How to talk to clients about Passive House: lessons from mainstream media

It is awesome to see such an in-depth article in a non-construction industry magazine like Australian House & Garden. The technical geek in me is sad they conflated total energy...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2026

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Catching up at THRIVE in Melbourne and PHINZ in Auckland

Let’s catch up this conference season. I’ll be heading to the Passivhaus THRIVE conference in Melbourne (June 25-26) and the PHINZ conference in Auckland (July 30-31), and I’m especially keen...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2026

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Wrapping up our first Passive House Retrofit Expert class

I am incredibly proud of the folks in the photo below: the graduates of our very first Passive House Retrofit Expert class. We had a brilliant, mixed cohort of tradespersons,...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2026

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Estimating energy-efficient HVAC system costs for New Zealand homes

I’m often asked what an energy-efficient, low-emissions HVAC system actually costs to install here in New Zealand. The short answer is: we don’t have enough local data. But looking at...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2026

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Managing moisture in mass timber: Please don’t leave it in the rain

Mass timber buildings are popping up everywhere in New Zealand and Australia, and for good reason. Substituting concrete and steel with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) saves on embodied carbon and offers...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2026

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Live online Passive House tradesperson training starts mid-April

High-performance construction demands precision. To get you up to speed with the building science that makes it work, our second online Certified Passive House Tradesperson course kicks off in mid-April....

by ike saniel

Updated: Apr 2026

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Selling solar and Passive House: Framing matters more than the math

A new New Zealand study shows solar panels add a mere 1.3% premium to a house’s sale price, and real estate agents completely ignore the “green” benefits to sell them...

by ike saniel

Updated: Mar 2026

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Test drive your home’s energy performance with a Performance Snapshot

You wouldn’t buy a new car without taking it for a test drive. Yet, people regularly spend millions of dollars on new builds or major retrofits based purely on gut...

by ike saniel

Updated: Mar 2026

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How long do our houses actually last? The 90-year reality

Retrofitting for performance only makes sense financially, at least when you’re already renewing a building element. Ripping off perfectly good cladding to add insulation is a tough sell, but doing...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Ventilate right: ignoring this endangers health

Is Passive House still relevant now that heat pumps are efficient and the grid is decarbonising? Nick Grant tackles this in a recent post, and while the energy arguments are...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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EnerPHit vs the ‘lite’ alternatives

I’ve been deep in the weeds working on the Deep Energy Retrofit Guide for New Zealand, and naturally, that means looking overseas for data we simply don’t have here yet....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Feb 2026

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Short stays in Passive House homes in Aotearoa New Zealand

I’ve been describing the features and benefits of Passive House buildings for years but even my best words can’t convey as much as directly experiencing it with all your senses....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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What is “drier”? Relative versus absolute humidity in Auckland

I’ve just finished reading a new paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand by Rochelle Ade, Mike Rehm, and Vishnupriya: “What is drier? Understanding humidity in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Burning stuff indoors is a $12 billion health bill

In our Passive House design and certification work, we often push clients to ditch gas hobs and wood stoves. Usually, we talk about airtightness, energy efficiency, and the fact that...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Building science déjà vu: why we keep rotting our homes

In old homes we had (and have still in those not retrofitted) lots of energy flowing through the building elements: walls roofs and floors. This was due to lack of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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A masterclass in detail: visiting a Japanese Certified Passive House

One of the best perks of working in this community is the people you meet. I first bumped into Miwa Mori at our very first PHINZ conference back in 2015....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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98% failure rate: The UK’s retrofit warning

A new report from the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) dropped recently,  and the numbers are frankly terrifying. “Under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, 98% of homes retrofitted with external...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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Sharing the Sun: Why high performance is essential for a fair grid

I was super thrilled when Philippa Howden-Chapman invited me to contribute to a new book, Sharing the Sun: Empowering small-scale renewable generation in Aotearoa. Edited by Helen Viggers, Keriata Stuart, and...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2026

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