I was just talking to a designer working on a new Passive House for a customer in Taupo, and we had a great discussion around all things high performance. Interesting that he was looking to use 140mm external framing (no nogs or dwangs), rigid air barrier on the outside, and 45mm cross battens for the internal cavity. This is my favourite construction. In this situation, the only product I would use for the external framing would be Jet Stream MAX from Knauf Insulation. It goes in dry, and can’t settle in the walls over the lifetime of the building, and can provide a higher R-value (R4.3) than any standard batts in the market, and perfect when you have deep cavities with long vertical runs. It’s also Codemark certified, so a breeze through local Council. We also discussed the benefits of using this in the midfloors and his skillion roof also. If I was to build again, this is the only insulation product I’d use without question:
http://www.knaufinsulation.co.nz/en/content/jet-stream-max#tab_6
I also emailed the designer copies of the signage which we had displayed in the house, and thought these would make great summary sheets for everything on this website, without having to trawl through the posts. So here they are! (Click to download).
Remember, the Building Code is a minimum, not a target!
IDEAL House - New Zealand 