Passive house in New Zealand
The passive house movement has brought a lot of innovative and positive change to the New Zealand building industry. The home of the movement is in Germany where the passive house idea was born. Today we have got a lot of passive house designers all over the country and people ask which passive house designer they should choose.
Firstly, there are independent passive house designers. An independent Passive House designer will give you honest, unbiased advice on which products to choose. Their recommendations are based on multiple factors, including price, performance, credibility, and delivery times. Because they do not earn commissions or fees from the products they specify, you can trust that they recommend them purely because they believe they are the best solution for your project. As the client is the one paying the designer, this level of impartial advice is exactly what you should expect. Independent Passive House designers maintain high professional standards, adhere to the codes of ADNZ and NZIA, and are committed to providing honest guidance. This is precisely what the Passive House Institute in Germany envisioned when it promoted the Passive House concept around the world. For recommendations on independent Passive House designers, contact PHINZ.
Secondly, there are building companies or building component suppliers that either employ a Passive House designer or whose director is a certified Passive House designer. These businesses often import their own building products from overseas. However, this approach goes against the original vision of the Passive House Institute in Germany, which aimed to establish strong local manufacturing bases for high-performance, energy-efficient products. Because these companies have their own overseas suppliers, they may not proactively recommend local New Zealand options — even when those options are important for supporting the local industry and the long-term development of Passive House standards in NZ. In such cases, the designer’s recommendations may prioritise what is most profitable for the company rather than the best solution for you and your project. This conflicts with the core ethical standards of the architectural and design profession.
At ThermaDura we love to work with independent passive house designers as they put forward products that they are convinced of that they suit your project and yourself as a customer. As a supplier this encourages us to work hard and be efficient to be able to supply the passive house industry - and this is how it should be. Passive house designers with integrity would also take into account and inform you about the difference and value of warranties from importers versus NZ manufacturers, that you don’t financially stretch yourself for many months in the hope that you receive your windows and that you receive a high quality product.
