MVHR commissioning in Certified Passive House Buildings (includes PHI Low Energy Building Standard and EnerPHit as well)

In order to certify your building as meeting the exacting Passive House Standard the certification standard “Criteria for the Passive House, EnerPHit and PHI Low Energy Building Standard, version 9f,...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

  • Certification Guidance
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Future climate considerations in Passive House Planning Package (PHPP)

Passive House Institute has released a climate morphing tool for use in examining future climates and building resilience. I’m particularly fond of this approach which simply takes an increased summer...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Oct 2019

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PHPP Version 9.6 has now been tested pursuant to ASHRAE 140

“PHPP Version 9.6 has now been tested pursuant to ASHRAE 140, which qualifies it as an acceptable energy modelling software under a variety of regulatory systems”   This means that...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2019

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2018 December 01 Build Magazine’s Manfred Plagmann: Mould, occupants and house condition

Air control layers are critical to warm healthy homes. Paying for a second brand new roof on a building should not be common to homes or commercial buildings. More ventilation...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jan 2019

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Prevention of fabric and interior furnishings fading from the sun

If you could block 100% of UV light than the fading would be reduced to approximately 1/3rd the amount. As the entire spectrum of light contributes to fading and it...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Dec 2018

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24 July 2001 The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants

Many speakers talk about how much time we spend indoors when they talk about how important indoor air quality is and they seldom take the time and reference source of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2019

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Documentation required for a Certified Passive House

A fairly common question during the certification process is ‘What sort of construction documentation is required for a certified passive house?’ Required documentation for a Certified Passive House (Passivhaus) or...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2021

  • Certification Guidance
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26 October 2018 Passive House Plus Jeff Colley: Study: extreme overheating not reflected in building simulations

Dangerous overheating in buildings may not be showing up in desktop studies, new research suggests.”   “Monitored operative temperatures of up to 47.5C recorded in a highly glazed apartment building...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2018

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26 October 2018 Passive House Plus’ Kate de Selincourt: Performance gap much smaller for passive homes, research finds

This report reviewed detailed test measurements for air tightness and heating loads for passive houses and non-passive houses designed to meet an energy target. From this data the Passive Houses...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Nov 2018

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9 October 2017 AIRAH: Improving the energy efficiency of residential climate control systems

Newly released standard AS/NZS 5141:2018 Residential heating and cooling systems – Minimum applications and requirements for energy efficiency, performance and comfort criteria Specifies requirements for the design, selection, installation, commissioning...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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The Four Control Layers – Fundamentals of Building Science

The Building Enclosure and the Four Control Layers   Understanding of the building enclosure and the four control layers that make up the building enclosure is vital to understanding how...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2021

  • Certification Guidance
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SE Certification Platform Checklist

Sustainable Engineering Ltd. provides client certification resources to help them with their certification process. The attached link to the PDF is a list of all the different entries of the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2021

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Passive House Climate Files for NZ

As of 13 December 2017 there are six additional PHI certified climate files for NZ. These now cover all of NZ including the Chatham Islands. It is important to note...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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WUFI

Hygrothermal modeling with WUFI Sustainable Engineering can perform hygrothermal modeling of your proposed assemblies using WUFI one or two dimensional software. Quick initial reviews of assemblies and more in-depth consulting...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Stress test your design for Overheating

I hate comfort complaints. Not the complaining bit – folks are nice – but I hate the failed expectations of comfort. This past summer I had several calls from clients...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2021

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Glass is rocket science for high performance buildings

During a presentation at the South Pacific Passive House Conference in Christchurch (March 2017). I spoke on lessons learned from New Zealand projects. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Fundamental of Building Science – The Building Enclosure and the Four Control Layers

Understanding of the building enclosure and the four control layers that make up the building enclosure is vital to understanding how the building enclosure will perform Enclosure The building enclosure...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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How to estimate of the R-value of unconditioned spaces

Several Passive House projects undergoing certification have requested a way to estimate the additional R-value of an adjoining unconditioned spaces (such as garage). A good example is a garage which...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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