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28 May 2019 Scoop: Survey finds Kiwis’ backyard dream still alive and well

It is interesting to me that the feature rated most essential is ‘Warm and dry’ which actually was higher rated than ‘Within budget’. A bit sad that folks buying homes...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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21 May 2019 Passive House kitchen extractor hood guide from PHI

For those of us designing Passive House we can all rejoice in the release of the official PHI guidance on kitchen extractor hoods and how to consider the heat losses...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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13 May 2019 News Hub’s Zane Small: NZ 2019 Healthy Homes Standard Signed in law

Monday 13th May 2019 NZ Parliament signed into law the Healthy Homes Standard. This effectively requires bringing the ceiling and underfloor insulation up to current standards, install fixed heating in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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08 May 2019 Voxy; Poor air quality most likely during winter – Environment Southland

“As cold weather starts to bite, it’s also the time of year when people are most at risk from poor air quality. Environment Southland air quality scientist Owen West said...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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ECCA features our book!

ECCA has decided to feature our book on their page on building...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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09 May 2019 Stuff’s Brittany Keogh: Housing in NZ: what’s legal and what’s not? the basic standards every home must meet

What’s the absolute legal minimum in NZ – no worse or legally it’s not a house. For new buildings it is whatever your team can sneak past council under the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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08 May 2019 Science Media Centre Expert Reactions: NZ Zero Carbon – NZ now needs policies making new homes Passive House

The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, designed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to under 1.5C over the next 30 years, was introduced to New Zealand Parliament on...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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PH Window Installs

Window installs watch Florian and Skyler install a Passive House window into a home. Notice the good explanation of the aluminium cut back distance to allow over insulation of the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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03 May 2019 Stuff’s Virginia Fallon: ‘It’s a write-off’: Kāpiti Coast council reveals yet another leaky, mouldy building

These leaky buildings are most often caused by failures in E2 design where rain penetration into the building assemblies (i.e. walls and decks etc) have caused internal mould and sometimes...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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23 April 2019 The Fifth Estate: Monash delivers biggest passive house building

“It’s the first building to combine cross-laminated timber with passive house” (in Australia) “There are five key principles that guide the passive house approach which were used on the project:...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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New Zealand Green Building Council: Net zero carbon buildings

NZGBC announces working with Enviro-Mark Solutions to create a net zero carbon building measurement. This consultation sets out our thoughts on how we intend to include the concept of net zero carbon...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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24 April 2019 Stuff’s Rino Tirikatene: Warmer, drier homes for renters this winter

Warm dry and healthy. I think the general public is starting to grasp that this shouldn’t be an optional feature of homes.   “The aim is to help ensure all...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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Certified Passive House design required for Queenstown Luggate Memorial Hall

Although this media release doesn’t mention it the Queenstown Lakes District Council has been methodically reviewing the costs and benefits of Passive House for some time. After this review and...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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bim2PH – the new connection between BIM and PHPP

One consistent request from folks running Revit and using PHPP is a way to export surfaces from Revit (or any other BIM software that can export an IFC formatted file)...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Okanagan College Daycare

Childcare centres in New Zealand often run up fairly high energy bills; Diverting ongoing budget that would be better spent on staff. This forward thinking building sets the standard for...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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Why don’t owners improve their homes? Results from a survey following a housing warrant‐of‐fitness assessment for health and safety

Paper in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health by Elinor Chisholm Michael Keall Julie Bennett Anaru Marshall Lucy Telfar‐Barnard Louise Thornley Philippa Howden‐Chapman Bottom line – even...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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12 April 2019 Stuff’s Antonia Watson: The cost of cold, damp homes is too high

“Generations of homes have been built that are unsuitable for the New Zealand climate. According to research by the Building Research Association of New Zealand, about half our houses aren’t...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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11 April 2019 Boardroom’s Nikki Mandow: Government told to ‘walk the talk’ on green building standards

“You won’t see buildings as one of the sectors, because we don’t count them that way – yet the Green Building Council estimates buildings make up about 20 percent of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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