Passive House Conference 2026 Speakers

Bahareh is a licensed building practitioner with over 18 years of experience in commercial, residential, and educational buildings, both internationally and across New Zealand. She holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Architecture and is a Certified Passive House Consultant.

Her practice is shaped by a long-standing interest in sustainable architecture and energy-saving design. She welcomes the opportunity to take on challenging projects.

I am very passionate about doing this right the first time. The design awareness gained from the Passive House course, along with the building science tools, is present in every design since then. To me, just as we may not recall exactly what we did with friends on a particular day but will certainly remember how they made us feel, we will also remember how a certain design made us feel. So my ultimate goal is to create spaces that make people feel good when they live in / around them 

Originally from Argentina, I trained as an Architect before becoming an Architectural Designer in New Zealand. I am currently an Architectural, Homestar and Passive House Designer working at Craft Homes

Ben Preston is a co-founder of Living Systems Development, the developer behind Peachgrove East. A chartered engineering technologist that spent his early career working on large-scale commercial and mixed-use projects in the UK and Australia, he considers himself fortunate to have had exposure to a range of innovative and forward-thinking projects and the people behind them – and is now focused on leveraging his experience to enable betters ways of living together with each other and the natural world.

Launching Living Systems Development with Rick Fourie in 2024, their shared focus today is on building showcase projects that demonstrate that better approaches to housing and community development are not only possible in today’s market and context but preferable. Starting with Peachgrove East, they are working to demonstrate that such market differentiated options are better equipped to navigate the ups and downs of property market cycles in predictable, profitable ways. 

https://nz.linkedin.com/company/living-systems-development

Claire is an Architect at Energy Architecture in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She believes a warm, dry, healthy home is a fundamental human right. Passivhaus science should be the baseline for all buildings in Aotearoa.A graduate of Te Herenga Waka and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Claire’s non-linear journey led her to challenge the perceived perfection of the industry and design with empathy. She recently completed her own certified Passivhaus and appreciates the certainty it provides.

Everett has been a licensed builder since 2021. At a similar time he also completed the Passive House Tradespersons course. He is passionate about carpentry, plastering, problem solving and how to make buildings more energy efficient. His passion for building started young, helping family friends construct a strawbale house. Everett trained with high end builders in Hamilton, natural build companies across Australia and in particular with Pat and Nils (German master carpenter) in the Hawkes bay where he built a number of strawbale houses; some of which incorporated airtightness.  

Since moving to Christchurch, Everett and his wife have built a traditional frame barn workshop and a straw bale Passive House Plus on their Port Hills property. Everett was recently featured with his wife Elizabeth on Grand Designs NZ (season 10, episode 3) where they showed their straw bale passive house under construction. 

General Manager, Helicon Construction

For the past 10 years, I have led a dedicated team delivering well-crafted, high-performance buildings.

Helicon operates as Passive House–certified tradespeople and proudly hosted the International Passive House Open Days in 2021 and 2022. Since completing our first Passive House in 2021, we’ve shared that experience and enthusiasm with both clients and the wider professional community.

I’m passionate about improving building quality and everyday comfort. We aim to integrate energy-efficient principles into every project we undertake.

We choose to build Passive Houses because they offer superior comfort, significantly lower energy use (up to 90% less for heating and cooling), and an exceptional indoor climate. Through high-performance insulation and airtight construction, these homes are durable, quiet, and environmentally responsible—providing a healthier living environment and strong long-term value.

Elizabeth is an Architectural Designer LBP working in Otautahi / Christchurch. She completed her Passive House Certification Course in 2022 and has since used the skills across many projects and completed one house with Passive House Plus certification.

Elizabeth has been working full time for Design & Make Architects since 2021 and is also a Homestar Assessor. Energy modelling projects and finding ways to lower embodied carbon is a high priority for Elizabeth even when Homestar or Passive House isn’t being fully targeted. Design & Make Architects do a range of projects from residential to commercial and renovations.

