Passive House buildings still need heating

Here in New Zealand climates, people living in certified Passive House homes need to turn the heater on sometimes. To me as a building scientist and Passive House certifier, this is a blindingly obvious statement. But when a well-informed friend was grizzling about having to run heating in late May in their new Passive House, I had to think about …

H1 insulation requirements are not expensive

How much cost does upgraded insulation required under the revised H1 add to a new build? Much less than anecdotal figures bandied about in the media, according to some solid research released last month.  “EBOSS and New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB), with design input from Architects Designgroup Stapleton Elliott (DGSE), teamed up with quantity surveying firm YourQS to put real …

Wellington Passive House meet up

The Wellington chapter of PHINZ is hosting a social event on 3 December at the Southern Cross hotel. No presentations or talks, just a relaxed drink with friends and like-minded people. If you’re interested in Passive House (either as a professional or a home owner), this is a great chance to chat to architects, designers, tradies and other homeowners. The …

The independence of Passive House certifiers

Jessica Eyers was the architectural designer and Passive House designer for this month’s featured case study, a groundbreaking prefab straw home. Jessica ran her own architectural design company from 2012 to 2023, when she wound up the practice and we welcomed her to the Sustainable Engineering Ltd team. The independence and impartiality of Passive House certifiers is absolutely vital. The …

Climate data resource page

For Passive House calculations members of iPHA can use their tool to generate files for PHPP An indicative climate file can be generated here with this tool. Remember that the file is defined for the northern hemisphere and must be altered using the Climate data tool for the Southern Hemisphere. https://www.building.govt.nz/getting-started/climate-change-work-programme/resources/weather-files-aotearoa-new-zealand The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has released updated weather …

To advance Passive House, stop myth-busting and start reframing

Presentations by Jess Berentson-Shaw from The Workshop were a highlight of this and previous year’s PHINZ conferences. She offers science-based advice on how the Passive House community can most effectively influence the adoption of a building standard that creates warm healthy buildings and solves a lot of social problems. In 2019, when she first delivered a keynote address, I’d just …

ByggaF standard addresses moisture risks in a systematic process

I field questions often that go something like, what is the best way to build a CLT roof or an ICF window install or handle a three-way junction between heavy cladding, slab edge insulation and a thermally broken aluminium sliding door. My answer to all these questions is very often the same: It depends. I say this knowing it’s not …

Temperature extremes impact personal productivity

This idea that productivity at work is linked to comfortable temperatures has been studied for many years. There’s plenty of data we can draw on to make the case for designing work environments to the Passive House performance standard, which makes thermal comfort mandatory. Offices are one thing, but warehouses, factories and stores are typically less well heated or cooled …

Ways to earn continuing education credits

Did you know your PHINZ/APA membership gives you access to leading international educational material from iPHA? And if you watch iPHA’s webinars live or very soon after, you’ll earn Passive House continuing education (CE) credits. Passive House qualification renewal This is very helpful for Passive House designers/consultants/tradespeople who want to renew their qualification but don’t qualify via the project method …