Message from PHINZ Chair, Joe Lyth
I’m three months into being elected Chair of the Board and thought that it would be valuable to update the membership on where PHINZ are. It has been equally an extremely enjoyable 3 months, and a baptism of fire into the world of governance!
I’ve had generous and supportive messages from many members; but have also heard the difficulties so many are currently experiencing – I’m always available for a chat or a moan, so feel free to reach out.
Last week the PHINZ board had an in-person strategy session, kindly hosted in the Energy Architecture offices in Wellington. It was a full-on day of scrutinising where we are, where we want to be, and how we can get there. Discussions revolved around identity, communication, and our place in an industry that is going through a turbulent time.
A key point was the fact that we are only as good as our membership, and we want to make sure you are heard. The May newsletter mentioned a range of actions we’re taking that may hopefully take some small pressure off. We also went back to our roots and asked the hard questions. Why are we doing this? What are we providing? How can we communicate better, be more relevant, and help more people?
The following points sum up our discussions – I welcome your comments and feedback – joe.lyth@passivehouse.nz.
We recognize that, while Passive House is the ideal outcome and remains the end goal, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to get there straight away. PHINZ exists and the board members volunteer their time because we care. Because we want people to be healthy and thrive. Because we want our buildings to have less impact on the planet, and we want to help everyone on a pathway towards those goals, whatever their stage on the journey. The trust deed sets out several statements that support this alongside our promotion of the Passive House Standard.
We recognize that Passive House has a reputation (‘snobby and exclusive’ was mentioned!) that we want to dispel and welcome feedback on what aspects create this image, and how we can change it. PHINZ – our board and our membership – are designers, consultants, suppliers, and experts in how to achieve measurably healthy buildings. We can provide value and input wherever you are on your pathway. If you want to improve the quality, durability and energy efficiency of your buildings, and the health of the occupants, we can help. There are bottom lines that we will always advocate for around ventilation, modelling, airtightness; but whatever your point on the pathway, we’re here to help you move forward. Our advice is grounded in a robust, international, science and evidence-based building standard, that has shown it does what it says on the tin, in every climate.
We published our ‘how do I refer to my project’ guide in late 2023, but how to talk about projects aiming to achieve ‘higher’ performance is still a bit of a conundrum. Higher than what? Higher than minimum code? How high is it? If minimum code is 1 on the scale, and Passive House is 100; then ‘high’ performance could mean anything from 2 to 99! In an Aotearoa New Zealand context the range truly could be that large – many of the energy models I’ve produced have code minimum buildings sitting at around 120-150kWh/m2/yr heating demand, and higher, with equally high cooling and overheating risks. A certified Passive House is 15kWh/m2/yr – the goal, but even the PHI Low Energy Building Standard is 30kWh/m2/yr – more than 4x more efficient than code, with the related health and comfort impacts that the certification process brings. Our position is that Passive House sets minimum standards for health and comfort. Nothing more, nothing less, with ideal levels for energy efficiency for new and existing buildings. To this end rather than Passive House being ‘high’ performance, is anything less essentially ‘low’ performance; and how low do you want to go?
For a long time, we have sought to respond to the use of reference to ‘Passive House principles’, primarily due to the fact they can so easily be misused or partially used – the key ‘principle’ of Passive House, is the fact it’s a whole process. The modelling, the balanced application of insulation, airtightness, orientation, etc; the third-party QA, the onsite checking, and the checking on completion that you’ve achieved what you set out to do. If any part of this is missed then you have increased risk of unexpected outcomes, which are often blamed on the ‘principles’ rather than the incomplete application! However, PHINZ aren’t the Passive House police. What we are is experts in how to avoid issues that stem from not applying all the ‘principles’ and processes correctly, and we’re here to help with this. The UK’s Passivhaus Trust have recently published an excellent guide ‘Passivhaus Principles – A Primer’ seeking to own the term, a guide we’re happy to support.
We have heard your feedback around moving towards the German ‘Passivhaus’ which was tabled at last year’s conference, while also retaining the Te Reo name “Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa” which was gifted to us – we are consulting and will update members in due course.
We have also heard your comments regarding membership and sponsorship. PHINZ relies on membership fees and sponsorship income to allow it to exist, as they are our only funding. We play our part in supporting the research and development of the standard through paying a percentage of the membership fees to IPHA, which all PHINZ members gain complimentary membership of, while also providing support and value to our members and sponsors. However, we also recognize that especially in the current market, membership fees are just another bill to pay when belts are being tightened. To this end we are assessing the membership levels, practice sizes etc and will provide updates soon. We are also offering discounts on webinars for members and are working hard to keep conference ticket prices low. If you are interested in sponsoring us or becoming a member and helping support our work, please do reach out.
We want to celebrate the wins. Each one of you has achievements and stories we want to share, so others can celebrate, support and learn from and with you. If you have a project you’re proud of, a challenge you’ve overcome, a PHPP hint you’ve discovered (!) anything you’d like to share – send it through and we’ll celebrate with you through our social channels and newsletters, and during a session at the upcoming Hui. We’ll also be opening a call for papers soon – watch this space!
I look forward to hearing any comments, and to seeing you all out there.
Cheers,
Joe
