278: Exploring Insulation and Overheating Risks with Tavis Creswell-Wells

278: Exploring Insulation and Overheating Risks with Tavis Creswell-Wells

From Passive House Podcast by Matthew Cutler-Welsh, Zack Semke, Mary James, and Ilka Cassidy

March 3, 2026 · 48 min · Season 5 · Episode 278

About this episode

Matthew Cutler interviews Tavis Creswell-Wells about insulation, overheating risks, and building performance in New Zealand and the UK.

In this episode of The Passive House Podcast, host Matthew Cutler interviews New Zealand building scientist and sustainability specialist Tavis Creswell-Wells of Ecolution about overheating risk, building performance, and lessons from working in the UK. Tavis describes his path from architecture to building science, early research with BRANZ on the Building Energy End Use Study, and later experience in London with large energy modeling and rating systems including BREEAM, WELL, and Part L. He argues New Zealand’s H1 code overemphasizes insulation and lacks requirements to address overheating, while Part L includes lighting, hot water, mechanical systems, and checks at design and completion. The conversation covers glazing, shading, natural ventilation limitations, PHPP overheating constraints, and using TM59 for zoned overheating analysis, and previews the Reimagine Buildings Multifamily online conference. https://ecolutionsbs.com/ecolution Thank you for listening to the Passive House Podcast! To learn more about Passive House and to stay abreast of our latest programming, visit passivehouseaccelerator.com. And please join us at one of our Passive House Accelerator LIVE! zoom…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Cutler

Guest: Tavis Creswell-Wells

Topics covered

  • insulation
  • overheating risk
  • building performance
  • sustainability
  • energy modeling
  • natural ventilation

Keywords

  • insulation
  • overheating
  • building science
  • energy modeling
  • sustainability
  • PHPP
  • natural ventilation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ecolution, BRANZ, BREEAM, WELL, Part L, Passive House Accelerator

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