This is a place with a ‘triple bottom line’ philosophy: an award-winning and continually measured commitment to the environment that sees it generate more energy than it uses; design a circular waste management system that feeds into three wetlands; restore the land with native tree and plant species and it benefits its residents and local businesses with all its profits fed back into the Glenorchy Community Trust.
The Headwaters Eco Lodge
It was built by American philanthropists Paul and Debbi Brainerd, who, after holidaying in the area, simply wanted to create something that people could share and enjoy and find inspiration ‘far from the madding crowd’.
“We have been around people that are really focused on what isn't working in the world. And you can focus on that or you can try to change it right? Paul and I thought how do you create a model of what is possible - and that's what we tried to do here. We wanted to be a force for good,” says founder Debbi Brainerd.
The large sliding door in the lounge by New Zealand artist Andrew Missen, made from the wreckage of cars.
Now rebranded as The Headwaters Eco-Lodge (from Camp Glenorchy), it is the first visitor accommodation facility in the world built to achieve the prestigious ‘Living Building Challenge Petal’ certification for net-positive energy, net-positive water and an approach to beauty and craft that inspires the human spirit. Built from a recycled woolshed and sustainably harvested timber, Debbi’s creative influence is seen in numerous works of art by New Zealand artists that have a clear environmental or regenerative theme.
The more practical features are all state of the art engineered systems. There’s a huge solar garden (one of the South Island’s largest), odourless composting toilets and a water management system that means it uses 50% less water and returns recycled wastewater into a cascading trio of surrounding wetlands. Then there’s what you can’t see, which, Debbi says is where her husband Paul’s highly technical past comes into play. (It was Paul Brainerd who invented Aldus (sold to Adobe) the PageMaker software that coined the term ‘desktop publishing’.) As you’d expect, they have the highest possible internet access and WiFi system, and the buildings, which have net zero energy building certification use sophisticated passive solar heating, cooling and ventilation methods. Everything, including the oxygen quality of the air, is carefully measured and monitored and shared with the world.
Solar Panels and enjoying the outdoors at The Headwaters Eco Lodge
The more practical features are all state-of-the-art engineered systems. There’s a huge solar garden (one of the South Island’s largest), odourless composting toilets and a water management system that means it uses 50% less water and returns recycled wastewater into a cascading trio of surrounding wetlands. Then there’s what you can’t see, which, Debbi says is where her husband Paul’s highly technical past comes into play. (It was Paul Brainerd who invented Aldus (sold to Adobe) the PageMaker software that coined the term ‘desktop publishing’.) As you’d expect, they have the highest possible internet access and WiFi system, and the buildings, which have net zero energy building certification use sophisticated passive solar heating, cooling and ventilation methods. Everything, including the oxygen quality of the air, is carefully measured and monitored and shared with the world.
“This data allows us to continuously fine-tune the buildings to achieve higher performance levels over time and we will continue sharing our building performance data to help us to learn more what works and what isn’t working as expected,” says Paul. “We have architects or builders who come here and they spend like an hour and a half in our ‘engine room’ in the basement looking at it all,” adds Debbi. “I feel like we all have this opportunity to share our ideas of how we could do something better.”
Headwaters Eco-Lodge founder Debbi Brainerd in front of the winterised greenhouse which is built over 3.5 metres into the ground.
The latest addition to the Eco Lodge is a large, raised kitchen garden and winterised greenhouse – believed to be the first of its type in the country. Dug several metres into the ground, the greenhouse retains more consistent heat and even has its own small pellet stove that kicks in to stop the greenhouse from freezing in winter – automatic windows open if it gets too warm. Pete Gawron, The Headwaters Eco Lodge renowned chef, often heads over to forage something each afternoon, that he includes in evening meals. “That fresh taste is so extraordinary,” says Debbi.
And although the lodge composts all its own food waste – The Headwaters larger business is helping locals set up a commercial-grade public composting station, in conjunction with the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Zero Waste Glenorchy - to encourage the community and local businesses to follow suit.
Some of the donated fruit trees with the raised gardens in the background.
Interest in their work is growing. Debbi points out a hundred fruit trees that were planted a couple of weeks ago, donated by a man who sold his orchard. “He came here and he loved this place and he knows we're not for profit, so he said, ‘I want to give you some orchard trees’. What this place has done is attract a lot of people who are curious and want to make some changes, either in their work or in their home. They’re not all major changes, you can take away the simplest of things like I have people come in and they'll say to me, I'm just going to put one of those solar tubes (lights) in my bathroom.”
Inspiring their guests to go home, make a change and spread the word is why they started it all. It’s what keeps them motivated to be even more regenerative, even smarter and learn even more to share from their Eco Lodge - at the end of what the Brainerds call “the most beautiful drive in the whole world”.