Several parties in the NZ high-performance building sector have been working on big meaningful changes to the way we build and all of us agree the winning combination is to change the building code. NZGBC is the biggest player in this sector and it is awesome to see their target. “To ensure zero carbon buildings in Aotearoa, the Government must …
This is a significant reduction in trips to the hospital for children. I wish we had an easy way to price this into building standards and made our buildings better at the start. “The Healthy Homes service is anticipated to avert approximately $30 million in health care costs over three years, and the predicted return on investment for funded HHI …
“Most developers will choose to build to minimum standards,” says Palmer. Architect Justin Bere, a Passivhaus specialist who has written a book on the subject, echoes this. “It’s very difficult for an ethical developer to do anything differently in the current climate,” he argues. “They (developers) are buying in competition with people who just want to achieve the absolute minimum …
List of all the current air leakage testers in New Zealand accredited with ATTMA. Air leakage testing very tight buildings (as they all should be build tight and ventilate right is a thing after all) can be tricky and the right training makes it much easier. We recommend for your Passive House blower door test: Air leakage testing is done …
The owner of Mona Vale’s former Stable Master’s Cottage got carried away when he visited Christchurch four years ago – he fell in love with an “as is, where is” house and bought it on a whim. “I bought it in a moment of madness,” he says. “It had moderate damage. It was a double-brick house with no timber framing to …
Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) endorsed an ultra-low energy ‘Passive House’ concept for the new hall late last year. Since then, Council officers have been working to turn this aspiration into a detailed project plan for what may well be one of the first community facilities built and certified to Passive House standard anywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand. Richard Pope …
We’ll be at the conference in Sydney and teaching a workshop beforehand as well. Read more on this link.
Great to see the progress Jessica and Ben are making on their Passive House. Once you have lowered the energy consumption of a home down to Passive House standard the embodied CO2 in the building becomes a reasonable fraction (1/4th is a good estimate) and straw bale and lime/clay plaster is one way to significantly reduce this. Can’t wait to …
“Gareth Hughes, MP, self-funded a fact-finding trip to Exeter to find out about the city’s Passivhaus programme. He was keen to see how it could be replicated back home.” “To date, the City Council has built 67 Passivhaus properties, with more energy-efficient properties in the pipeline. Even the eagerly-awaited St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre will be built to Passivhaus standards, …
