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23rd International Passive House Conference 2019

We’ve confirmed the time and date for our Director, Jason Quinn, is speaking at the 23rd International Passive House Conference 2019 in China. It will be on Wednesday, 9th of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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29 July 2019 RNZ’s Eleisha Foon: Conditions at social housing place risk tenants’ health – expert

Poor design means your home is cold, damp and mouldy even with a high power bill … here is some bubble wrap for your windows. That seems like a joke...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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27 July 2019 NZ Herald: Kids doing it tough in winter

“A two-year-old born prematurely with a chronic lung condition has been hospitalised multiple times this year. Part of the problem is that the child is sleeping on a damp mattress…”...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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24 July 2019 NZ Doctor: Bridging the gap with Healthy Homes

Not sure I’d consider Wellington or Rotorua any more damp than Christchurch or Auckland in the winter. Much of NZ is nearly 100% RH in the winter for at least...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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NZ Building-related standards

“The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (Building System Performance) has funded the following building standards, used for Building Code compliance, for free download.” Awesome. This includes most of the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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23 July 2019 Yes, your brand new house could be cold and damp

An example of a legally code minimum compliant new house that is cold and damp. Look at the photo of the condensation dripping off of the new double glazed windows....

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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21 July 2019 Stuff’s Chris Hutching: New houses have cladding and joinery that lasts just 15 years

That title is a bit clickbaity but true. NZBC says the bits of house that are easily replaced only have to last 15 years. Twisted funny that this includes the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Aug 2019

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11 July 2019 Stuff’s Colleen Hawkes: First Kiwi passive house: Seventh winter without heaters

View PH1NZ Case Study “Fresh air is delivered via a heat exchange system and a series of ducts in each room. Some of the ducts remove air and others deliver fresh...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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11 July 2019 MBIE: R&D tax incentive: What’s eligible and how to claim

NZ Tax Credit for Research & Design uses designing to meet Passive House energy standard as an example of something that is known “and there is no scientific or technological...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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Waikato (Taupiri) expoHaus is up for sale!

Announced in the eHaus winter 2019 newsletter: “We noted, with interest, the Waikato expoHaus today registered 19.5 degrees inside as the staff arrived for work, with an outside temperature of...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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08 July 2019 Stuff’s Ellen O’Dwyer: Cold and ill but bill puts heat pump off limits

-3C – barely insulated house and no heating. The cost of electricity and line charges in that area is wild but so is running a unflued portable propane heater inside...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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4 July 2019 NZ Herald: What it’s like living in a home with no insulation: Condensation, mould and large power bills

“Six months ago I moved house and didn’t think too much about the state of insulation and heating in our new rental home. It was the middle of summer in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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02 July 2019 Scoop: Doctors welcome rules making insulation the norm in rentals

“Installing insulation in a house can have a 6:1 cost benefit ratio for the very young and the very old – these people are our most vulnerable, and they spend...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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02 July 2019 The Spinoff’s Elle Hunt: Renting isn’t about ‘surviving’ or ‘enduring’ – it’s about having a warm, dry home

“One of the barriers was a lack of knowledge about the home’s defects, or “believing the property [was] in better condition than it objectively is”. That’s easy enough to do...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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29 June 2019 Otago Daily Times’ Kim Dungey: Homely as it gets

Great article on the Hawera Passive House build that is the first in New Zealand to target the Passive House Premium build. We are looking forward to reviewing the final...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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28 June 2019 RNZ: Family desperate to leave freezing HNZ home

“It just feels like you’re camping outside, that’s what it is,” she said. She said the small lounge heater provided by HNZ – the home’s only heat source – did...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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28 June 2019 Passive House Accelerator’s Bax Ingui Architects: Passive Retrofit: A Systematic Approach

Measured careful and structured approach to internal insulation retrofits for historic facades. It can be done but it needs to be done well the first time (or done over again...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Apr 2020

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28 June 2019 Stuff’s Libby Wilson: Kiwis ‘accept less’ from homes, passive house builder says

View Waikato expoHaus case study Title says it all – if what you want from a house is cheapest you are legally allowed to build than you should expect the...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jul 2019

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