A logical staircase to build PH design skills

Seaward House, a newly certified Passive House on Auckland’s waterfront, is a fantastic example of how architects can build their skills in high-performance design in effective, methodical ways. The architect entrusted with this ambitious project was Marc Lithgow from Space Division. First, he chose to bring in Passive House experts to do the PH design, doubtless learning a whole lot …

Glazing percentage: handy rule of thumb to prevent overheating

Prevent overheating by keeping the window area to 20% of the floor area. That’s a very old passive solar rule-of-thumb from New England (Eastern USA) where I grew up.  So I was interested to discover that Mark Siddall has researched this same metric for homes in the UK and found it holds true there. He details this in a brief …

Kids suffer when schools are poorly designed

Some solid work has been done in Aotearoa New Zealand by very capable architects and Passive House designers to design classrooms to Passive House performance levels. The fact none have yet been built is a sad reflection on prevailing attitudes in the Ministry of Education. Mechanical ventilation for consistent fresh air is getting stripped out at the so-called value engineering …

Retrofitting wall insulation is not risk-free

This article from the BBC discusses claims cavity wall insulation installed as part of a government retrofit scheme has led to homes filled with black mould. The installer has gone into liquidation and the industry body guaranteeing the work is blaming the residents of these 1960s-era blocks of flats. I feel for the folks living in those homes. I have …

All homes need mechanical ventilation

I was happy to see this lovely article on a very high-performance home down in Greymouth but I take issue with the last sentence, which implies that mechanical ventilation is needed because this house is special. Yes, this home requires mechanical ventilation … but so do all homes in New Zealand that have windows you can close. That’s been known …

Better building design improves sleep

Sleep is super important for good health and a good life. We know this but generally overlook how building design choices impact sleep quality.  An ASHRAE Journal article just published cites an Australia study which estimated the overall cost of sleep disorders in 2019 and 2020 to be USD$35.4 billion! “[T]he financial cost component was USD$10.0 billion … comprising health …

Filtering out fine particulates increases life expectancy

Indoor air filtration capable of reducing PM2.5 particles increases life expectancy and experts argue should change standards to require better filtration. In general, the filters in ventilation equipment are primarily designed to protect the equipment and not to make the air better for those who breathe. There are exceptions, such as the F7 filters in the Passive House-level MVHR systems, …

Scotland sets example for new building performance

Commit to the outcome then work out how to get there, argues Andy Marlow, a leading Australian Passive House designer and former APHA board member. In a recent essay on The Fifth Estate, he highlights how the Scots decided all new builds needed to perform to the Passive House standard—before working how what it would cost or how to pay …

Australian homes aren’t warm either

Australia is much warmer than New Zealand but apparently not inside their homes in winter. This new study points out that 80% (!) of the Australian homes measured failed to meet WHO recommendations for minimum indoor temperatures. We know from our own issues here in New Zealand that cold equals mould and poor health.  The problem of cold homes isn’t …