GreenAbode

Website Contact the business

GreenAbode We build energy-efficient, high-performing, eco-friendly SIP homes (including transportable homes) across the wider Wellington region.

Can you test how a home will perform before it has even been built?To a useful degree, yes.Energy modelling creates a vi...
11/10/2026

Can you test how a home will perform before it has even been built?

To a useful degree, yes.

Energy modelling creates a virtual assessment of a proposed home, using its design and specifications to predict factors such as annual energy use, potential power costs and the heating or cooling that may be required.

It can also help answer practical questions before construction begins:

Could additional shading improve summer comfort?

Is it worth investing more in one efficiency feature over another?

What combination of features is likely to provide the best long-term value?

The real benefit is being able to compare different options while they are still on paper—when changes are much easier and less expensive to make.

Energy modelling can’t promise exactly how a household will use its home, but it replaces assumptions with far more useful information.

Less guesswork. More confident decisions. And a home designed to perform well from the beginning.

Learn more about Green Abode’s energy-modelling service:

https://www.greenabode.co.nz/energy-modelling

Which ecobode design would suit your household?The right choice isn’t necessarily the largest one. It depends on who wil...
05/10/2026

Which ecobode design would suit your household?

The right choice isn’t necessarily the largest one. It depends on who will be living there, how the space will be used and how much flexibility you need.

**eco Studio — 20m²**
A compact option for a home office, creative space, guest suite or private retreat. It could suit someone who needs useful extra space without adding a complete multi-bedroom home.

**eco 1 — 42m²**
With one separate bedroom, this design could suit a single person or couple, independent accommodation for a family member, a holiday retreat or a comfortable guest house.

**eco 2 — 60m²**
The two-bedroom layout offers more flexibility for couples, small families or downsizers. The second bedroom could also be used for guests, hobbies or working from home.

**eco 3 — 85m²**
The largest design in the range provides three bedrooms, making it suitable for families or people who want additional space for visitors, hobbies or a dedicated home office.

Each design has a different footprint, but they all share the same focus: creating a warm, healthy and energy-efficient transportable home using SIP construction.

The best place to start is by asking what you need the home to do—not simply how many square metres you can fit on the site.

Explore the ecobode range:
https://www.greenabode.co.nz/transportablehomes

Could you put a transportable home on your property?Perhaps you’re looking for a warm, independent home for an ageing pa...
27/09/2026

Could you put a transportable home on your property?

Perhaps you’re looking for a warm, independent home for an ageing parent, somewhere for an adult child to live, guest accommodation or a smaller home to downsize into.

If you have space available, an ecobode transportable home could be worth considering—but the size of your backyard is only one part of the picture.

You’ll also need to think about:

• Whether there is a suitable building area
• How the home will reach its final position
• Foundations and site preparation
• Connections to water, power and wastewater
• Building and resource consent requirements
• The complete project cost

Our latest blog walks through the main considerations and explains what information can help us assess whether an ecobode may be suitable for your property.

Read the full guide here:
https://www.greenabode.co.nz/post/transportable-home-on-my-property-nz

No heater.A 10.6°C drop outside.No recorded change inside.On 27 September 2022, the owners of this Greytown SIP home too...
20/09/2026

No heater.

A 10.6°C drop outside.

No recorded change inside.

On 27 September 2022, the owners of this Greytown SIP home took two sets of readings around 11½ hours apart.

At 11:58am:

• Outside: 18.6°C
• Inside: 19.1°C
• Fresh air supplied by the MHRV: 19.6°C

At 11:34pm:

• Outside: 8.0°C
• Inside: 19.1°C
• Fresh air supplied by the MHRV: 18.9°C

The homeowners weren’t using any heating or cooling, and the MHRV system was running continuously.

An MHRV system brings filtered outdoor air into the home while recovering heat from the outgoing indoor air. The supply-air figure shows the temperature of that fresh air as it entered the home.

What stands out isn’t simply that the house was warmer than outside by the evening.

It’s that the indoor monitor recorded no temperature change while the outdoor temperature fell by more than 10°C. Even when it was only 8°C outside, the fresh air entering through the MHRV was recorded at 18.9°C.

This is one day’s manually recorded snapshot, but it illustrates what a well-designed high-performing home is intended to do: slow the effect of outdoor temperature changes and provide a more stable indoor environment.

The SIP building envelope, airtightness, glazing and MHRV all work together to help make that possible.

Planning to build a SIP home?Here are four decisions worth making before your plans are finalised:1. **Fixtures and fitt...
13/09/2026

Planning to build a SIP home?

Here are four decisions worth making before your plans are finalised:

1. **Fixtures and fittings**

Cabinetry, vanities and other items fixed to SIP walls may require support or specific fixing points. Identifying these early allows them to be incorporated into the design.

