The main website might be a bit slow to load but the apartments are really incredible. These are all Passive House and are targeting certification. The awesome news is you can rent one (well if they are available) the next time you are in Sydney. http://www.thefern.com.au/fact “With its first guests checking-in over the Queens Birthday long weekend, The Fern serviced apartments are …
Good summary of healthy homes via indoor environmental quality — starting with healthy indoor air. “Home is where the heart is. It’s a figurative expression but it’s literal too because it’s actually where your heart is spending a majority of its time,” said one of the report’s lead authors, Joe Allen, who heads the School’s Healthy Buildings program. “The home influences heart health, …
The below guides are from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and summarize and simplify the public health science into simple recommendations with links to peer-reviewed journal articles for building science geeks to dig into the research and technical details. This first one focuses on your home and what you can do. I can quibble about a few …
Great to see Rafe Maclean recognised for this clever certified Passive House which is also his home. Case study and more information on the home here. “This project shows a “difficult hillside site transformed by a simple yet compact layout and economical architecture”.” Content by Stuff. The awards in detail at Architecture Now.
Living in this country has been a shocking experience for me. I’ve discovered that some Kiwis don’t think anything of wearing a winter jacket inside when it’s cold. As a building scientist and Passive House Institute NZ certifier, I’ve seen some pretty horrific examples of homes and buildings, even brand new builds that are not designed to stay dry and …
Does anyone know how to participate in these reviews? Seems like a good way to try and fix the new ‘code compliant’ builds going up that are moulding and not performing well. “BIE and Standards NZ have been working collaboratively to agree on the prioritisation of Standards to be reviewed in the year July 2019 to June 2020. Priority has …
“The Government’s existing home insulation programme and the new healthy homes standards have been warmly welcomed, but they’re not enough. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealand owner occupied homes will remain cold and damp because they will never be reached by these schemes.” “If all New Zealand homes were warm, dry, and energy efficient, New Zealanders would save hundreds of …
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 have almost no tools to know if will actually be warm and dry. “The survey found most Kiwis prioritise safety and security over luxury features when it comes to choosing …
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 in their use. To my knowledge there is reason to believe that a good recirculating hood can be better than a poorly performing extractor hood in removing fine particles. I’m …
