Visiting The House, a giant NYC Passive House housing complex

There’s so much to see in New York City, including lots of certified Passive House buildings. Here’s another side trip I did during last year’s family holiday. The House is...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2025

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What’s to like in the MBIE H1 consultation document?

After painstakingly researching, consulting on and citing improvements to thermal performance in the NZ Building Code for years, MBIE was directed by its incoming minister to investigate rolling back changes....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Dec 2024

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H1 insulation requirements are not expensive

How much cost does upgraded insulation required under the revised H1 add to a new build? Much less than anecdotal figures bandied about in the media, according to some solid...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2024

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Wellington Passive House meet up

The Wellington chapter of PHINZ is hosting a social event on 3 December at the Southern Cross hotel. No presentations or talks, just a relaxed drink with friends and like-minded...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2024

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The independence of Passive House certifiers

Jessica Eyers was the architectural designer and Passive House designer for this month’s featured case study, a groundbreaking prefab straw home. Jessica ran her own architectural design company from 2012...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2024

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To advance Passive House, stop myth-busting and start reframing

Presentations by Jess Berentson-Shaw from The Workshop were a highlight of this and previous year’s PHINZ conferences. She offers science-based advice on how the Passive House community can most effectively...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Temperature extremes impact personal productivity

This idea that productivity at work is linked to comfortable temperatures has been studied for many years. There’s plenty of data we can draw on to make the case for...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Oct 2024

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Ways to earn continuing education credits

Did you know your PHINZ/APA membership gives you access to leading international educational material from iPHA? And if you watch iPHA’s webinars live or very soon after, you’ll earn Passive...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Oct 2024

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PHINZ conference highlights solutions to NZ winter energy problem

PHINZ’s annual conference has just finished in Wellington—it was a great weekend and a welcome opportunity to catch up with colleagues-friends.  The programme dived deeply into carbon emissions and how...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Roofing detail provides for ventilation and adequate insulation

This detail is a good example of how to have a thin roofline but still sufficient insulation for an R6.6 roof. The advice may vary for a specific project, but...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Highlights from NZGBC Green Property Summit 2024

I attended the NZGBC Green Property Summit this month. Several presentations stood out. The first was by Sam Archer, who spoke immediately before the Minister of Climate Change—Sam sure put...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2024

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Off-grid PV systems are not carbon-friendly

It’s common for Passive House homes to have solar panels on their roofs. Every Passive House Plus or Passive House Premium project has to generate at least as much energy...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2024

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First US EnerPHit hotel is a beauty

What did you do on your family winter break? I took mine to a PHI-certified EnerPHit hotel, the first of its kind in the US.  I really enjoyed our stay....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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New carbon calculator integrates with PHPP

We built The Carbonator, a simple tool calculating building embodied and operational carbon emissions and it is now available so all Passive House designers can use it. Visit sustainableengineering.co.nz/thecarbonator/ for...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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PHI timber thermal bridge catalogue worth downloading

PHI has released an extensive catalogue of 600 timber frame thermal bridge calculations, plus a results file in Excel format that shows the resulting PSI values. The goal was to...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2024

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Essential to manage risks from moisture in CLT buildings

There are some advantages to being laggards in adopting new building products and methods. CLT is more common in Europe and has a longer history of use there. Damage and...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Aggregate heat loss testing (coheating) standard released

Good news: a European Standard for heat load testing has been released. I hope it will lead to more research that measures the performance gap (if any) between the heating...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Wildfires also kill people through fine particulate pollution

This paper on PM2.5 pollution caused by wildfires estimates the number of Americans killed by wildfires—not the fire itself but the fine particulate pollution in the smoky air. It has...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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