If you design building assemblies you need to make the time to read this new publication. Thermal bypass—the air movement through and around insulation—has a very big impact on building performance. In the High-Performance Construction Details Handbook, I noted that thermal bypass can reduce the thermal performance of wall assemblies by 30% or more. The Passivhaus Trust in the UK …
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 exciting tool that enables extremely significant outcomes. The model shows how global changes to the building stock impact energy usage and thus carbon emissions over long time spans. It’s been …
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 is a question I am asked regularly. The methodology varies a bit over time, but this excellent article authored by Nigel Isaacs while he was at BRANZ is the best …
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 Zealanders live, work, learn, play and train. CO2 levels are a useful measure of indoor air quality. ASHRAE’s* journal just published a summary article by Stumm et al, which takes …
Live counter of NZ’s Passive House projects
We’re very frequently asked, ‘How many Passive Houses are there in New Zealand?’ Well, as of 1625 hours, 11 July 2022, there are: That number is changing rather quickly now and it’s hard even for us to keep up. So, predictably, we designed a little techie fix: now there’s a live counter you can refer to 24/7. It breaks down …
Sweden is on track
Did you know there is a country that has adopted Passive House performance levels in timber framed buildings, sorted the MVHR issues and has quite innovative framing practices we should examine? Check out Swedish platform framing: there is lots for us all to learn. US architect Gregory La Vardera has this to say (emphasis mine): “Balloon Framing revolutionized house building …
Local design and manufacture focused on zero energy building
FMI is a family-owned designer and manufacturer of building components including joinery, glass, facades and cladding, marketed under brands like Eurowood, Nextra, Vetro Raccordi and Fairview. The Sustainable Engineering team has been consulting on FMI’s Zero Energy House project. It is a different approach to solving New Zealand’s problems with both housing quantity and quality. Instead of bespoke houses built …
First emissions reduction plan heading in right direction on buildings
The long-awaited first Emissions Reduction Plan was published yesterday and media commentators are rushing to dissect it. I liked that the foreword describes the problem as also an opportunity: “a challenge present[ing] the single greatest opportunity we’ve had in at least a generation … It means warmer homes and lower household power bills.” I have three initial observations, specifically on …
QuickSet all set for updated H1 requirements
Here’s a great summary from QuickSet outlining its practical formwork/insulation solutions that fit with the increased H1 requirements. This includes heated slabs. We’re proud to have helped with these developments, including the thermal modeling for their slab systems. The new QuickSet Ultra with base insulation makes this building scientist happy! Also worth noting: the QuickSet standard taper has also improved. …