All posts by Elrond Burrell

Should our social housing be Passive House?

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Amy Tankard, CEO of PHINZ was interviewed on RNZ Nine To Noon on the 9th of July, alongside Alex Baker from Kāinga Ora and Emma Osmundsen from Exeter City Living. There is a good write up of the interview on the RNZ site here including the audio. You can also listen below.

With calls for a green edge to the post-covid recovery – and billions committed to building new state houses in New Zealand – should the Government be considering passive housing?

Passive homes require little-to-no heating because of their design. These are airtight, but ventilated and very well-insulated.

Advocates in New Zealand say there should be a legal requirement for all builds to be passive – and for social housing in particular. 

RNZ Nine To Noon: Should our social housing be passive?
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What do builders think about constructing a Passive House building?

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After the “High-performance buildings at scale” event, Emma Osmundsen of Exeter City Living kindly shared a short video with us. It is a conversation taking place between some of the Keir Construction team on the construction site of the St Loyes Extra Care Facility for Exeter City Council. More about the project on the website of the architect, Architype UK.

Enjoy!

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High-performance at scale: Q&A

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At our High-performance Buildings at Scale event, there was a Question & Answer session with Chris Higgins (Green Building Planner for the City of Vancouver), Emma Osmundsen (Managing Director Exeter City Living Ltd.) Hosted by Kara Rosemeier (PHINZ) with special guest Alex Baker (Sustainability Programme Manager at Kāinga Ora)

We have made the transcript available on the download page. (Direct link to download the PDF.)

What can we learn about adopting high-performance buildings at scale from the success enjoyed by Vancouver BC and Exeter UK?

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High-performance at scale: lessons from Vancouver

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Chris Higgins, Green Building Planner for the City of Vancouver, recently participated in a “High-performance buildings at scale” panel discussion hosted by PHINZ.

Key strategies he shared:

  • Show leadership in City projects
  • Catalyze voluntary champions
  • Build capacity in expertise, supply, and construction
  • Set Green House Gas emission limits

Chris has very kindly made his presentation slides available. Click on the image to download the PDF [3 MB].

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Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa

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On Friday the 20th of March 2020, the PHINZ board gathered online with Kiharoa Milroy (Tūhoe and Ngāti Whakaue) for a small ceremony to accept the gift of a Te Reo Māori name for our organisation: Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa. It was a touching ceremony and the board was very grateful to receive such a beautiful and fitting name. We feel that the name Dr. Wolfgang Fiest was first looking for back in 1991 to truly express the meaning of “Passive House” has finally been discovered.

Here is what the name Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa means:


Te Tōpūtanga = The Institute (association, collective, grouping, organisation, ref)
o te Whare = of the house
Korou = energy/vitality/desire/aspiration (ref)
ki Aotearoa = of New Zealand

As one board member put it:

A wish for all of us. The healthy home that we live in will support our families to thrive, grow and prosper. Our aspiration is that it is commonplace for all of New Zealand to have this opportunity.

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Introducing the newly appointed CEO of PHINZ

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Amy Tankard, CEO of PHINZ

We are very pleased and excited to announce the appointment of Amy Tankard to the position of chief executive officer.

Amy starts in this new role at the beginning of June and will be working with the board across a number of areas to increase the profile and positive impact of PHINZ. Amy stood out from a very strong field of candidates with her long career in leadership and management positions, combined with her enthusiasm for and experience with Passive House.

Amy is a business focussed leader who is also experienced in working with membership organisations. She shares PHINZ’s values and is fully on board with PHINZ’s advocacy work to create healthy, comfortable, high-performance buildings.

If you would like to get in touch with Amy, she can be reached on ceo@test.passivehouse.nz

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Passive House Windows made in Aotearoa NZ win at international awards

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The “Component Award 2019 – Windows for the future” winners were announced at the International Passive House Conference in Gaobeidian, China.

Once again, companies in Aotearoa NZ are at the forefront of innovation and punching well above our weight for a small country. The two manufacturers of Passive House certified windows in Aotearoa NZ, Thermadura and SEDA, entered the awards and both won prizes. We are very proud that both companies are members of PHINZ. Congratulations to both SEDA and Thermadura!

The “1st Prize Timber Aluminium in warm, temperate climate” was award to Swartwin Compact that is manufactured by SEDA in Auckland .

The jury praised the standard of aesthetic and innovation in combination with a high degree of thermal protection and the innovative shading solution for this insulation thickness.

Jason Quinn accepting the award from Dr. Wolfgang Feist on behalf of SEDA
Photo: Nicola Patrick

The “Special Prize Economy” was awarded to NatureLine90 Passive that is manufactured by ThermaDura in Mosgiel.

The jury outlined the high quality of craftsmanship and practicability of window installation. Compared to a traditional, poor quality New Zealand wooden window, NatureLine has lower investment costs.

Jason Quinn accepting the award from Dr. Wolfgang Feist on behalf of Thermadura
Photo: Nicola Patrick

Full details of the awarda on the Passive House Institute (Germany) website: Component Award 2019 – Windows for the future.

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