House Profile

The new purpose-built office for long-established Blenheim builders, Fairfield Construction, is a certified PHI Low Energy Building. It’s the first commercial building in the South Island to gain a PHI certification. Work had begun before a decision was made to aim for Passive House performance and the concrete slab was already poured when Sustainable Engineering began the initial design work. …

This successfully certified Passive House project in the top of the South is a SIP construction on an insulated concrete slab with locally manufactured high-performance windows. Informed clients led the push for energy efficiency, in part thanks to encouragement from a son in the construction trade. It was the architect’s first Passive House project, with Passive House design delivered by …

            Sydney architect Kylie Mills did her Passive House designer training in 2015 and she’s been moving her practice toward more sustainable projects for years. A determined and highly engaged client building in Ballina on NSW’s northern coast provided the opportunity for Kylie’s first Passive House project; and what a beauty it is.  The site …

   House Profile Read more about this project in this feature by Stuff.  

Architectural Designer Glenn Murdoch was in the very first cohort to train as a Passive House designer in New Zealand and his practice is now entirely focused on high-performance buildings. He says all his clients now walk in the door with some degree of awareness of the Passive House standard. Woodlau Rise’s owner was no exception and Passive House certification …

This Canterbury home is a terrific example of what happens when a client—and their architect—are brave enough to consider alternatives to standard floor plans and instead aim for a home that fits them like a glove. This beautiful home on an end section looks out over the river. It is very much a house of two halves, with the principal …

New Zealand’s newest Passive House Plus is home to a couple—and their two electric cars. Their latest monthly power bill was about $50, of which fully $30 was line and other fixed charges. And that’s in Dunedin, still chilly in October! It will be equally as comfortable and still miserly on energy even during heatwaves in summer. External blinds will …

The owners of this large landholding on the western shores of Lake Wanaka have an ambition to build a luxury lodge, as previewed in Jason Quinn’s book on Passive House in New Zealand. Meanwhile they have built a striking three-bedroom Passive House home—no small achievement given the highly demanding constraints on building in this designated significant natural landscape zone. The …