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Dealing with winter illness

You may have heard people complaining about their families being sick for extended periods over winter. You may have experienced an un-shakeable cold yourself. Often the reason people stay sick is the condition of their home. In NZ we have damp, cold, mouldy, draughty homes that cost too much to heat. We also have some of the worst rates of:

• asthma (4th highest hospital admissions in OECD), 
• respiratory illness (1 in 6 people affected, 3rd most common cause of death), 
• rheumatic fever (almost irradiated in other OECD countries). 
• 1600 more kiwis die in the coldest Winter months than at other times of the year. This does not happen overseas, even in colder climates!

But what can we do about it? Sustain & Enable is an Environmental Consultancy specialising in Affordable, Sustainable, Healthy Housing solutions. We are happy to work with any business, group, or household wishing to make healthy and sustainable choices and there aren’t many people in NZ that do what we do. There are companies out there that provide limited free advice, usually about a limited product range that they sell, but rarely do organisations look at the whole property as an integrated system and how the parts work together to provide a healthy environment for the people who live there. That's where Sustain & Enable come in: we provide impartial advice and referrals to ethical products or companies and we have no hidden sales incentives. The approach we take is based on experience, research, science and best practice, and recommendations are tailored specifically to each property we assess.

Range of Services

Landlords and Property Managers: 

• Insulation Statements and compliance checks for existing and upcoming legislation,
• Rental Warrant of Fitness and tailored advice, 
• Tenant education. Healthier tenants who know how to manage home moisture content and temperature are more likely to stay longer, look after the property, and pay rent on time.

Households:

• Healthy home audits and tailored report
• Impartial advice on products (eg: heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture control)

New Builds, Developers and Building industry:

• Design advice and consulting
• Product recommendations
• Homestar

Investors

• Project Management and consulting services
• Healthy, durable, energy efficient, high-performing homes provide a greater Return on Investment and Social/ Environmental Return on Investment. 

Contact us today if you are:

• sick of the family being sick in winter
• sick of the cold, damp or mould in your home
• unsure whether to invest in a ventilation system, insulation, log burner, or heat pump
• a Landlord wanting to make sure your properties comply with new and upcoming legislation including Residential Tenancies Act, Rental Warrant of Fitness, etc.
• a Business interested in making sustainable choices or tapping into a market of conscious consumers.
• about to build a house and want it to be healthy, sustainable, accessible, dry, warm, and inexpensive to heat
• want to improve outcomes for local families and communities.