Radio Architecture - the Jenny Light House story

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How did Jenny, a science generalist who specialised in molecular genetics, end up resigning from a job in innovation policy with the federal government, to buy a blower door and thermal camera in 2008 and dive head first into the housing industry?

The image on the left below is from 2008 when Jenny’s first blower door was freshly sourced from NZ. The image on the right is from last month when Jenny was on site with her first, and most beloved, thermal camera (sourced in 2008 from the US). Blower doors and thermal cameras for building envelope testing were yet to become a thing in Australia.

NOTE: Building science existed well before Passivhaus made its way to Australia. Jenny first heard about Passivhaus when she was doing some training at the University of Wisconsin Energy Institute in 2009. Her company designed the first Passivhaus accredited homes in Canberra in 2011 BUT Light House is NOT a Passivhaus practitioner. Our focus has always been building science, cost-effectiveness, bang-for-buck and health. With more than 180 projects completed we’ve proven that our integrated architecture and science approach using standard construction methods is super effective.

To understand more about that you can read her comments on a recent facebook post where a Passivhaus supporter jumped in to tell readers that Passivehaus was the way.

Also see comments on a recent on a recent Instagram post by the president of the Australian Institute of Architects, the terrific Jane Cassidy, where (as is often the case) Light House was mistaken for a Passivhaus proponent because Jenny has been practicing basic building science for 15 years. It is important to note that anybody can thermally optimise their design and then have the constructed project air leakage tested and thermographically inspected - these things are not confined to Passivhaus. Building science is available to everyone.