> Our designs combine generous ventilation with high insulation (140mm-thick wall framing combined with R4 wall insulation in the North Island – far above the Building Code requirements)
NZ North Island is pretty extreme in its non-extremeness. It's near perfect for building homes that don't need excessive heating and cooling.
From a global perspective, 140mm insulated framing is nothing. In any colder climate (such as the nordics) or hotter climate (such as the south US or southern Europe) a comfortable well-insulated wooden frame home needs at least 300mm insulation. That's also the code in e.g. Sweden.
NZ North Island is pretty extreme in its non-extremeness. It's near perfect for building homes that don't need excessive heating and cooling. From a global perspective, 140mm insulated framing is nothing. In any colder climate (such as the nordics) or hotter climate (such as the south US or southern Europe) a comfortable well-insulated wooden frame home needs at least 300mm insulation. That's also the code in e.g. Sweden.