"That doesn't really suit Kiwi climates because everyone likes to open their doors." In response he's created Passive Home designs with a Pacific Rim feel.
"They are modern homes with a Kiwi twist."
While Jessop designs bespoke Passive Homes within his Jessop Architects practice, a range of off-the-shelf designs are available through a sister company Coolhouse. Ranging from a 27-square-metre studio through to a three/four bedroom family home, the six blueprints in the Coolhouse Collection are designed to suit a range of uses and locations.
Coolhouse employs skilled project managers, quantity surveyors, and builders, with key knowledge of the Passive process. Jessop says there is still the ability to modify the standardised designs, adding features such as extra bedrooms if needed.
While New Zealand's building code does not stipulate homes must have heating or be cooled, Coolhouse is planning to push for Passive to be a standard much like it is in Europe. People in New Zealand want warm, clean air for their homes, says Jessop.
It's an international certification process which, alongside some of the imported, high-end materials, can add additional cost to the build - Jessop estimates it to be an extra 15 per cent - but the payoff is up to 90 per cent savings on energy bills in a future proofed home. Jessop hopes to trim some of the costs with a newly operational prefabrication factory from Germany creating the building structure in Christchurch before it is transported to site for the build. Fans of TV show Grand Designs will be familiar with similar builds, where the truck is backed up and pre-fabricated panels are unloaded.
The floor, walls and the roof all come pre-made, in some cases complete with windows, with the insulation, wiring and lining all in place. Using this method the house goes up in less than a week with just the finishing touches - gib-stopping, wire connections and fit-out - to be completed.
"It makes the house economical, not cheaper.
"It just means we can build it faster and we can put more expensive products into it."
For those not keen to go 100 per cent Passive House Jessop is able to incorporate some Passive House features into a design, bringing it to within 70 to 80 per cent of the Passive House standard without the need to go through the rigorous certification standard. It's what he did at his parent's quake-damaged Christchurch home.
Half of the original house needed demolition and was replaced with a high spec Passive House build, with the remaining portion of the house retaining much of its original design. The result, he says, is a living area that is warm in winter without heating - although his parents have chosen to install a fire, which pumps warm air into the bedrooms.
It's the kind of design solution many of his clients are looking to; one that incorporates Passive House technology without creating a full Passive House design.
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