What is “drier”? Relative versus absolute humidity in Auckland

I’ve just finished reading a new paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand by Rochelle Ade, Mike Rehm, and Vishnupriya: “What is drier? Understanding humidity in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Burning stuff indoors is a $12 billion health bill

In our Passive House design and certification work, we often push clients to ditch gas hobs and wood stoves. Usually, we talk about airtightness, energy efficiency, and the fact that...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Building science déjà vu: why we keep rotting our homes

In old homes we had (and have still in those not retrofitted) lots of energy flowing through the building elements: walls roofs and floors. This was due to lack of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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A masterclass in detail: visiting a Japanese Certified Passive House

One of the best perks of working in this community is the people you meet. I first bumped into Miwa Mori at our very first PHINZ conference back in 2015....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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98% failure rate: The UK’s retrofit warning

A new report from the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) dropped recently,  and the numbers are frankly terrifying. “Under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, 98% of homes retrofitted with external...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Sharing the Sun: Why high performance is essential for a fair grid

I was super thrilled when Philippa Howden-Chapman invited me to contribute to a new book, Sharing the Sun: Empowering small-scale renewable generation in Aotearoa. Edited by Helen Viggers, Keriata Stuart, and...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Streamlining certification for multi-building projects

If you are working on a project with multiple thermal envelopes—even if they are just separated by breezeways—you need to remember the ground rules. Separate thermal envelopes imply separate PHPPs,...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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High performance airtightness costs no extra carbon

I wanted to point out a recent LinkedIn post by Sally Godber from WARM in the UK. I know Sally from discussions at a few Passive House conferences; she is a straight...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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EVs add to winter energy demand peaks

New research is a sharp reminder that if New Zealand wants a stable, affordable, 100% renewable grid, reducing demand is just as critical as increasing supply. The choices we make—about...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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How much is healthy indoor air worth? This study has an answer

The energy savings offered by building to the Passive House standard are easy to quantify. The comfort and healthiness of these homes is very much felt by those living in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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PHINZ hui 2025: a summary and ideas for next year

What did you enjoy most? Well, talking to mates about Passive House is always my favourite. The Pecha kucha thing though! My expectations were low, I’m not familiar with the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Energy performance certificates for NZ homes

Talk of mandatory energy performance certificates (EPC) for New Zealand homes is always guaranteed to spark a lively debate. I admit to still being a bit on the fence on...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Ara collab spreads Passive House influence

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...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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How to talk to your clients about Passive House

Model’s plans for massive build-to-rent Passive House developments in Melbourne was what set the 2025 Thrive conference in Australia buzzing but there were other presentations that really galvanised my attention. Kieran Leong...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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That’s not Passivhaus, that’s just expensive

Years ago I warned of what I dubbed cargo-cult architecture, where architects throw in a few high-performance components like expensive windows and lots of insulation and expect a high-performance building to magically...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Winthrop Center: world’s largest Passive House office space

I visited a bunch of big American Passive House projects while in the US last year to visit family. Among these was the Winthrop Center in Boston, MA. It’s currently...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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As-built tests for thermal performance of building envelopes

Of course I’m going to love a presentation that included differential equations! Fellow engineers Cameron Munro (Passive Analytics) and Harley Truong (Logikhaus) put their heads together shortly before the conference...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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What I saw at Thrive: a model Model

Everybody was talking about Model and with good reason. Conference organisers gave this property developer and its consultants a lot of time to talk about its concept and the work currently in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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