Sustainable Engineering is a specialist consulting firm focused on high-performing buildings, in particular (but not exclusively) those certified to the international Passive House (aka Passivhaus) standard.
Our goal: many more new buildings and retrofits that are
- radically energy-efficient
- extremely healthy and comfortable to occupy and which
- mitigate climate change.
We assist architects, homeowners and property developers to create quality new and retrofit buildings with demonstrated energy-efficiency and health benefits.
We work for building component manufacturers and suppliers to analyse new or existing products, so that they can improve the energy-efficiency of their product offerings.
We undertake individual consulting projects to identify the root cause of building faults and design solutions. We also carry out research into topics of interest to us and our clients.
High-performance design
Our team is expert in design-stage energy modelling. This includes full Passive House design or initial performance modelling at concept stage to help architects and homeowners assess their options. Our analysis can include embodied carbon calculations. We are also Homestar assessors.
Passive House Certification
We are the only team of certifiers of Passive House building projects in New Zealand. Independent, third party certification is a guarantee that the building owner got what they paid for—and it holds designers and builders accountable for their contribution to sustainable, energy-efficient design. It’s also a source of pride for all involved.
Technical analysis
We carry out custom analysis of building component performance for a range of clients, such as (but not limited to)
- thermal bridge reports (for Passive House compliance) for Passive House designers
- window frame performance calculation for window suppliers and manufacturers
- moisture and thermal analysis using WUFI software for homeowners or architects and
- overheating and cooling load calculations
- TM59 natural ventilation analysis, typically for apartment buildings.
Independent research and publishing
As well as research we undertake for clients, we research topics of interest to us and the Passive House community. This has been variously presented in books and conference presentations plus informs our work as designers and certifiers.
We consult to government departments, industry bodies and other organisations on various topics related to building science.
We come from backgrounds as engineers, architects and building scientists. Across our team we are variously expert in the use of software such as WUFI, Flixo, THERM, EnergyPlus.