And this year it is virtual. OK, it’s not the same as getting our grubby fingers on everything but there are significant benefits to seeing inside Passive Houses around the world from the comfort of our living room. Good work on getting a range of videos shot in time; the quality (particularly sound) varies but all of them provide insights, …
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 your social media feed. Good to see the Dunedin co-housing build steadily progressing; wouldn’t it be great if all new homeowners could enjoy living somewhere that functioned as well as …
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 RMI calls it a hidden health crisis). If a client specifies a gas hob, first I attempt to talk them out of it. After all, top chefs as Neil Perry, …
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 your Earlybird ticket already. Sustainable Engineering Director, Jason Quinn is part of the panel discussing “What’s Your Building’s Carbon Debt? You should know.” He and we got lucky, the session …
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 for a host of design and sustainability awards. Check out photos here; there are even a few construction photos, which are always my favourites. The Passive House Database entry will satisfy …
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 House which you may not be aware of, some appealing images of various Passive Houses (I’m loving the Brussels home) plus some excellent diagrams illustrating the five basic principles. All …
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 UK Passivhaus Trust: “Shout-out to all the parents and guardians entertaining and expanding pupils’ minds at home. Many within the construction industry and science sectors are rising to the challenge …
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 awards (along with, I expect, abiding appreciation from those who live in them). The Council’s goal was to create apartments for their over-60s social housing tenants. By downsizing, larger Council homes …
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 scale, that premium is projected to drop to four per cent: “The [Passive House] standard in the UK can be achieved now for a modest extra-over cost and this is …