Passive house in New Zealand
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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.
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Firstly there are independent passive house designers. An independent passive house designers does give you honest advice which product you should choose based on many factors. Those factors can be price, performance, credibility and delivery time. Those passive house designers do not earn money with the products they recommend to you, they recommend them to you because they are convinced they are the best solution for you and your project. As a customer pays the designer this is what the client should expect. Independent passive house designers have credibility and adhere to the rules of ADNZ and NZIA and provide you with honest advice. This is what the passive house institute in Germany had in mind when they spread the idea of passive house around the world. Contact PHINZ to get advice which passive house designers are independent.
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Secondly there are building companies that employ a passive house designer or where the director is a passive house designer. Those businesses often import their own building products from overseas, neglecting the fact that it is the goal of the German passive house institute to establish a local manufacturing base for energy efficient products suitable for passive house. As those companies have their own suppliers overseas it is advisable to contact NZ suppliers direct as this option might not be forwarded by those companies even this can be so important for the future. Those passive house designers might not have the best solution in mind for you but the most profitable for themselves which contradict the designer/architects profession.
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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.