(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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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...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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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...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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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...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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