Mould behind the fibreglass
I’m often asked to look at insulating external wall assemblies where the design team sometimes the construction team wants to strap and line the inside of a concrete or tilt-slab...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jul 2026
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Half of Kiwi homes still aren’t warm enough
I often hear from designers and builders that New Zealand homes are plenty warm these days. That is factually not true and I think they are saying it out of...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jul 2026
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Highlights from the 2026 Thrive Australian Passivhaus Conference
The THRIVE 2026 Australian Passivhaus Conference in Melbourne last week was great here are my highlights. Well worth nipping across the ditch for two days. I’d set up (and Clare...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jul 2026
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Building the Future: A Vision for Homes That Meet Our Real Needs
Imagine a New Zealand where every home is a sanctuary. A place you can rely on to keep your loved ones healthy, safe, and comfortable, no matter the weather. Imagine...
by Jessica Eyers
Updated: Jun 2026
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Reframing Passive House as decent housing
I’m currently deep in the weeds writing my latest book, Deep Energy Retrofit Handbook for New Zealand, and I keep finding myself re-reading a brilliant document released in April 2024:...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jun 2026
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Parka Wrap wins a 2026 PHI Component Award for window retrofits
Good news: Parka Wrap has just picked up a 2026 Passive House Institute Component Award for their Optimised Window Retrofit Solution. Awesome to see an EnerPHit retrofit solution recognized from...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jun 2026
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High Performance Renovations: My latest chat on the ProClima podcast EP38
I recently sat down with Simon Cator on the ProClima podcast to talk about how we can realistically scale up deep energy retrofits across New Zealand. Heaps to do to...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jun 2026
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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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