Window installs watch Florian and Skyler install a Passive House window into a home. Notice the good explanation of the aluminium cut back distance to allow over insulation of the aluminium clad timber frame. uPVC social housing installs with winbag tool. Sometimes different ways of doing things can just strike you at how quick and efficient they can appear.
03 May 2019 Stuff’s Virginia Fallon: ‘It’s a write-off’: Kāpiti Coast council reveals yet another leaky, mouldy building
These leaky buildings are most often caused by failures in E2 design where rain penetration into the building assemblies (i.e. walls and decks etc) have caused internal mould and sometimes rot and then the building becomes a ‘writeoff’ as the one in the article is. In our research and consulting we explore the potential risks with E3 (internal) moisture and …
23 April 2019 The Fifth Estate: Monash delivers biggest passive house building
“It’s the first building to combine cross-laminated timber with passive house” (in Australia) “There are five key principles that guide the passive house approach which were used on the project: Airtightness, Continuous insulation, High performance glazing, Heat recovery ventilation, and A thermal bridge-free façade” Great to see a larger project completed. Although the article doesn’t go into the technical details …
New Zealand Green Building Council: Net zero carbon buildings
NZGBC announces working with Enviro-Mark Solutions to create a net zero carbon building measurement. This consultation sets out our thoughts on how we intend to include the concept of net zero carbon buildings in our rating tools – Green Star and NABERSNZ – and introduce a formal net zero certification for buildings. If you’d like to respond to the questions in this …
24 April 2019 Stuff’s Rino Tirikatene: Warmer, drier homes for renters this winter
Warm dry and healthy. I think the general public is starting to grasp that this shouldn’t be an optional feature of homes. “The aim is to help ensure all Kiwi homes are warm – everyone needs to the ability to heat their home – dry – no one should live with toxic mould – and healthy.” “Across New …
Certified Passive House design required for Queenstown Luggate Memorial Hall
Although this media release doesn’t mention it the Queenstown Lakes District Council has been methodically reviewing the costs and benefits of Passive House for some time. After this review and discussion with industry experts the business case for certified Passive House was recommended to council and successfully made it through the Council decision making process. Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) …
bim2PH – the new connection between BIM and PHPP
One consistent request from folks running Revit and using PHPP is a way to export surfaces from Revit (or any other BIM software that can export an IFC formatted file) directly to PHPP. This was once possible with some expensive Revit extensions but will now be much more straightforward and inexpensive with BIM2PHPP. As we are an engineering practice focused …
Okanagan College Daycare
Childcare centres in New Zealand often run up fairly high energy bills; Diverting ongoing budget that would be better spent on staff. This forward thinking building sets the standard for indoor air quality, thermal comfort and low running costs. We can and should do this in NZ. “Certified by the Passive House Institute in October, the Okanagan College childcare centre …
Why don’t owners improve their homes? Results from a survey following a housing warrant‐of‐fitness assessment for health and safety
Paper in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health by Elinor Chisholm Michael Keall Julie Bennett Anaru Marshall Lucy Telfar‐Barnard Louise Thornley Philippa Howden‐Chapman Bottom line – even when folks know that their house is making them sick and the fix is easy/cheap they do not do so unless motivated by some other means. Even if it is …