iPHA Passive House tour time!
And this year it is virtual. OK, it’s not the same as getting our grubby fingers on everything but there are significant benefits to seeing inside Passive Houses around the...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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Welcome media attention on improving NZ homes
Stuff ran an impressively long and well-researched story on Passive House and the need for net-zero buildings this week; it’s well worth a read in its entirety and a plug on...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Choose gas for cooking? Please don’t.
I recommend against combustion devices in homes—all of them. Using gas to cook is particularly bad, with health impacts related to the indoor air pollution it causes. (American think tank...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Calculating embodied carbon: live presentation at the NAPHA virtual conference
The North American Passive House Network is hosting a virtual conference next month. The tickets are cheaper and you save all those carbon emissions by not flying. Hopefully, you bought...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Reality check: PHPP accuracy in the real world
I’m sometime asked just how accurate PHPP’s models are. This great paper quantifies it. “Are the energy savings of the passive house standard reliable? A review of the as-built thermal...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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Top 10 tricks for PHPP speed and ease
Tech Tips with Toby PHPP is the software Passive House designers use to model the performance of buildings—before they are built. It’s a front-end on an Excel spreadsheet. Now, most...
by Toby Brooke
Updated: Jun 2021
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External insulation facade solutions: thermal facade clips
I’ve been asked about improving the performance of larger buildings. This often requires an external insulation facade solution but getting it right is not always obvious. I’m a fan of...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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New design choices possible in Queenstown and Wellington
Thermal comfort targets have been revised by the Passive House Institute for use in PHPP. Passive House certification requires that windows and doors meet specified thermal comfort targets*. This requirement...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Jun 2021
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Look back and celebrate: 8 years of PH in NZ
It’s eight years since the first New Zealand home was certified as a Passive House. That distinction went to the aptly named PH1NZ in Auckland. (Notable second was a more...
by Rachel Rose
Updated: Aug 2020
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Attend the North American PH conference virtually
The North American Passive House Network annual conference will be a great event—and way cheaper than normal due to being virtual. The bad news is the timing sucks for Australia...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Owl Woods PH nails a design-stage retrofit for performance
Check out a beautiful project from across the Tasman, the Owl Woods Passive House. It’s the 10th certified Passive House in Victoria, Australia and it’s won or still a finalist...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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Great Passive House primer (includes eye candy and clear diagrams!)
This is a lovely summary of Passive House, written up as a Q&A with an American architect. There’s mention of an intriguing North American connection to the genesis of Passive...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Passive House (Passivhaus) Hospitals
Passive House Hospitals can have a 40-50% reduction in total energy use of the building, using efficient technologies already available, when compared to a conventional new hospital building. I’ve been...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Homeschooling resources (for adults and kids)
At-home learning seems set to continue for a while; for those raising the next generation of building geeks/scientists/informed homeowners, here are some resources that might be useful, compiled by the...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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Social housing can be this good
Exeter, in England’s south-west, is blazing a trail for Passive House social housing. Its Chester Long Court, 26 high-quality, affordable homes built to the Passive House standard, has won design...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Mar 2026
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How much more for PH performance? Very little, says UK
This extensive cost study of Passive House projects in the UK shows that for projects that make good choices, the capital cost premium is down to eight per cent. At...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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New England delivers PH social housing
Here’s an excellent discussion of the overall benefits to the tenants of this social housing project for low-income tenants in a high-cost area. It’s a six-story building with 98 units...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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uPVC joinery worth another look
Clients (and their designers) who want high-performance buildings on a limited budget need to consider uPVC windows. Elsewhere, almost every Passive House on a budget will use uPVC joinery, typically...
by Jason Quinn
Updated: Aug 2020
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