Day 28: The Geyser

Today began earlier than some, as Anoop wanted us to leave at 8:00am to go to Unitech, a University here in Auckland that has a construction and architecture program. I woke up at 7:45am, late, sick, and a fever short of staying at the hotel for the day. I quickly ironed some pants and a nice button down shirt (Reel, Jay, and I have a meeting with an architect after Unitech...), and ran downstairs to catch up with the group. (They were already halfway to the bus stop.)

I felt quite miserable, so I tried to stay away from everyone and walk at the back of the group. After an awful bus ride (for me at least) and a long walk (equally as awful and even more exhausting) we made it to Unitech. Tony van Raat was our contact and he ushered us all into an old chapel that had plenty of tables and chairs for everyone. Tony was an architect and used some interesting phrases to describe things. In my state of grogginess I only managed to write down one of his phrases. (I think it is in regards to the government.) "They're either phenomenally stupid or they've got some scheme worked up. Both actually." I found it incredibly hard to concentrate with my sinuses under pressure and constantly having the need to blow my nose, but I did manage to catch the drift of most of the conversation. Tony brought in several folks - Neil, David, Ian Henderson, and Mark - all of whom have significant experience in the construction industry and/or architecture. Each person provided a slightly different perspective on things, but Mark (the only American) seemed to be the most practical. He is originally from Arizona and talked about design principles, like thermal mass, that most folks ignore completely and so they end up with an inefficient building with a massive A/C unit that runs constantly and costs a ton of money to operate. Here are some other things we learned from the folks at Unitech:

• 70% of the buildings in New Zealand have water infiltration issues
• Buildings don't breathe, they are ventilated
• NZ constructors compare themselves to each other and generally do not take an international perspective
• NZ builds cheaply (even high-rise timber) which leads to high maintenance/high operating costs
• Buildings are built by big development companies (cheaply) and the high operating costs are transferred to the tenant owners.
• Part of the reason Christchurch is experiencing prolonged suffering is due to international insurance companies requiring the area to be earthquake-free for 90 days straight before they will pay. Aftershocks continue to occur, so this is almost unreasonable. Since the companies are not local, they don't hold any stake in the well being of Christchurch and so the immediate action and money Christchurch needs to rebuild is not available. As a result, thousands of Christchurch natives are leaving the disaster prone area for good.

Overall the morning went well, but I wish I could have been in a better physical condition so I could have enjoyed it more. We finished around 10:45am and caught a taxi to the downtown area for lunch. Several folks went to a sushi place, but I headed in search of a pharmacy to get some medicine. Thankfully I found one quickly and after looking over the medicines, selected one that seemed to cure just about any symptom of the common cold. I ran by Subway and picked up a sandwich to eat with the medicine and met up with Reel and Jay to go to our meeting with Pattersons Architecture.

We walked over to Parnell, Auckland and made it to Pattersons' office to meet with Grant. Grant was the architect of The Geyser - the only 6 Star building in Auckland. (The building was actually on the same street as Grant's office!) Grant sat us down and provided us with some basic drawings of the building. He used the drawings to describe some of the various sustainable features of the building. Overall, the building did not seem to be as innovative as the 6 Star buildings in Australia, though the way The Geyser is "air conditioned" is quite unique. The entire building is actually a set of smaller buildings that each have a "twin" glass facade. The gap between the facades is about 8 inches and serves as a double glazing, but also allows for a flow of air from the bottom to the top when louvers are opened at either end. The glass facade on the inside of each office can then be moved a few inches to open up space and the moving air between the facades flows freely into the office space. (There are panels that open and close every 3 feet or so.) Here's a look at some pictures taken at the site:

The Geyser Construction Site

Rainwater Recapture tank

Grant showing us the duct that can be used for a future air conditioning system

Interior Office Space - nearing completion

Overall the tour was excellent and will help each of us with our thesis research. We thanked Grant for his time and knowledge and parted ways. The three of us climbed into a taxi and went back to the hotel, which was about the best news I had heard all day. Around 3:00pm I climbed into bed and fell asleep.

I woke up about 5:45pm to find Reel heading out with some folks for dinner, but I decided to stay inside and get some blogging done. I worked for several hours on the computer and about 9:45pm I made a dinner run to McDonald's (The only thing open for food...) After dinner I came back to the hotel and finished up one last blog post before crawling in bed for the night. I really hope today is the worst of being sick. I definitely don't want to have to stay behind and miss out on any adventures!