The Fairfield Construction team has spent many months planning, designing and building their new office in Marlborough. It is the first commercial building in the South Island and also the first building in Marlborough to gain Passive House Institute certification as a Low Energy Building.

The office was designed by local architect Keryn Thompson from KLT Architect, and together with Sustainable Engineering have made the dream reality to build an interesting, innovative office/showroom that pushes the boundaries of efficiency and sustainability.

The Low Energy Building certification means that the building will be about 7 times more efficient than standard building code. Running costs will be minimised and air quality improved, thus creating an amazing atmosphere for living & working in. See the link to more info about the benefits of building to Passive House Institute certifications.

Achieving the exceptionally energy efficiency targets set out in the Low Energy Building certification is inherently difficult for a small building due to the ratio of internal volume to external surface area. The blower door result was an excellent accomplishment—0.68 ACH is only fractionally over the upper limit for Passive House certification.

The structural insulated panels (SIP) on the ceiling have been left exposed and the ducting for the mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system is also visible. The builders can show, not just tell how Low Energy Building systems work: MVHR, wall insulation, reducing timber fractions and avoiding thermal bridges.

The office also has its own Rainwater Retention system and Outdoor Hot Water Heat Pump, waiting to heat the building’s water all of which is collected from its roof before being filtered and sent to the taps, shower and toilet.

The energy to power the building is captured by PV panels on the roof, basking in the Marlborough sun.

The office is complimented with environmentally friendly products that have been incorporated into the building, including recycled Rimu wall lining and benchtop, Natural Paint Co., and Noho chairs just to name a few.