Understanding H1 | Hone

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The Math Behind Your H1 Result

H1 compliance comes down to one thing: how well your building holds heat. That starts with the R-value of every element in the envelope.

An R-value measures thermal resistance. Higher numbers mean better insulation. Every wall, roof, floor, and window gets assessed on how well it slows heat loss, so each part of the envelope carries its own weight in the result.

The benchmarks aren't fixed nationwide. They shift by climate zone, which means where your building sits decides the numbers you have to hit.

You have two ways to prove it. The Calculation Method and the Modelling Method. Both work the same way at their core: they show your envelope performs as well as a fully compliant reference building overall.

Either way, your calculated performance gets measured against the code-defined benchmarks. Meet or beat them, and your design passes. Fall short, and it doesn't.

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Reference vs. Proposed Buildings

To prove H1 compliance, your design goes head-to-head with a reference building.

The reference building is a code-compliant version of your own project. Same size. Same shape. Same layout. The difference is performance: it's built to the minimum standards the Building Code sets for your climate zone. It's the benchmark you have to beat.

The proposed building is your actual design. Real materials, real insulation, real glazing, and the construction details you plan to use on site.

Hone calculates the energy performance of both from your project data. Then it puts them side by side and shows how yours stacks up against the benchmark.

The rule is simple. As long as as the overall performance of your proposed building performs as well as or better than the reference building, it meets the requirement.

And you don't have to guess. As you adjust your design, Hone shows you exactly where you stand in real time.

New Zealand's old H1 standards let buildings leak heat - homes were cold, expensive to run, and energy-inefficient. Edition 5 was introduced in November 2021 significantly increased R-value requirements across all envelope elements, tightened glazing rules. Edition 6 removes the the tick-box schedule method with a whole-building performance approach, prescribes framing fractions used in construction R-value calculations, and tidies up a number of minor issues from the major Edition 5 revision. The goal is straightforward: warmer homes that cost less to heat and meet national energy targets.
The schedule method checks each element - wall, roof, floor, window - against a fixed minimum R-value, with no trade-offs allowed. The calculation method looks at the whole building, comparing it against a code-compliant reference design, which means a weaker slab or larger window can be offset with extra insulation elsewhere. For most modern designs, the calculation method is where the flexibility lives.
New Zealand is split into six climate zones, from the warmer north to the colder south and inland regions - and your zone sets the R-values you have to hit. The colder the zone, the more robust your thermal envelope needs to be: a house in Zone 6 needs significantly higher insulation ratings than the same design built in Zone 1. Check your zone before you specify anything, because the same design won't pass everywhere.
Once glazing pushes past 30 percent of your wall area, particularly in the cooler climate zones, standard double glazing won't keep you compliant - glass loses heat far faster than an insulated wall, and the rest of the envelope can't make up the difference. At that point, you'll typically need thermally broken frames, and higher-performance glazing units. If your design involves large glazed elevations, know that early - those windows will drive both your compliance path and your budget.
Hone calculates your H1 result in real time - change an element and you see straight away whether your design still passes. When it does, the full compliance report generates automatically, no manual write-up required. If you'd rather skip the calculation entirely, hand it to the Hone team and they'll deliver a finished report ready to submit.