Building Better: Mark’s Journey to High-Performance Homes with Pro Clima NZ

Thanks to the team at Pro Clima NZ for having Mark on the Pro Clima Podcast.

We’re passionate about healthy, high-performing homes, and it’s always a privilege to be part of conversations that help share what’s possible. From honest beginnings on building sites in the '90s to our most recent Passive House build in Wanaka, here’s a bit of what we covered:

“It was almost better having a house in the 60s than it is in the 2020s nowadays… the old builders used to say, ‘the house needs to breathe’—and in a way, they weren’t wrong.”

Click to Listen to our Episode on Spotify.

From Scaffolding to Site Culture

Mark’s building story starts young—climbing scaffolding as a kid on his dad’s job sites in Dunedin. But despite growing up around construction, it wasn’t always the career he imagined for himself. It wasn’t until a last-minute spot opened up in a carpentry course that he took the leap. The rest, as they say, is history.

His early years were spent learning the ropes on high-end homes, eventually becoming a foreman and then launching MA Building at just 27. The first few years were tough—“marketing through the classifieds and fighting for work”—but the growth since then has been massive. Today, the company specialises in building passive and performance homes across Wanaka and Central Otago.

Lawrence & Sam working on our latest project in Wanaka.

Creating a Better Build Culture

One of the big things that sets MA Building apart is the team culture Mark has intentionally built over the years.

“No one’s ever in trouble on our sites. But we do hold each other to a standard.”

Honesty, energy, and mutual respect form the foundation of the business. “You can’t teach someone to care. We can train the skills, but showing up on time, being present, and taking ownership—that has to come from within.” This mindset flows through everything the team does, from how they treat each other to how they treat the build itself—and the community around it.

Respect, Mark explains, doesn’t just mean being polite. It’s thinking about your impact: on the neighbours, on the materials, on the client’s long-term health and comfort.

The Shift to High-Performance Building

Like many of us, Mark’s journey toward better building started with a broader rethink of his own lifestyle—nutrition, movement, mindset. That curiosity eventually made its way into his work, sparked by a project using Pro Clima’s Intello wrap.

“I’d been building for 15 years and never seen this stuff before. I had to know what it did.”

From there, things snowballed. He connected with architects designing Passive Houses, took the Passive House Tradesperson course (twice), and immersed himself in the local Better Building Working Group in Wanaka—an initiative focused on construction waste, mental health, and building performance.

What We’ve Learned from Building a Passive House

In 2022, MA Building completed their first full certified Passive House build. It wasn’t without nerves. The imported windows alone were a logistical challenge—triple-glazed sliders weighing 300kg each, with 600mm of foundation height to account for.

But with the right mindset, planning, and relationships in place, it all came together.

“It’s just a process. Yes, there are extra steps, but we’re still building square, level, plumb. The principles haven’t changed.”

What’s changed is the standard we hold ourselves to. And the knowledge we share with every client who wants a warmer, healthier, lower-energy home.

Keen to Know More?

If you're interested in building a performance home in Wanaka or Central Otago, get in touch. At MA Building, it’s not just about ticking boxes. It’s about helping you understand why things like airtightness, ventilation, and window choice matter—and how small changes in how we build can have a big impact.

Thanks again to Pro Clima for the kōrero. You can listen to the full podcast episode here.