Passive House in the spotlight

Josefine Watterson’s Featherston home has just received certification but already it is doubtless the nation’s best known Passive House home, thanks to being featured on Grand Designs. Josefine is the...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Jan 2023

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Jessica Eyers moving to Sustainable Engineering Ltd

Jessica Eyers is joining Sustainable Engineering Ltd in 2023. Jessica needs little introduction to New Zealand’s Passive House community as she has been a certified Passive House designer for nearly...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Dec 2022

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Q&A on Passive House on Today FM podcast

Sustainable Engineering principal Jason Quinn featured in a long segment on the Design & Build Show. The interviewers did a good job of raising lots of the misconceptions that linger...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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New PH design process course is humming along

The first cohort of students in the Practical Passive House design process course are more than halfway through. Everyone in the group of 16 recently completed their first big assignment,...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Nov 2022

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No Passive House aquatic centre for NZ: yet

Australasian Leisure Management magazine has published a great article on Passive House aquatic facilities by Alex Head from Architecture HDT Christchurch and Sustainable Engineering’s Jason Quinn. As Alex explains, “aquatic...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Oct 2022

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NZ’s first EnerPHit wins architecture awards

Congratulations to Terry Bryers and the construction team for winning a fistful of awards: the Auckland/Northland/Coromandel Supreme Renovation of the Year award, the Renovation Over $1.5 million category, and a...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Oct 2022

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Coromandel Passive House: small, off-grid and tracking for Premium designation

The North Island is finally on track to have its first Passive House Premium home. Steven Hughes’ small but perfectly formed house in the Coromandel Peninsula has passed pre-construction review....

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Sep 2022

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New option for PH design training launching

New Zealand needs more Passive Houses—and other buildings heading in that high-performance direction. That requires more confident and skilled Passive House designers. Sustainable Engineering is launching a totally new training...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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What does NZ’s first deep retrofit teach us?

New Zealand’s first certified EnerPHit project began back in 2019. A very expensive and complex undertaking, it’s taken three years to complete. Sustainable Engineering’s Jason Quinn got involved not as...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Jul 2022

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Free thermal bridge modelling training

If you’re working on Homestar V5 projects, this free webinar is for you. (It’s also ideal for all those newly qualified Passive House designers!) Sustainable Engineering’s Jason Quinn is teaching...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Feb 2022

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New thermal performance data for NZ timber window profiles

Consulting with building component manufacturers to help them make good products even better is a favourite activity for the Sustainable Engineering team. Lunds Joinery, a highly-regarded family-owned company in Timaru,...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Dec 2021

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Airtightness results in NZ PH builds keep improving

The Leith Valley Passive House in Dunedin is New Zealand’s newest certified Passive House Plus home and can boast of an extraordinary blower door test result: 0.17 air changes per...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Nov 2021

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Westpac get behind Raglan PH build

An in-depth Passive House case study … from a major bank? Good to see Westpac recognising the value of Passive House certification and providing finance for this Raglan project.  This...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Nov 2021

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More Passive House certifiers in NZ

Jason Quinn of Sustainable Engineering Ltd has been New Zealand’s sole Passive House certifier for five years but he’s no longer alone in the job. Toby Brooke and Sara Wareing...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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A builder’s perspective on warm, dry, energy-efficient homes

Last year, a builder in the South Island called up Jason Quinn, Sustainable Engineering’s founding director, and asked to interview him. Much later, a story showed up on Achipro. It...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Jan 2021

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It’s not rocket science: actually it’s harder

This great profile of Sustainable Engineering’s founding director delivers a nice intro to Passive House—while also telling the story of how a campervan trip around New Zealand saw a NASA...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Nov 2020

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Cheaper. Better. Just do it.

Sydney’s first PH built for less than an equivalent Code house A fantastic report on the cost premium for building a Passive House has been released by Sydney architect Andy...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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Heat pumps a great choice for high-performance homes

Heat pumps are suitable for every climate zone in New Zealand, even the coldest, and they are the most efficient source of heating and cooling. Don’t buy crappy ones. New...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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