Thursday, 31 July 2025

COST

Member rates	$200.00 plus GST
Non-member rates	$250.00 plus GST

Start	Conference opening
9:00am	Welcome and opening remarks Joe Lyth and Karen Manson, PHINZ

Session 1
9:10am	Household Energy End-use Project 2: Early Insights Vicki White, BRANZ The Household Energy End-use Project 2 (HEEP2) is a national study of energy use and conditions in New Zealand homes. It involved collecting data from hundreds of households throughout the country, through combinations of in-home monitoring, householder and dwelling surveys and accessing retailer data. Over 750 households are taking part in the national study in some capacity. An additional 40 homes were monitored in Canterbury as part of a co-funded study of Code-minimum and high-performance dwellings. This presentation will provide an overview of the project and data collection methods. It will also present early insights from some of the survey and indoor monitoring data, looking at occupant comfort and indoor temperatures over one a winter and one summer. Vicki White Vicki is a Senior Research Scientist at BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand). Her research interests focus on healthy homes and energy hardship. Since working at BRANZ she has been involved in delivering and analysing key national housing surveys, including the BRANZ House Condition Survey and Household Energy End-use Project 2 (HEEP2). Prior to coming to Aotearoa New Zealand, Vicki was a Research Project Manager at the Centre for Sustainable Energy, in Bristol, England, where her research focused on understanding the impacts of energy and climate change policies on consumers.
9:30am	Certified PH & Homestar 10 in Nelson Nathan Edmonston Nathan Edmondston is the Team Lead and Region Manager for DCA Architects of Transformation based in Nelson. He has been involved with Passivhaus for over 10 years and, three years ago, moved into his own certified Passivhaus. This was also the first 10 Star Homestar V5 certified house in the country. After the recent changes to the H1 clauses of the NZ building code, overheating in houses has become headline news. In Nathan’s presentation – Keeping our Cool – he will discuss strategies to stay cool in summer using his house as a case study.
9:50am	Waikuku Beach House – Cost effective material choices and selection of imported vs local suppliers Paul Finch
10:10am	How do high performance building principles fit into the Construction education curriculum? Alesh Novontry, Construction Tutor/Lecturer at EAS, Engineering and Architectural Studies – Ara Institute of Canterbury. The Construction curriculum in New Zealand is closely aligned with the New Zealand Building Code compliance, ensuring that graduates develop a strong understanding of the Code — an essential foundation for their professional careers. The Passive House Standard has been incorporated into the Environment course, a core course for students in Architectural Technology, Construction Management, and Quantity Surveying programmes. While the curriculum does not cover Passive House in extensive detail, it introduces students to the key principles and encourages further exploration of the topic. These principles are revisited throughout the Environment course in other topics, such as Sick Building syndrome and thermal design, highlighting their relevance to modern, high-performance building practice. Our Architectural students build on their Passive House knowledge and apply high- performance construction details in their design projects during their second year of study.
10:30am	Morning Tea

Session 2
11:00am	Sustainable building network – Working together with EBANZ, Offsite NZ, Eco Design Advisors, Timber Design Society and the Housing Innovation Society Moderator: Karen Manson Guests: Delia Bellaby, EBANZ; Johann Betz, Offsite NZ; Irene Boles, Ara Institute; Julie Villard, Eco Design Advisors and Lisa Oliver, Timber Design Society
11:30am	Christchurch Straw Bale House – It’s one of a kind Elizabeth Guthrey Norris house is a two-story building under construction featuring strawbale walls for insulation and plastered walls. The house is aiming for Passive House Certification and Homestar 9 or 10. The owners are in the industry and building it themselves over a 2 year period. As well as strawbales, Terralana wool is used for the underfloor and roof insulation. Proclima Intello, Contega tape, clay-based plasters and plywood make up the internal airtightness layer. The hillside property was categorised as mass movement during the Canterbury 2011 earthquakes, so there are large timber piles for the foundation and numerous large fixings throughout the buck and beam structure: it’s one of a kind. Elizabeth Guthrey Elizabeth works for Design & Make Architects as a Graduate Architect and energy modeller, and Everett her husband is an LBP builder and Passive House builder for his own company Everhomes. They are both members of the Earth Building Association NZ and Passive House Institute NZ.
11:50am	The Ultimate Practice Blueprint to survive & thrive a tough economy Glenn McHardie, Registered Architect, Certified Business Coach, & Experienced General Manager The Ultimate Design Practice (UDP) Blueprint – The Proven framework to improve your practice, with how to: better Promote (Marketing & Sales), raise your Financial mastery, Lead your people, raise productivity, and increase your Profits! Session is perfect for you if you are experiencing challenges &/or want to improve your business. Not to be missed…You did not learn this at Uni! Glenn McHardie Glenn is passionate about raising the standard of the design & construction professional industry in Australasia, through industry targeted business training and coaching. Glenn has extensive experience in leading and growing professional design practices & following selling out of a successful multidisciplinary design practice, founded the Business Architect. Glenn as an Architect gets the industry and is driven by his purpose of: Helping create your Ultimate Design Practice, with; – More IMPACT, with Rewarding Projects & a Strong Team, – More MONEY, industry leading & – More Flexibility/ Time-out with loved ones! ALL without losing your passion for design.
12:20pm	PHINZ 2025 Update Joe Lyth
12:30pm	Lunch

