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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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Peel Passive House have just published an Appliance Modelling Guide for Certified Passive House Projects

See: http://www.peelpassivehouse.ca/resources.html “This study explores the Canadian and European energy standards for household appliances that are modelled for Passive House compliance in PHPP for residential buildings. An excel tool PHPP Appliance Input...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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25 June 2019 The Fern: Stay at Redfern’s new no-carbon luxury apartments

The main website might be a bit slow to load but the apartments are really incredible. These are all Passive House and are targeting certification. The awesome news is you...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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20 June 2019 The Harvard Gazette Colleen Walsh: Is your home making you sick?

Good summary of healthy homes via indoor environmental quality — starting with healthy indoor air. “Home is where the heart is. It’s a figurative expression but it’s literal too because...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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How to for healthy buildings from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The below guides are from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and summarize and simplify the public health science into simple recommendations with links to peer-reviewed journal articles...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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2019 June 19 New Energy Economy: World’s First Certified Passive House Car Dealership

This building is pretty incredible. Most Passive House buildings can change the form (the external shape) and use less glass to meet the performance standard, but that wasn’t an option...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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07 June 2019 Kowhai House certified PH winner in NZIA Southern Architecture awards

Great to see Rafe Maclean recognised for this clever certified Passive House which is also his home. Case study and more information on the home here. “This project shows a...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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Passive House for New Zealand book featured in NZ Green Party Te Awa magazine

Living in this country has been a shocking experience for me. I’ve discovered that some Kiwis don’t think anything of wearing a winter jacket inside when it’s cold. As a...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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30 May 2019 Building Performance: MBIE commissioning review of seven key New Zealand Standards in the next year

Does anyone know how to participate in these reviews? Seems like a good way to try and fix the new ‘code compliant’ builds going up that are moulding and not...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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30 May 2019 Scoop: Budget response: Green Building Council

“The Government’s existing home insulation programme and the new healthy homes standards have been warmly welcomed, but they’re not enough. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealand owner occupied homes will...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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28 May 2019 Scoop: Survey finds Kiwis’ backyard dream still alive and well

It is interesting to me that the feature rated most essential is ‘Warm and dry’ which actually was higher rated than ‘Within budget’. A bit sad that folks buying homes...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Jun 2019

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21 May 2019 Passive House kitchen extractor hood guide from PHI

For those of us designing Passive House we can all rejoice in the release of the official PHI guidance on kitchen extractor hoods and how to consider the heat losses...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: Mar 2026

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13 May 2019 News Hub’s Zane Small: NZ 2019 Healthy Homes Standard Signed in law

Monday 13th May 2019 NZ Parliament signed into law the Healthy Homes Standard. This effectively requires bringing the ceiling and underfloor insulation up to current standards, install fixed heating in...

by Jason Quinn

Updated: May 2019

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