Welcome media attention on improving NZ homes

Stuff ran an impressively long and well-researched story on Passive House and the need for net-zero buildings this week; it’s well worth a read in its entirety and a plug on...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Choose gas for cooking? Please don’t.

I recommend against combustion devices in homes—all of them. Using gas to cook is particularly bad, with health impacts related to the indoor air pollution it causes. (American think tank...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Calculating embodied carbon: live presentation at the NAPHA virtual conference

The North American Passive House Network is hosting a virtual conference next month. The tickets are cheaper and you save all those carbon emissions by not flying. Hopefully, you bought...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Owl Woods PH nails a design-stage retrofit for performance

Check out a beautiful project from across the Tasman, the Owl Woods Passive House. It’s the 10th certified Passive House in Victoria, Australia and it’s won or still a finalist...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Great Passive House primer (includes eye candy and clear diagrams!)

This is a lovely summary of Passive House, written up as a Q&A with an American architect. There’s mention of an intriguing North American connection to the genesis of Passive...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Homeschooling resources (for adults and kids)

At-home learning seems set to continue for a while; for those raising the next generation of building geeks/scientists/informed homeowners, here are some resources that might be useful, compiled by the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Social housing can be this good

Exeter, in England’s south-west, is blazing a trail for Passive House social housing. Its Chester Long Court, 26 high-quality, affordable homes built to the Passive House standard, has won design...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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How much more for PH performance? Very little, says UK

This extensive cost study of Passive House projects in the UK shows that for projects that make good choices, the capital cost premium is down to eight per cent. At...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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New England delivers PH social housing

Here’s an excellent discussion of the overall benefits to the tenants of this social housing project for low-income tenants in a high-cost area. It’s a six-story building with 98 units...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Prefab CLT slashes construction time

This big-budget, single family residence in posh North Vancouver, Canada, benefited from use of 4.5 inch prefabricated cross-laminated timbers (CLT). The structure was erected in a few weeks rather than...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Passive House homes hitting headlines in Australia

One of the last projects by a lifetime builder is a certified Passive House he built for himself and his wife, in Bright, Australia. Energy costs currently amount to about...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Radical rethink required for school buildings

Replacing eight schools’ coal-fired boilers with ones that run on biomass, as reported earlier this year, is a good move but it wouldn’t be necessary if our schools weren’t built...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Lockdown Passive House style: it’s warm and quiet and the air is fresh in here

As we near the end of Level 4 lockdown, we asked some Passive House owners around the country about their experience at home these past weeks.  It’s hardly a spoiler...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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Learning from the Canucks: remove barriers, add incentives, invest in training

“The City understood that more Passive House projects would be needed to serve as the icebreakers, making way for all buildings to move toward high-performance outcomes.” Vancouver is heading to...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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CLT passive house apartments blaze near-zero carbon path

I’m pleased to see a five-story Passive House apartment building planned for Boston, built from cross-laminated timber (CLT). In my opinion, the best way to reduce the embodied energy or...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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The future of Kiwi architecture is more Certified Passive House

Article by Colleen Hawkes for Stuff What will define Kiwi architecture in the 2020s? ” And what does the future hold? In a nutshell, we can expect to see more...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2020

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Fixing problem buildings needs structural change

Like always, Otago University’s Public Health Summer School this month was galvanising. Creating better housing in order to produce a triple benefit—improved energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions and better health—was...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Leaking, mouldy classrooms are just the symptom

Mould can make kids sick, that’s the key takeaway here. It gets worse the more mould there is and the more time they are exposed to it. Kids are required...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2020

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