2. **Lighting**

Think about the position and number of lights before construction begins. Adding or moving lighting later can be more complicated in a SIP home than in a standard timber-framed build.

3. **Ventilation**

The position of the MHRV unit and ducting should form part of the design. If you’re sensitive to noise, you may not want the main unit located close to a bedroom.

4. **Long-lead selections**

Windows, joinery, cladding, flooring and plumbing fixtures can sometimes take months to manufacture or arrive. Choosing early helps avoid delays later.

None of these decisions is especially unusual.

The difference is that with a precision-manufactured SIP home, making them early can prevent unnecessary changes, delays and additional costs during construction.

Read more about preparing for a SIP build:

https://www.greenabode.co.nz/post/building-a-sip-home-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-start

Does building a high-performing home mean spending more?In some areas, yes—but not necessarily in the way many people ex...
06/09/2026

Does building a high-performing home mean spending more?

In some areas, yes—but not necessarily in the way many people expect.

A greater share of the budget may go towards the parts of the home that directly affect its long-term performance, including the building envelope, airtightness, high-performance windows, ventilation and careful early design.

These are also some of the hardest and most expensive things to change once the house has been built.

However, that investment can reduce costs elsewhere. A home that retains heat effectively may require fewer heating units, while faster enclosure with SIPs can reduce the building’s exposure to Wellington’s unpredictable weather. Lower ongoing energy demand can also make a meaningful difference over the life of the home.

High performance isn’t about adding more of everything.

It’s about spending more thoughtfully on the things that will continue to matter for decades.

We explore what really costs more—and what doesn’t—in our this article:

https://www.greenabode.co.nz/post/what-actually-costs-more-in-a-high-performance-home-and-what-doesn-t

If you were building your own home, where would you spend the money and where would you save it?We put a few questions t...
30/08/2026

If you were building your own home, where would you spend the money and where would you save it?

We put a few questions to Green Abode Director Kevin Turley, based on what he’s seen over his years in construction.

His answers were pretty practical.

Have a decent contingency. Spend time getting the planning and pricing right. Prioritise the building envelope, windows, and ventilation over things you can upgrade later. And one thing he definitely wouldn’t do?

“Go hunting for the cheapest price!”

We’ve pulled Kevin’s advice together into five things he’d never do if he were building his own home.

If you’re thinking about building, there are some good points here to consider before you get too far down the track.

Read the full blog: https://www.greenabode.co.nz/post/five-things-never-do-building-your-own-home

One of the biggest misconceptions about high-performance homes is that they're all about reducing power bills.Energy eff...
24/08/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about high-performance homes is that they're all about reducing power bills.

Energy efficiency certainly matters.

But that's only one part of the story.

A truly high-performing home should also be:

✓ Comfortable throughout the seasons.

✓ Free from condensation.

✓ Filled with fresh, filtered air.

✓ Stable in temperature.

✓ Healthy to live in.

These are the things homeowners notice every day.

The monthly power bill is just one piece of a much bigger picture.

At Green Abode, we don't just design homes that use energy wisely.

We design homes that people genuinely enjoy living in.

What's one of the most interesting numbers we've recorded from a completed Green Abode home?During winter in the Wairara...
17/08/2026

What's one of the most interesting numbers we've recorded from a completed Green Abode home?

During winter in the Wairarapa, one of our homeowners recorded:

-0.3°C outside

14.1°C inside

The difference? 14.4°C.

What makes this particularly interesting is that the homeowner confirmed these readings were taken without active heating during winter (and without cooling during summer).

Of course, a single temperature reading doesn't tell the whole story.

That's why we collect performance data over time.

When we reviewed electricity data from one of our completed homes, we found something interesting.Instead of looking at ...
10/08/2026

When we reviewed electricity data from one of our completed homes, we found something interesting.

Instead of looking at the monthly bill, we looked at daily electricity use.

Why?

Because monthly bills can be affected by:

• Electricity price changes

• Different billing periods

• Weather

• Occupancy

• Everyday household habits

Looking at energy used per day gives a much fairer comparison over time.

It reminded us that homes don't exist in laboratory conditions.

Real people live in them.

Life changes.

Weather changes.

Power prices change.

Understanding those factors helps paint a much more accurate picture of how a home performs.

Sometimes the most interesting story isn't the power bill...
..it's the data behind it.

Address

53d Kenepuru Drive
Porirua
5022

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5am
Tuesday 8:30am - 5am
Wednesday 8:30am - 5am
Thursday 8:30am - 5am
Friday 8:30am - 5am

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when GreenAbode posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to GreenAbode:

Shortcuts

Share

Category