ConcernsOverCold-HousingDeaths

2019 September 11 HVAC&R News: Concerns over cold-housing deaths

Cold houses kill people. “Better Renting has released a report that estimates low-quality housing causes approximately 140 cold-related deaths per year in the ACT. The report is titled Unsafe as Houses:...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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2019 September 9 Building Green: People Want a Greener Future but Don’t Know How to Get There

“Perhaps most disappointing for building professionals were responses about the impact of green building on the environment, people, and communities. “Only 11% of respondents associate words like ‘green building’ and...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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2019 August 20 – Passive House Institute: More Passive Houses in Paradise

I was looking for several examples of apartment buildings on the PHI website when I came across this colorful interview of New Zealand’s Passive House champion Thomas van Raamsdonk. When...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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20190619_World'sFirstCertifiedPassiveHouseCarDealership

2019 June 19 New Energy Economy: World’s First Certified Passive House Car Dealership

This building is pretty incredible. Most Passive House buildings can change the form (the external shape) and use less glass to meet the performance standard, but that wasn’t an option...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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21 March 2019 Scoop: Coastal Home for Sale Provides the Best in Energy Efficiency

“A Beachlands house, the first Passive House Plus in New Zealand to be awarded a 10 Homestar built rating, has been put on the market for sale.Built in 2014, the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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27 February 2019 Scoop: New healthy homes standards are just the beginning

We have a lot of homes to fix in NZ and Sustainability Trust is estimating that “100,000 rentals will be exempt from installing insulation due to the cost of accessing...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2019

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20181026_PassiveHouse+SustainableBuilding_PassiveShelteredScheme500yearsInTheMaking

2019 October 26 Passive House + Sustainable Building: Passive Sheltered Scheme 500 Years in the Making

Beautiful English Passive House social housing apartments for the elderly: “18 apartments split into three blocks totalling 1057 sqm treated floor area. The larger block is comprised of 14 one-bedroom...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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2016 August 1 Prefab NZ: Unipod Open Source Bathroom Pod

This is one way to save a considerable fraction of build costs if it is done at scale. Of course, I’d argue for putting those savings into a better building...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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