Powered Living Ltd is owned and directed by Helen Richards who works as a small specialised outfit from the Nelson office. Powered Living is also in association with Duncan Firth of Solarei Ltd (based in Whangarei) and Roger Walker Architects (based in Wellington). Click to see a photo of us. We have a number of selected local contractors available to provide advice on engineering, building, landscaping, lighting and alternative power on request.

Helen Richards qualified as a British Architect in 1999 and in her 23 years of study and practise she has paid particular interest to energy efficiency; a passion to which she has dedicated a lot of her own time. After she settled in New Zealand in 2000 she set up Powered Living Ltd primarily to focus on environmentally smart architecture. The company has worked on a variety of solar design projects and mainly with the patented Powered Living Concept house (see ‘The Designs’ page). The Nelson house is the demonstration for this and for passive solar design. It was completed in March 2004. The house has since proven the theories on solar performance; temperatures rarely sink below 16 degrees in midwinter with no form of back up heating and as a result has generated much publicity (refer to our Publicity page). We are also proud to hold the first ever ‘excellent’ rating under the BRANZ (Building Research Authority NZ) ‘Green Home Scheme’ and we have been finalists in the ‘Year of the Built Environment’ Awards 2006 and the Nelson City Council Environment Awards 2011.

Duncan Firth (Director, Solarei Ltd) holds a bachelor of Architecture from UNITEC and has been studying and practising solar design in both New Zealand and also abroad for 11 years. His projects include the Waikato house designed in collaboration with Powered Living and completed in 2008 which acheived First Place equal for the CCANZ 2010 Residential Concrete Sustainability Awards.

Roger Walker is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. His inspiringly unique architecture is dotted over the Wellington cityscape in his practise over 40 years. He is now exploring the possibilities of employing energy saving principles in his architectural practise.

These environmental homes are the future. They benefit you and the environment. You will be protected from climate extremes and be independent of any energy used for heating and cooling your home (depending on location, and including water - which ranges from $1 to $8 per day depending on time of year). Experience more comfort than any other home you have lived in.

We invite you to arrange a visit the Nelson demonstration house by appointment or to contact us at the Nelson office:   
info@poweredliving.co.nz