year of living and learning about the tiny house, Alan says it will be lifted up and moved to another location – likely as a family bach. Alan hopes he can one day sell the technologies used in the tiny house through Darc Technologies. “It’s just ways of making houses that are better insulated, have more exposed thermal mass inside so they regulate their temperature passively a lot better and making them as off grid as possible,” Alan said. Because it is an ongoing experiment, the cost of the tiny house is still not clear, he said. Other than the technological advances, the house is also an artwork. “That represents one of the family friends wanting to make an art piece out of it. He’s built it looking like native bush to portray that it’s low impact for the environment,” Alan said. He says the family has had both positive and negative comments about the looks of the tiny house. “Some people love the idea of having a tiny wee house you can pick up and move in a container truck.” INNOVATIVE: Technologies from the Chapman Castle are being experimented in the tiny house in Tai Tapu. You can have this Paramount Pool installed in your back yard for less than $20,000* Receive a FREE pool cover valued up to $1,200 when ordering a pool package before 28th February. Don’t leave it until it’s too late to get your home’s earthquake repairs checked. An inground swimming pool doesn’t have to cost a fortune! 75 Blenheim Road, Christchurch Freephone: 0800 POOL QUIP Phone: 03 343 3441 Email: paramount.chc@xtra.co.nz Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am-5pm and Saturday 9am-1pm www.paramountpools.co.nz Paramount Pools and Poolquip NZ *Based on actual costs of the pictured pool (6.1m X 3.7m) including Paramount Pool package** ($8,600), installation & landscaping. **All packages come complete with ladder, pump, filter, plumbing and accessories. Sign up with us for a free foundation report. Claims Resolution Service Ltd Ph: 03 377 8855 | 130 Ferry Road, Christchurch E: reception@earthquakeservices.co.nz | W: www.earthquakeservices.co.nz NO WIN NO FEE
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