Verena and Rudolf’s eHaus still exceeding performance standards after 13 years

As part of our 15^th birthday celebrations, we visited three of our original clients to see firsthand the impact their homes have had on their lives and check how the homes are performing after all this time. Here is the last story in our birthday series, make sure you check out the other stories too.

Verena and Rudolf live in the first eHaus in Taranaki which they designed and built in 2012. Growing up in Switzerland Rudolf lived in a house from 1760, and Verena’s was built in 1603, however it was common to have an energy efficient home there.

Arriving from Switzerland 52 years ago on their OE, they fell in love with New Zealand and decided to stay. For most of their working lives, they were also farmers in Stratford then Oakura, living in farmhouses built to the minimum building code. One of their homes was so inefficient and lacked weather tightness that “when we water blasted the cladding, the water would seep inside of the house” says Verena.

During a trip home in the 1990’s they attended an open day at a low-energy house in the village where Verena grew up. Building an energy-efficient and high-performing felt right to the couple, but it wasn’t until 2011 that they started researching someone to build a new home for them – perfect timing as the eHaus website had just launched.

Their eHaus Euro provides a comfy home for the couple and when asked what their favourite aspect of living in an eHaus is, Verena says “It feels comfortable. It’s not moist and there’s no condensation. I can hang up my towel at night and its dry in the morning.”

When the home was designed, the eHaus energy modelling showed their home would have 94% predicted heat energy savings and as at 10 March 2025, has saved a whopping 57,276kg of carbon. When the build was complete, the final airtightness test gave a result of 0.38 air changes per hour, well below the maximum 0.6 AC n50 required for Passive House certification.

When asked about their power bills and the performance of their home, Verena says “the performance has never changed.” Their monthly power bills range between $220-$250 but Verena is quick to point out that they are charging an electric car, pump their own water, and have a large workshop with machinery which all uses more power than a typical home.

The recent airtightness test result was 0.51 AC n50. Verena was right, while there was a slight change from the 2012 result, their home is still performing within the requirements of a Passive House all these years later.