The team is also experienced in designing with natural materials such as strawbale, adobe and natural plasters. Elizabeth was recently featured with her husband Everett Norris on Grand Designs NZ (season 10, episode 3) where they showed their straw bale passive house under construction. 

Jason Quinn is the founding director of Sustainable Engineering Ltd. His work focuses on the intersection of physics and building design and he has outspoken views on New Zealand housing. He has degrees in mechanical engineering (George Washington University, USA) and aerospace engineering (Florida Institute of Technology, USA) and is a registered International Professional Engineer (USA) and a Chartered Member of Engineering New Zealand.

Jason spent a decade as a rocket scientist at NASA before he and his family relocated to New Zealand in 2009. He soon became one of New Zealand’s first certified Passive House designers and in 2016 travelled to Germany for further training and exams to become the country’s first Passive House certifier. Jason is an in-demand speaker at Passive House conferences in Australasia and has taught courses for PHINZ, the Passive House Academy and the NZ Green Building Council.

In 2019, when I was 31, I decided I wanted to leave my job at a bank and become an apprentice builder.

I worked as a builder for about four years and completed my apprenticeship. Soon after completing my apprenticeship, my family moved from West Auckland up to rural piece of land near Wellsford with the dream of building a high-performing house. We are currently building the house (off-grid, SIP exterior envelope) and are a few months away from moving in (I hope!)

Our latest mid-build air tightness test showed we are well on the way to achieving Passive House certification (0.25 ACH in mid-build test).

We can’t wait to experience living in a Passive House and I’m also looking forward to learning more and possibly working on more Passive House builds in the future.

If you want to see more of our build we made an Instagram page to share the progress:

@our.new.farm.lifenz

Kara Rosemeier teaches building science for Sustainable Engineering Ltd.

She has previously served as Director of the Passive House Academy New Zealand, as well as Board Member and Chair of PHINZ. Her experience spans academia at multiple tertiary institutions in New Zealand and Germany, ownership of an engineering consultancy, and advisory work for a German federal state government on building energy efficiency.

She has also supported private clients with Passive House design and supervised hundreds of retrofit projects.

She holds a PhD in domestic air quality and ventilation, a Master of Planning Practice (Hons), and a Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) in Architecture.

At the age of one, Peter picked up his tools for the first time and has never looked back. A fair few years on and Peter Wolfkamp LBP, NZTC, continues to share his impressive skills, knowledge and life-long passion for carpentry and building. His portfolio of work and influence includes historic Devonport villas, ultra-modern townhouses, rustic country estates, restoration of an historic 1890 church and a sabbatical which involved Peter working on a 16th century farmhouse in the south of France. Peter’s professional development has continued with the completion of the NZGBC Homestar Home Coach and practitioner training, plus Peter is a Licensed Building Practioner qualified by the DBH. Alongside this hands-on and, at times, finger-bruising vocation, Peter has carved out a career Newstalk ZB as a talkback host, presenting the Overnight talkback show and stepping in to host nights when needed over the last 25 years.

Known nationally as our Resident Builder, Peter hosts his own building and DIY Radio show on Newstalk ZB. “Sunday Mornings with the Resident Builder” 6-8am, which was launched May 2014. Peter is now NZ’s top DIY radio personality with a weekly audience of 198,000 and Newstalk ZB’s No1 show in every market. The programme includes taking questions from callers and offering advice on DIY projects plus ‘Ask the Expert’ segments from Professionals within their field. Peter’s TV career is building apace; Since 2012 Peter has been the site foreman for The Block NZ. ‘The Wolf’ as he’s referred to on The Block, brings a unique combination of construction and technical knowledge, along with hands-on chippy experience. Peter has also developed editorial and narrative skills that have proved useful to the production team. Peter launched of his very own TV programme, Creative Living on TV3 2016.

