ESSAY WARNING: New Zealanders are cold. It was 15 years ago I interviewed a group of population health researchers and professors at @AucklandUni and began to grasp the true broken state and health risks of our poor quality housing infrastructure. We wear multiple layers inside..

meaning our homes are not insulating us or protecting us from the environment. When our bodies are cold, our brains don't function as well and much of our energy goes to maintaining the core. Even one or two degrees can impede our ability to function well.

This morning and all this week, I've been conscious of my cold toes despite the sheepskin slippers and my nose always slightly on the edge of a sniffle - the kind you get when you're out in the elements.

The house I rent is just over 10 years old, which means when it was built - we knew most of what we know now about how to build insulated, warm and healthy homes and the issues that arise when you don't build them. There is one wall-mounted heater in this 2 storey 150sqm house.

So I'm researching winter heating options and once again, seeing solution after solution that will mean consuming vast amounts of energy, even with efficient devices. What I can't get my head around is why New Zealanders are not more insistent on building better.

The solutions available through construction are expensive but the ROI is phenomenal over years when compared to the cost of electricity-consuming heating devices where much of that energy is lost to environment.

People will continue to try and make it a Government issue, a landlord issue, a cost of construction issue - it's all those things, but it's essentially a physical and mental health issue from our homes to our schools, hospitals, offices.