The Headwaters Eco Lodge is the world’s first living building, but it’s not run by a large corporation. The project was dreamed up by a husband and wife team, and now it not only takes care of itself, it supports their local Glenorchy community too. 

 

As the first building in the world to meet the extremely strict accreditation criteria outlined by the Living Building Challenge, the lodge is paving the way for what net-positive accommodation design could look like. So… what is a living building?

A living building refers to a structure that creates a net positive impact on the people and places that interact with it. 

The Headwaters Eco Lodge, located just 40 minutes from Queenstown, generates all the power it needs, turns community food scraps into compost, and has been constructed using recycled and reclaimed building materials. 

The lodge saves over 400,000L of water annually by using composting toilets. It creates and distributes power to other businesses from its 589 solar panels, arranged in a mountain-shaped array. The team at the lodge are also piloting a composting service to the local community – collecting green waste using e-bikes, processing it, and donating the results to the local Glenorchy community garden. 

‘The vision behind The Headwaters Eco Lodge was to create a slow tourism destination experience that could support regenerative design’, said co-founder Debbi Brainerd.

On Valentine’s Day 2014, husband and wife team Paul and Debbie started this project, and it’s been a labour of love ever since.

A decade later, a deep love for the environment and community has transformed The Headwaters into a world-leading eco-lodge, whose purpose is to invite visitors to slow down and connect with the land and the locals.

 

 

Want to hear more good news? From the Ground Up is a video series showcasing more locals building regenerative futures in and around Queenstown. Check it out! 

Visit Headwaters Eco lodge

Drop by 42 Oban St, Glenorchy to breathe the same air as the world’s first living building. 

 

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