This series focused on the challenges and choices facing any homeowner as they transform their existing home into a warm, comfortable and efficient home for the future. Peter’s experience, knowledge and expertise helped assist the owners, and he even got his hands dirty as they worked to create a great renovation. 2017 Peter was also Co Presenter of a Property Program Slice of Paradise. Helping potential buyer find their own dream home within NZ. Peter has a wealth of knowledge to draw on, extensive experience on site, a passion for architecture and a sound technical knowledge of building and construction and combines that with presentation and editorial skills honed over many years. He strikes a chord with all levels of audiences, crossing age, gender, demographics, and more importantly, all levels of the industry, from humble home-based DIY-lovers to top end professionals. His extensive skills and knowledge are tempered and made accessible by his friendly, open approach and ‘the bloke next door’ no nonsense personality. Everyone loves ‘The Wolf’! Peter enjoys building relationships with all audiences and at all levels within in the building industry.

Tim Ross is a Registered Architect and Principal of Architype, an award-winning New Zealand architectural practice specializing in the design of passive house buildings. He is the architect of many passive house and high performance homes and numerous certified multi-unit residential projects. Tim is passionate about creating design solutions which are technically integrated, economically achievable and visually compelling.

Reshma is an Architectural Graduate at Black Pine Architects. With a severe case of design biophilia, always thinking up new ways to integrate nature into the built environment. In between, you’ll often find her deep in the details of Passivhaus certification calculations and site-specific design, finding the balance between building science and lived experience…. Curves, conceptual sketches, and spaces that make you want to stay.

Tom run’s Auckland based Webster Harding Architects with his wife Anna since 2016, after a career spent in high profile practices including AHMM in London and most recently at Cheshire Architects in Auckland. 

Tom is also a qualified automotive designer and is the host of Grand Designs New Zealand.

Tom Worthington is a qualified builder, plumber and recently certified passive house tradesman in the Coromandel area. 

Beginning his construction career in plumbing and gas fitting before transitioning into carpentry gives him a multi disciplinary perspective to some of the challenges presented in building a passive house. 

Tom is passionate about almost every aspect of building and cares about getting the best outcomes possible on any project.

His curiosity about building science, high performance building methods and challenging projects naturally led him into the passive house space.

Based in Whitianga, Tom is part of the team at PJ Builders working towards the completion of their first passive house project this year. So far so good!

Being a newcomer to the scene, Tom is here to share his honest reflections on the recent learning curve and provide a fresh perspective to the added layer of complexity that comes with building a passive house. 

Trevor has been in and around the Breen business his entire life. A qualified Registered Professional Land Surveyor, with decades of hands-on experience in land development and construction management, Trevor brings a deep understanding of project delivery, planning, and engineering to the broader team. His expertise extends beyond the build, with strengths in HR management, strategic planning, and optimising operations to ensure the business remains at the forefront of the industry.  

Also, an owner of Breen, Trevor’s current role is Development Manager where he is responsible for diversification, improving operational efficiency, and identifying key opportunities for growth, including of course, sustainable building methodology. 

Craft Homes Ltd

Toby is a qualified Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP), Certified Passive House Tradesman,
and Homestar® Practitioner with over 20 years of project management experience and 15 years
of hands-on expertise in residential construction. His extensive background combines technical
knowledge with practical skill, enabling him to deliver high-quality, efficient, and sustainable
building solutions.

His company, Craft Homes, is based in the Raglan and wider Waikato region and focuses on
Passive House and high performance residential construction. Toby is deeply committed to
advancing sustainable building practices. He actively promotes energy-efficient design,
environmentally responsible materials, and construction methods that contribute to healthier
homes and communities.

Tomás O’Leary has extensive experience in the planning, construction and quality assurance of Passive House and zero energy buildings. He is a co-founder of Mosart (1993) providing Architectural, Consulting and Education services in the realm of high-performance buildings.

Mosart is one of the leading multi-disciplinary firms in the world consulting on Passive House, playing a lead role on large and complex residential and commercial buildings in Ireland, UK and North America. He designed, built and lives in the first certified Passive House in the English-speaking world (2004) and has educated 4,500+ Certified Passive House Designers and Tradesperson internationally.