Dunedin architect Rafe Maclean had previously designed Passive Houses for clients but this build was for his own family. Several family members suffer from asthma and a warm, dry, healthy living environment was a priority. The simplicity of the three bedroom, two-storey home’s form helped to reduce construction complexity while making the home more thermally efficient. Clever design …

Dunedin firm Architype designed and built this home for a couple relocating to Cambridge who wanted a comfortable, energy-efficient house that would meet their needs as they aged. The layout, structure, services and aesthetics of the building tightly work together to create a simple yet extremely high-performance building. The Browne residence was Architype’s first North Island Passive House project; its …

This home stands on a stunning site looking south-west over the dramatic coast line. The challenge the architects solved was to create a building open to those views while also sheltered from the ever-changing weather. A long elevation to the north-west serves to bring maximum sun, light and energy into the whole house. The house is built with timber studs, …

This is a two-storey modern residence in the middle of Christchurch that replaces the family’s home damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. It was Christchurch’s first certified Passive House Plus home, generating power via a 7 kW solar photovoltaic array. The home stands on a waffle pod slab, a very thick and strong foundation that can be used where liquefaction risk …

This striking family home is the first South Island residence to be certified as Passive House Plus; it meets Passive House performance standards plus generates as much energy as it uses over a year. Proving there need not be a trade-off between function and form, its architects were highly commended in the 2018 ADNZ Architectural Design Awards. The house was …

The owners of this large, modern home were well-informed about high-performance homes and knew what they wanted: he was GM of Knauf Insulation and she worked for the Green Building Council! The house spans 245 m2 over two levels in a greenfields development south-east of Auckland and was completed in 2014. It boasts four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living areas, …

  Hohaia House sits unobtrusively among other new homes in a Matamata suburb, a modern, house with brick cladding and a long-run roof. But under the skin, it’s a very different thing to its neighbours. It’s certified as a Low Energy Building by the Passive House Institute, one of the first of its kind in New Zealand. It’s a new …

This striking family home was the first in Australasia to be certified Passive House Plus. Its performance has been monitored and reported on and it also features in the book Positive Energy Homes.The metal-clad south wall faces the road and is devoid of windows, blending in with the rural setting. The other three walls are clad with the Rockcote Insulated …

Jon Iliffe and Baden and Glenda Brown formed eHaus in 2010 and from its base in Whanganui, the firm has been instrumental in establishing the Passive House concept in New Zealand. eHaus is designing houses around the country and to date the firm has licensed 15 partner construction companies who are trained to build them. Ross Brown has headed his …