Council is cohosting a free seminar about passive houses on 12 March and the event will include a visit to a passive house in Methven.

The Canterbury chapter of the Passive House Institute of New Zealand and Council have teamed up for the event, which will include information about how passive houses are built, costs and the experience of the home owners.

Group Manager of Compliance and Development Ian Hyde said there were several passive homes in the Ashburton District.

“People are curious about this style of building and the seminar is a great way to learn about it, especially if you are thinking about building your own home.”

Council’s Building Services Technical Leader (Processing & Inspections) Mike Farrell will be a speaker at the seminar, having had experience in similar builds.

Mike has also contributed material for the New Zealand Building Standards for straw houses, and will be speaking about straw or earth houses at a building officials’ conference in May.

The passive house event starts at the Methven house at 3pm and attendees will be supplied the address when they register via Eventbrite.

The site visit will include information from the builder, the home owner and suppliers.

The second part of the seminar is at Council’s library and civic building Te Whare Whakatere, in Ashburton, at 4.30pm. It will include discussion about building consents, certification of a passive house, architectural design and structural design of passive houses and energy modelling for passive houses.

The event can cater for about 120 people and Mr Hyde said he hoped designers and architects would come along, as well as people thinking about building.

“It’s quite a fast-paced event, with about 10 minutes for each speaker and is a great way to gather information and ask questions.”