Tag Archives: PHINZ

Certified Passive House projects in Aotearoa

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The number of certified Passive House projects is growing fast in Aotearoa NZ. And with Passive House being in the media more frequently, PHINZ is often asked how many Passive House projects there are in Aotearoa NZ.

Unfortunately, this question does not have a straightforward answer.

Passive House certification is an independent process undertaken by an accredited Passive House certifier and PHINZ, as a charity, has no role in certifying projects. This also means we don’t keep a complete list of all certified projects.

Many certified Passive House projects get submitted to the international Passive House database, however, this is voluntary and therefore not comprehensive. There are currently (as of 07 September 2021) a total of 56 certified Passive House projects in Aotearoa NZ listed on the database. These include:

  • 47 certified Passive House Classic dwelling units made up of 27 certified projects as some are multi-unit.
  • 8 certified Passive House Plus projects
  • 1 certified Passive House Premium project

Current figures can be found on the international Passive House database using the advanced search function.

As noted, there may be other Passive House projects not on the database.

Additionally, one of our members, Sustainable Engineering, maintains a map of certified projects in Aotearoa NZ and Australia.

We are aware of many more projects being developed that are targeting Passive House, not least the exciting project announced by Kāinga Ora today and in the news here also.

PHINZ is currently developing a project directory for our website. This will showcase Passive House projects in Aotearoa NZ and the builders, designers and component suppliers involved.

There are also number of Passive House projects showcased on the PHINZ youtube channel – check them out and subscribe to see more in the future!

Please note that Passive House is an as-built building standard and is protected by consumer law. Projects that do not meet the standard cannot be referred to as “Passive House” regardless of what they might claim. For more details on this please see our article on Claiming the Passive House standard.

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South Pacific Passive House Conference 2021

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The SPPHC21 is set for November 25-27th at Auckland’s AUT. Hosted in cooperation with APHA and AUT this year’s theme is Our Common Future with topics including Passive House social housing and intergenerational wellbeing. Registrations are open now – get in quick as numbers are limited and Early Bird rates end August 31st. For more info and registration go to our upcoming events conference page

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Passive House: Homes Where People Thrive

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We are very pleased to announce our new “brochure” – Passive House: Homes Where People Thrive.

This is an accessible guide for people planning to build a new home – learn all about the health, comfort and quality benefits of a Passive House. This concise guide also has the details of what sets Passive House apart, the stages of a Passive House project and much more.

Free as a PDF from the downloads page.

Passive House: Homes Where People Thrive (Cover)
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Launched: High-Performance Construction Details Handbook

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At the Passive House Hui yesterday (13 June 2021), the High-Performance Construction Details handbook was launched.

You can head over to the HPCD page and download a free copy of the PDF handbook and a copy of all the CAD details.

The handbook will be a valuable resource for design and construction professionals, providing practical tools to exceed Building Code thermal performance minimums. It will also provide consenting officials with a reference when presented with high-performance Alternative Solutions.

The handbook was funded from the Building Research Levy and in-kind by Sustainable Engineering, PHINZ and Resilienz.

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SPPHC21 – Call for Abstracts

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Passive House – Our Common Future

The South Pacific Passive House Conference will be held at AUT, Auckland, in November 2021

Conference Topics

  1. Passive House social housing
  2. Proven outcomes of Passive House projects
  3. Intergenerational well­ being and Passive House

We would like to see talks addressing these topics, but are open to all research on Passive House matters relevant for people in the South Pacific.

How to submit

  • Submissions close 30 June 2021 14 July 2021 (extended)
  • Abstracts must be a maximum of 2 pages, submitted in pdf format.
  • Email admin@passivehouse.nz for access to the submission platform
  • Submissions will be peer-reviewed, with speakers notified from August 2021

Please Note:

  • All presentations will be in person (COVID conditions dependent) in Auckland. Please confirm you are able to do this in your abstract submission.
  • All presentations will be filmed
  • All presentation slides will be published online

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High-Performance Construction Details in the news

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PHINZ and Sustainable Engineering Ltd are well on the way to completion of the High-Performance Construction Details Handbook. (Download a technical draft of the handbook here. 02.06.21 The draft is no longer available as the handbook will be published soon.) Funded by The Building Research Levy, PHINZ and Sustainable Engineering, the handbook will be a valuable resource for design and construction professionals, providing practical tools to exceed Building Code thermal performance minimums. It will also provide consenting officials with a reference when presented with high-performance Alternative Solutions.

This month’s Build Magazine features an article by Jason Quinn of Sustainable Engineering and Elrond Burrell, chair of PHINZ, outlining the need for such guidance, details about the handbook, and its future uses including supporting and informing MBIE’s Building for Climate Change Programme and Building Code improvements. The article is online here: High-performance details | BRANZ Build (buildmagazine.org.nz) and you can download a PDF of it from here.

The Handbook is also featured in a second Build Magazine article, this one focusing on walls: High-performance domestic walls | BRANZ Build (buildmagazine.org.nz)

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Claiming the Passive House standard

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Within the industry and media, there are occasionally claims that buildings meet or exceed the Passive House standard simply because they might include particular features or approaches that are similar to Passive House. For example, they achieve a good air-tightness result, include insulation above the building code minimum, or use very little energy for heating. It is incorrect to claim that such a building is a Passive House unless it can be shown to be designed and constructed according to all the certification criteria.

PHINZ have taken legal advice and, based on a similar document from the UK, produced a technical briefing outlining relevant NZ law and clarifying PHINZ’s position on claims of the “Passive House Standard” and how the terms “Passive House” and Passivhaus” should be used in Aotearoa NZ.

It is free to download on the resources page.

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Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa

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On Friday the 20th of March 2020, the PHINZ board gathered online with Kiharoa Milroy (Tūhoe and Ngāti Whakaue) for a small ceremony to accept the gift of a Te Reo Māori name for our organisation: Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa. It was a touching ceremony and the board was very grateful to receive such a beautiful and fitting name. We feel that the name Dr. Wolfgang Fiest was first looking for back in 1991 to truly express the meaning of “Passive House” has finally been discovered.

Here is what the name Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa means:


Te Tōpūtanga = The Institute (association, collective, grouping, organisation, ref)
o te Whare = of the house
Korou = energy/vitality/desire/aspiration (ref)
ki Aotearoa = of New Zealand

As one board member put it:

A wish for all of us. The healthy home that we live in will support our families to thrive, grow and prosper. Our aspiration is that it is commonplace for all of New Zealand to have this opportunity.

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