From the Founders Desk - Update December 2022

Hello and welcome to my end-of-year update for 2022.

This year has flown by at a great pace, aided by many new and interesting projects with which we have had the privilege of being involved. From Tiny Homes to Social Housing, Formance envelopes are being chosen as a straightforward way of achieving healthy low-energy buildings over traditional methods. This brings us in touch with homeowners, developers, housing providers, designers, and builders across the country, and we’re enjoying interacting with the many teams with whom we work. 

Our partner network continues to grow. This excellent network of like-minded companies can be found across most parts of New Zealand meaning we can provide solid recommendations for designers, builders, and group housing companies who are not only willing and able to build next-level homes but share their client's enthusiasm for their project. 

On the supply front, we’re now well-established in the local manufacturing scene, and the current factory set up in May 2021 seems a long time ago. Many improvements have been made to the way we operate, focusing on Lean Manufacturing principles, including the recent arrival of advanced manufacturing equipment which further boosts our capacity and throughput for supporting bigger projects. The supply of raw materials has settled down after some interesting times earlier in 2022, and our supplier relationships are stronger than ever.

Some highlights from 2022 include joining the Living Building Challenge with our Declare Label, an exercise that saw a test for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Formance SIPs pass the most stringent levels of air quality. The results from our ongoing R&D program continue to expand the application and simplicity of the Formance system.

Look out for the new Formance Design Guide release coming in 2023; something that I’m particularly excited about. The original Design Guide was released in 2017, with a subsequent upgrade including the Formance lintel in 2018,. The new 2023 version promises to unlock some gold nuggets for architects and engineers, particularly around multi-unit residential housing, including walk-ups and terraced housing. 

Speaking of 2023, we’re grateful to be in a strong position with a steadily growing pipeline of work. The pending upgrades to H1 (energy efficiency) in the New Zealand Building Code coming into effect in May 2023 are causing many within the industry to wonder how traditional framed construction will achieve compliance. This is undoubtedly driving our strong level of enquiry as designers go to work figuring out the most efficient way of achieving the higher levels required by the code.

With that, we’ll wrap up the update and the year. I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday and come back refreshed for another great year in 2023. 

All the best, 

Nick Hubbard
Founder

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