	Workshops
1:00pm	Workshop 1
1:30pm	Workshop 2

Session 3
2:00pm	Bridging Data and Design: A Visual Approach to PHPP Modelling Elsie Wang This presentation explores how to get the most out of your PHPP modelling by focusing on the key performance parameters that matter for thermal design. We’ll look at which values are most useful—particularly those tied to the building’s energy balance—and how compiling this data into a simple visual format, such as a dashboard built with additional worksheets, can support better design thinking. The session introduces a practical framework for using this information to guide iterative design decisions, helping you assess options quickly and respond to performance feedback in real time. We’ll also touch on ways to communicate results clearly—so that your design rationale is both technically sound and easy for clients and collaborators to understand. If you’re working with Passivhaus or low-energy design and want a more intuitive, decision-friendly way to engage with your PHPP model, this webinar is for you. Elsie Wang Elsie is a Sydney-based Certified Passivhaus Consultant and National PH101 Coordinator for the Australian Passivhaus Association. She specialises in thermal modelling using PHPP software, working closely with architects, builders, and homeowners to optimise energy performance through iterative design. With a background in both architecture and structural engineering, she thrives at the intersection of numbers and creativity. Passionate about making building physics accessible, Elsie translates complex modelling into clear visuals and insights that support confident, performance-led decisions—without the spreadsheet overload. A strong advocate for both form and function, she focuses on tailored solutions for thermal comfort and energy efficiency across Australia’s diverse climates. Through her consultancy, PHPP Design, she supports projects pursuing Passivhaus certification and promotes early-stage design integration. Elsie is also a Passivhaus trainer with the Australian Passivhaus Association, helping others build their skills and confidence in building science and the Passivhaus Standard.
2:20pm	Master’s research on retrofit & Parkawrap Jon Davies, Technical Sales Support and Education Manager, Pro Clima NZ Ltd Parka Wrap is a proven external insulation retrofit system that predictably upgrades your home’s thermal envelope—without disrupting life inside. This system wraps your home in layers of known materials, including a weathertight barrier, right-performance insulation, secure structural connections, and updated cladding. As part of the upgrade, windows are replaced and a ventilation system installed to complete the energy-efficiency transformation, making your building actually achieve all the cliches of warmer, drier, and cheaper to heat. Jon Davies Jon moved back to proclima after 4 years with Oculus Architectural Engineering where he was on the building enclosure design team for Te Mātāwai (139 Greys Ave, Auckland) 276 externally insulated apartments. During his time at Oculus he developed an IANZ accredited test laboratory and made good use of it during lockdowns, completing a Master of Architecture investigating external insulation over existing buildings. Now Jon supports proclima’s Technical Sales Team across New Zealand, creating educational resources and events that focus on hands-on learning rather than theoretical powerpoint presentations.
2:40pm	Case studies of houses across the climate zones of the motu Pecha Kucha
3:30pm	Refreshment Break

Session 4
4:00pm	Builder’s Perspective Moderator: Joe Lyth Lenny Basham, Mark Thompson, and Michael Goedert
4:30pm	Watford Street Duplex Hunter Dale, Architype The Watford Street Duplex is a recently completed residential project in central Christchurch. While not yet certified, the project is targeting Passivhaus Plus certification. The project brief was for a single, certified passivhaus dwelling and a new secondary dwelling. Architype’s response was to propose a single duplex with 2 identical back-to-back passive certified homes. The presentation, by Hunter Dale of Architype will cover some of the unique Passivhaus challenges presented by the duplex format including solar orientation, fire compliance, on site energy generation, and futureproofing for increased density. Hunter Dale Hunter is an Architectural Graduate from Ōtepoti, Dunedin, Hunter is now based in Wānaka where he works for Architype on a range of Passivhaus and high-performance projects. Hunter has a long-standing interest in high-performance building and believes the most compelling architecture happens when cost-effective, highly efficient buildings are integrated with, engaging design.
4:50pm	Toa Homes – A simple, affordable prefabricated housing system Guy Shaw, Energy Architecture Ltd In 2021, Ngāti Toa Rangatira embarked on a visionary project to address the profound impact of housing on health, wellbeing, and community flourishing. This initiative led to the creation of a simple, affordable, and prefabricated housing system, and the subsequent establishment of Toa Homes. Guy Shaw, a key consultant on this project, will share insights into the foundational values driving this enterprise. He will discuss the critical challenges Toa Homes aims to solve and offer valuable reflections from their journey so far. Guy Shaw Guy is a registered architect & certified Passivhaus designer and director of Energy Architecture Ltd in Wellington. He has worked extensively on Passivhaus projects in the UK and NZ and has been on the board of Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa, Passive House Institute NZ (PHINZ) since 2013.
5:10pm	Insights from a builder and client – A commercial LEB Trevor Breen, Breen Construction As both builder and client, we undertook this low-energy commercial build to challenge ourselves—testing not just construction methodologies, but also the real-world trade-offs between sustainability, cost, and market-driven ROI. The result? A space that we believe reflects a future of commercial construction in New Zealand. Balancing energy efficiency with carbon calculations added complexity—especially when selecting materials that were both high-performing and locally sourced. Where possible, we chose New Zealand natural products, from timber to insulation, to reduce embodied carbon and support our local industry. We needed flexibility, functionality, and futureproofing for a growing team. The outcome is a building that walks the line between aspiration and reality.
5:30pm	Closing Joe Lyth and Karen Manson
6:00pm	Social Networking Event @ Casa Publica 180 Armagh Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch

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