Board Chair, Joe Lyth, shares his wrap up of the Passive House conference held in Auckland in July 2026.

The past month has absolutely flown by, and we’re still on a high following the Passivhaus Conference, which was held at Waipuna Hotel in Auckland at the end of July. After months of planning, sorting, arranging, and let’s be honest, a little bit of panicking; the 2 day conference was a rousing success, with feedback from the attendees ranging from ‘just do this again next year’, to ‘it was the best one yet’, not to mention raving about how good the food was!

The 2 days were filled with speakers, hands on sessions, and speed dating! It was fantastic to see so many new faces, and to feel the buzz of everyone chatting, networking and learning together.

Speakers

The conference opened with a sensation presentation from Tomas O’Leary, covering the past 2 decades of Passivhaus in Ireland. They’ve seen a ‘hockey stick’ effect of growth, with 7% of new construction in Ireland Passivhaus Certified, and over 40,000 units certified. Passivhaus is being delivered for less than 1% above normal costs, proving that once the industry gets on board, Passivhaus is absolutely possible for similar cost. They are building more, quicker; and are making the health outcomes the priority. His advice? Make Passivhaus the Guinness of housing, and have a cup of tea with the right people!

The next presentation came from Jason Quinn, covering hie exciting new Deep Energy Retrofit handbook, which is releasing soon. [Pre-print available here.] There were some valuable insights, with my primary takeaways being continuity of control layers it key; and if you wouldn’t do it in a new building, don’t do it in a retrofit! The most quoted part in the break after though was ‘diffusion is a mosh pit, air leakage is a sprint’ – I’m 100% happy to advocate for more mosh pits 😊

The final presentation of day 1 was a really enjoyable fireside chat with Resident Builder Peter Wolfkamp, and Grand Design’s Tom Webster. We talked about how Passivhaus is seen in the wider industry, where they both are in their own journeys around building performance, and how we can communicate better to the general public through other channels, and talk about health and comfort, on top of the technical side of the standard.

Day 2 opened with an inspirational talk from the Peachgrove East Community Cohouse project team. A new 48 units cohousing neighbourhood about to start on site in Hamilton, all targeting Passivhaus Certification. Ben Preston gave a captivating presentation on the project, with some eye-opening stats – 60% of Kiwi’s want Cohousing. 35% don’t see a housing option available for them; and hauntingly, loneliness is a disease. [See The New Zealand Housing Survey: Year 1 Survey Results.] The project uses Passivhaus as a foundation, to build upon and see how we can bring those fences down. It’s already proving successful, with nearly all units presold – while other ‘standard’ developments are dropping prices and left empty. Obviously, there is a market for Passivhaus!

The final presentation of the conference was a wonderful talk from Resident Builder Peter Wolfkamp. A well-known face and stalwart of the industry for decades, Peter spoke about his background, his experience, and his progress towards lower energy building practices. His advice was practical and grounded, highlighting that we can’t make perfection be the enemy of progress. He celebrated the fact we can now measure whether a house is good, and that taking 10 steps is ideal, but 5 steps is still good; so let’s make sure they’re all the right steps and avoid unintended consequences.

Panels

A number of panels & PechaKucha sessions provided opportunities to hear about a wide range of views and projects. First was a sprint through New Zealand Aotearoa’s newest Passivhaus projects – an amazing range of buildings from around the motu, it was invaluable to see what’s being built, and hear about how others had found solutions to problems we all face.

On day 2 we heard from the Builders – Toby, Igor, Jono, Trevor and Tom has an excellent discussion with Simon about projects past and present. The experience ranged from years to months, and it was enlightening to hear from the ones that actually build the buildings. As designers we should all collaborate more with the builders; and earlier, to ensure the success of our projects.

A final take away from all of them, when asked if they could go back to building to minimum code, the answer was a rousing NO!

This sentiment was echoed in the Designers panel, when we heard from a number of Passivhaus designers on their work & experiences. The takeaway was again, collaboration – get everyone on board early and manage expectations from the start. Some excellent points were made – it’s easier to solve issues on paper than on site, be mindful of spending clients money; and the supply chain is getting better. I particularly enjoyed Elizabeth’s statement – a team is something that trains together!

Workshops & dating!

Throughout the 2 days a range of workshops & networking opportunities were provided, to enable attendees to meet the rest of the team.

Our amazing suppliers were on stage for a PechaKucha, giving high-speed presentations on their products & services. It was great to hear from each of them, and learn more about their offerings! This was backed up by Supplier Workshops in the breaks, when most of the stands put on hands-on educational sessions, with great feedback from suppliers and attendees alike.

The standout sessions of the conference were twofold – firstly the amazing ‘Passivhaus Speed Dating’ sessions dreamt up by Board member Simon! Conferences are an excellent chance to see old friends and colleagues, but their value is in the new connections you can make. The speed dating sessions enabled attendees to meet new people and learn about them at high speed – I met some excellent new contacts and learnt things about friends I had no idea about!!

Secondly was the Retrofit Workshop, created & led by Kara Rosemeir and Jessica Winter. Attendees were split into groups to assist the ‘client’ in how to retrofit her aging A frame, into a comfortable Passivhaus home. Groups dove into strategies for windows, walls, floors, roof, ventilation and services; with each specialisation having to coordinate with the others across the room. It was invaluable to gather around the table and discuss different approaches, hear other viewpoints, and resolve details together as a team. After pulling together the solutions on day 1, the teams then drew up and presented their solutions on day 2. The ‘client’ (Jess!) was extremely happy with the results, and the attendees all came away with more knowledge, and new friends.

Finally, thanks!

A humongous thank you to all of the speakers, suppliers, sponsors, board members, attendees; and to Nikki, PHINZ’s amazing GM who is sadly moving on. We couldn’t have done it without all of you!

As the conference drew to a close, I did my best to sum up the most amazing 2 days. While we’re not there yet, we have come further that we sometimes feel that we have.  Get the right team – people that give a s**t, and learn by doing – nobody is perfect. Finally, happy, respected, listened to people are far more likely to do a better job, and be open to learn. So, let’s all get on the same team, and support each other to produce healthier, lower energy, happier communities, buildings and homes.

Conference Primary Sponsor: Stiebel Eltron