World’s biggest Passive House office rises in Boston

Sometimes I take a look to see what’s going on in Massachusetts, just for old times sake. And look at this: the Winthrop Center is a Boston high-rise that will...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Remove regulators’ liability and we might see more innovation in the building sector

Writing for The Spinoff recently, NZGBC head Andrew Eagles takes to task the Commerce Commission’s findings into competition in the residential building supplies market. “Not only does our industry suffer...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Sep 2022

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Make comfort a goal of any renovation

“Yeah, our old housing stock is terrible, but modern homes are all good.” It’s disheartening how often I hear this, about newly built homes constructed to only just meet the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Sep 2022

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(Thermally) break that steel

Graeme Jacobs is the Director at Jacobs & Munro Architects Limited and he recently posted about an elegant solution his firm sourced in order to create a thermal break in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Sep 2022

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New option for PH design training launching

New Zealand needs more Passive Houses—and other buildings heading in that high-performance direction. That requires more confident and skilled Passive House designers. Sustainable Engineering is launching a totally new training...

by Rachel Rose

Updated: Mar 2026

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Retrofits for energy efficiency must accelerate to meet zero carbon deadline

Imagine: being able to model an entire city’s energy use—or the whole country!—just like you can a single building in PHPP. This is what districtPH does. Bland name for an...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2022

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Sea level rise mapping

When we design and construct buildings to perform better—that is, to use much less energy—they become better quality and more durable. If you are building for the long term, think...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2022

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Energy-efficient homes sell for more in Aus

“Australia’s energy-efficient houses are commanding premium prices, with buyers spending 17 per cent more to get into a sustainable home.” That’s the Sydney Morning Herald leading its article with a...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2022

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Top 10 Climate Risks

New Zealand’s first national adaptation plan is out for discussion. I have to say it reads like a plan to have a plan. Now the real work begins: what we...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2022

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A compelling case for component-based housing solutions

Adam Cohen has a bold and creative vision: carbon-negative, decentralised building systems that will take Passive House performance to provincial New Zealand. He outlines it eloquently in this opinion piece...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Fletcher Living’s Low Carbon homes featured

Fletcher Living’s Low Carbon House featured in an excellent article by Nikki Mandow on Newsroom last month. Sustainable Engineering’s been involved from the beginning and it’s been awesome to bring...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2022

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Heavy health cost of NZ’s love affair with cars

It’s not just the climate that pays when fossil fuel is burned to transport people and goods. An update to the HAPINZ study on air pollution has, for the first...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2022

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More options in SEL window specs database

More window manufacturers and suppliers have supplied data to populate Sustainable Engineering’s window specifications database. Passive House designers can now find specs for timber windows manufactured here in New Zealand...

by Toby Brooke

Updated: Mar 2026

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Insulation is not magic

The results of a survey on the state of New Zealand housing are getting plenty of media coverage at the moment, given the grim findings about the scale of the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Bundle heating costs with rent?

Fuel poverty is no joke. Society is only as strong as its most vulnerable members. If the cost of keeping everyone’s house warm—not an allowance measured in dollars but by...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2022

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Fletcher Living gets serious about low carbon homes

Great to see Fletcher Living’s announcement about its Low Carbon initiative. The Sustainable Engineering team has really enjoyed working with Fletcher Living’s people on their vision for low carbon homes...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2022

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Historical insulation levels in NZ

Against the backdrop of all the recent noise about increasing Building Code minimum R-values, let’s look back at how the minimum standard (or typical values) have changed over time. This...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Optimal indoor CO2 levels: is 1000ppm too high?

We need to talk about ventilation. Urgently. Specifically, policy-makers and industry need to arrive at an agreed definition of sufficiently ventilated when it comes to the indoor spaces where New...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2022

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