Now available: the Outsulation Guide for High Performance Walls, brought to you by Outright, suppliers of continuous insulation. Sustainable Engineering provided the thermal modelling calculations and I enjoyed the discussions we’ve had about applications. This guide focuses on external insulation (“outsulation”, get it?) of walls with a focus on residential applications. Download a free copy here. I’ve been asked to

Kāinga Ora’s first Passive House pilot project was a great milestone but we knew far more was in the works and today we are happy to be able to share the news. Ngā Kāinga Anamata, previously known as the Five Systems Project, is five three-story apartment buildings in Glendowie, all designed to reach Passive House performance. Sustainable Engineering Ltd is

Kāinga Ora’s announcement of its first Passive House pilot project, the 18-unit Bader Ventura apartment building in Mangere, Auckland, is receiving a lot of attention with stories running across national media*.  Jason Quinn believes this project will provide world leading social housing quality. But he says the more significant achievement is Kāinga Ora’s carbon continuum commitment, which lays out the

Jason Quinn of Sustainable Engineering Ltd has been New Zealand’s sole Passive House certifier for five years but he’s no longer alone in the job. Toby Brooke and Sara Wareing were confirmed last Friday by PHI as accredited Passive House certifiers. Both work for Sustainable Engineering. Sara has a Masters degree in Building Science from Victoria University of Wellington, while

It’s confirmed: New Zealand’s first non-residential building has won PHI-certification. Hutt City Council’s facilities building at Silverstream landfill is a Low Energy Building. The climate (30km north of Wellington) doesn’t present undue difficulties but the small building does face some intrinsic challenges. Its footprint is a simple shape, but the form factor sits at a very high 4.1 due to

More Passive House units have been completed in Exeter in the United Kingdom: what a start to the new year for the lucky social housing tenants who are moving in and what an example New Zealand could follow. Exeter is a small city in Devon, in the southwest of England, which has established a big reputation for Passive House development.

Advances Toward a Net-Zero Global Building Sector is a BIG tech paper, happily published with open access so people outside of academic institutions can actually read it. See below for the abstract and a link to the paper. New Zealand is well represented in the paper’s database due to our Passive House buildings. The following items are worth paying particular

Sydney’s first PH built for less than an equivalent Code house A fantastic report on the cost premium for building a Passive House has been released by Sydney architect Andy Marlow. This is an important piece of research and I urge you to download and read it. Every Passive House professional hears the question, “But how much more will it

RNZ presenter Kathryn Ryan asked some very good questions in a recent interview about whether all new social housing in New Zealand should be built to the Passive House standard. Here are some clear answers. Q. What is involved in getting Passive House certification? A building gets certified as a Passive House if it meets specific performance targets. It can

RNZ presenter Kathryn Ryan asked some very good questions in a recent interview about whether all new social housing in New Zealand should be built to the Passive House standard. Here are some clear answers. Q. What is involved in getting Passive House certification? A building gets certified as a Passive House if it meets specific performance targets. It can

For a longer version of this article for a general audience (that lays out in more detail the problems with our existing Building Code), click here. An economic depression doesn’t seem like the right time to be talking about raising the standards in the Building Code. But this government may have the mettle and vision to seize the opportunity in

Like always, Otago University’s Public Health Summer School this month was galvanising. Creating better housing in order to produce a triple benefit—improved energy efficiency, reduced carbon emissions and better health—was the theme this year. The questions are huge, the stakes are critically high and the solutions are various but all complex. I also watched a government official get blindsided by

8% more: that’s the extra cost in the UK for building to the Passive House standard, according to this report. That is quite good. The most important factors in containing costs are: simple form; modest glazing; and an experienced team—in particular, experienced clients. Is it noteworthy that the majority of the projects in this study were social housing, not bespoke

“Gareth Hughes, MP, self-funded a fact-finding trip to Exeter to find out about the city’s Passivhaus programme. He was keen to see how it could be replicated back home.” “To date, the City Council has built 67 Passivhaus properties, with more energy-efficient properties in the pipeline. Even the eagerly-awaited St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre will be built to Passivhaus standards,

I was looking for several examples of apartment buildings on the PHI website when I came across this colorful interview of New Zealand’s Passive House champion Thomas van Raamsdonk. When Thomas was asked ” What is the current situation? “ His reply was: “To date, there are over 20 certified Passive House buildings in New Zealand. Many more projects are underway or

Insane focus on first cost is the why to ‘Why are Christchurch’s most vulnerable tenants freezing in council homes?’ “Hundreds of vulnerable, low-income tenants are living in dangerously-cold council homes. CATE BROUGHTON asks why. On the morning Stuff visits Stacey Shramka, the temperature in her lounge is 8.4 degrees Celsius. Outside, in the shade, it is 8.8C. At 9.45am Shramka’s neat, sparsely

2026 202607 Centralised hot water in Passivhaus developments: getting distribution losses right 202606 Don’t guess, model it: how to plan a step-by-step deep energy retrofit that works 202605 The Wanaka Prototype: Adapting New Zealand Made Wood Burners for Passive House Performance 202604 Hygrothermal simulation: Understanding WUFI modeling and ASHRAE 160 criteria 202603 Why your PHPP and EnergyPlus models might not

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.