Photos: © 2025 Sustainable Engineering
Ara Institute of Canterbury, a leading provider of construction training in the region, was the location for Sustainable Engineering’s last in-person certified Passive House tradesperson course. It was a great venue and we were very happy to have two Ara tutors in the course.
Ara’s people liked what they saw, valuing the blend of practical and theoretical education offered by Sustainable Engineering’s take on the PHI course taught around the world. Here’s a blog post that goes into detail about their perspective on certified Passive House tradesperson training and what it means for the industry courses they teach. It’s great to read about the ways that knowledge of the Passive House standard is being integrated into more advanced classes and we hope that it will become a more formal part of the curriculum for carpentry training also.
“It was great to be part of the course; not just for my professional development, but to see firsthand how we can embed this knowledge into our teaching,” said Alesh Novotny, construction tutor at Ara. “The course highlighted the importance of building science in practical construction.”
“Alesh’s involvement was more than professional development – it’s a signal of where we’re heading,” says Robert de Roo, Head of Department – Engineering and Architectural Studies. “We’re committed to preparing our learners for a future where warm, dry, energy-efficient homes are the minimum expectation.”
“I am passionate about Passive House, construction and teaching,” Novotny added. “It’s my privilege to pass this knowledge to our next generation of construction professionals. One day, I hope to build a Passive House myself.”
NB By way of clarifying a quote contained in Ara’s post, Passive House buildings do need some small amount of heating input. Passive House is amazing but it’s not magic! See Sara Wareing’s post on this topic: Even Passive House buildings still need heating.