286: Elizabeth and Everett's Straw Bale Passive House Journey

About this episode

Matthew Cutler - Welsh interviews Elizabeth and Everett Norris about their straw bale Passive House journey in Christchurch.

In this episode of The Passive House Podcast, Matthew Cutler - Welsh interviews Elizabeth and Everett Norris from their newly completed Christchurch home. They describe their Port Hills site on Huntsbury Hill, bought after the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, and discuss the area’s microclimate and west–northwest-oriented design. They share challenges including long build times, working largely solo, living on site after a robbery, and more. They detail the key lessons on early builder input, avoiding rushed window orders, daylight implications of eaves, and airtightness detailing. https://www.designmake.co.nz/people.html https://www.everhomes.co.nz/blank-1 About their amazing straw bale Passive House in Christchurch: https://sustainableengineering.co.nz/casestudy/norris-strawbale-passive-house/

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Cutler - Welsh

Guests: Elizabeth Norris, Everett Norris

Topics covered

• straw bale construction
• Passive House
• microclimate
• building challenges
• airtightness
• design lessons

Keywords

• Passive House
• straw bale
• Christchurch
• building challenges
• airtightness
• microclimate
• design

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Christchurch, Port Hills, Huntsbury Hill

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