How we build
Warm and dry is not luck. It is five plain ideas working together, a design that is modelled before it is priced, and an airtight build checked at every step.
How a passive home works
Five plain ideas working together. No magic, just physics done carefully.
Airtightness
The whole shell is sealed and pressure tested, so the warm air you paid for cannot drift out through gaps in the frame.
Insulation
Walls, roof and floor carry far more insulation than code asks for, so the house holds its temperature the way a chilly bin holds ice.
Ventilation with heat recovery
A quiet unit swaps stale air for fresh filtered air all day, and keeps most of the warmth that would otherwise leave with it.
Orientation
The house is placed to catch the low winter sun and shade itself from the high summer sun, heating and cooling that costs nothing.
Glazing
Triple glazed windows sit in insulated frames, so the glass stays close to room temperature. The cold stops pouring off the windows, and the streaming morning condensation goes with it.
Framing up in Richmond, before the airtight wrap goes on.
What it costs, honestly
8 to 12%
more to build than a standard new home
about 90%
less to heat, every year you live in it
These are typical figures for passive builds in the Nelson climate, not a quote. The extra buys triple glazing, airtight wrapping, deeper insulation and the ventilation unit. Your site, size and spec move both numbers, and we price yours properly before you commit to anything.
How your build runs
The same path on every home, checked at each point, so the warm, dry house on the plans is the one you move into.
Design for the section
We start with your land, its slope, its sun and the wind that finds it, and shape a home that works with all three. You get plans you own, whether you build them with us or not.
Model the performance
Before we price a thing, the design goes through energy modelling. It shows the heating the house will need, where warmth would escape and how much glazing is right, so the result is measured, not hoped for.
Build it airtight
The same crew stays on your home from the foundation to the final door. We pressure test the airtight layer while the walls are still open, so any gap is found and sealed before the linings ever go on.
Verify, then hand over
A final blower door test confirms the house hits its airtightness target. We commission the ventilation, walk you through every system, and come back after the first winter to check it is doing what we promised.
Ready to build one of your own?
Send us a few details about your build. You will talk with the builder who runs our sites, not a sales line, and hear back within two working days.
Talk about your build