New design choices possible in Queenstown and Wellington

Thermal comfort targets have been revised by the Passive House Institute for use in PHPP. Passive House certification requires that windows and doors meet specified thermal comfort targets*. This requirement...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2021

  • Certification Guidance
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  • Technical Notes
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Attend the North American PH conference virtually

The North American Passive House Network annual conference will be a great event—and way cheaper than normal due to being virtual. The bad news is the timing sucks for Australia...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Owl Woods PH nails a design-stage retrofit for performance

Check out a beautiful project from across the Tasman, the Owl Woods Passive House. It’s the 10th certified Passive House in Victoria, Australia and it’s won or still a finalist...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

  • General Notes
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  • Technical Notes
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Great Passive House primer (includes eye candy and clear diagrams!)

This is a lovely summary of Passive House, written up as a Q&A with an American architect. There’s mention of an intriguing North American connection to the genesis of Passive...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Passive House (Passivhaus) Hospitals

Passive House Hospitals can have a 40-50% reduction in total energy use of the building, using efficient technologies already available, when compared to a conventional new hospital building. I’ve been...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Homeschooling resources (for adults and kids)

At-home learning seems set to continue for a while; for those raising the next generation of building geeks/scientists/informed homeowners, here are some resources that might be useful, compiled by the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Social housing can be this good

Exeter, in England’s south-west, is blazing a trail for Passive House social housing. Its Chester Long Court, 26 high-quality, affordable homes built to the Passive House standard, has won design...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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How much more for PH performance? Very little, says UK

This extensive cost study of Passive House projects in the UK shows that for projects that make good choices, the capital cost premium is down to eight per cent. At...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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New England delivers PH social housing

Here’s an excellent discussion of the overall benefits to the tenants of this social housing project for low-income tenants in a high-cost area. It’s a six-story building with 98 units...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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uPVC joinery worth another look

Clients (and their designers) who want high-performance buildings on a limited budget need to consider uPVC windows. Elsewhere, almost every Passive House on a budget will use uPVC joinery, typically...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Airtightness, explained (plus, see blower doors in action)

Check out these helpful instructional videos on airtightness and air leakage testing. Made in Australia, the general observations about lack of awareness of the importance of airtightness apply here too....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Prefab CLT slashes construction time

This big-budget, single family residence in posh North Vancouver, Canada, benefited from use of 4.5 inch prefabricated cross-laminated timbers (CLT). The structure was erected in a few weeks rather than...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Passive House homes hitting headlines in Australia

One of the last projects by a lifetime builder is a certified Passive House he built for himself and his wife, in Bright, Australia. Energy costs currently amount to about...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Radical rethink required for school buildings

Replacing eight schools’ coal-fired boilers with ones that run on biomass, as reported earlier this year, is a good move but it wouldn’t be necessary if our schools weren’t built...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Lockdown Passive House style: it’s warm and quiet and the air is fresh in here

As we near the end of Level 4 lockdown, we asked some Passive House owners around the country about their experience at home these past weeks.  It’s hardly a spoiler...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Learning from the Canucks: remove barriers, add incentives, invest in training

“The City understood that more Passive House projects would be needed to serve as the icebreakers, making way for all buildings to move toward high-performance outcomes.” Vancouver is heading to...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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CLT passive house apartments blaze near-zero carbon path

I’m pleased to see a five-story Passive House apartment building planned for Boston, built from cross-laminated timber (CLT). In my opinion, the best way to reduce the embodied energy or...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

  • Current Events
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The future of Kiwi architecture is more Certified Passive House

Article by Colleen Hawkes for Stuff What will define Kiwi architecture in the 2020s? ” And what does the future hold? In a nutshell, we can expect to see more...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2020

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