The winners of the Passive House Network’s first annual Design Award were announced October 4 during the 2023 Passive House Network Conference in Denver, Colorado. Unlike other awards, which typically group participants by building typology, the award was designed to highlight the unique challenges that teams face when building in each of the seven climate zones recognized by the Passive House Institute. The variety of climate regions that are suitable for Passive House buildings demonstrates that the principles of Passive House can be used to produce buildings that are sustainable, resilient, comfortable, and healthy, regardless of climate.
Projects were judged on their ability to respond to local climate conditions, as well as their general aesthetics, and there were five categories overall: three for completed projects (Warm to Hot, Temperate to Cool, and Cold to Arctic); an Unbuilt Award; and a Details Award, meant to highlight a specific installation detail or Passive House assembly for one of the submitted projects. Judges included Lloyd Alter (Toronto Metropolitan University), Jessica Grove-Smith (Passive House Institute), Samantha Josaphat-Medina (Studio 397 Architecture), Luis Medina (Studio 397 Architecture), Marine Sanchez (RDH), Lindsay Schack (Love|Schack Architecture), and Brad Tomecek (Tomecek Studio Architecture). You can learn more about the Passive House Network’s 2023 Design Awards here or revisit the numerous sessions from earlier this month here.
Winners included:
Unbuilt Award
Buffalo Crossing by Stantec
Cold to Arctic (2 winners)
The Bridge by OPAL Architecture
Hotel Marcel by Becker + Becker Associates, Inc.
Temperate to Cool
Flow Chelsea by ZH Architects
Warm to Hot
No winner selected
Details Award
Englewood PH Duplex by SHAPE Architecture Studio
Shortlists
The shortlist for the Unbuilt Award included Buffalo Crossing by Stantec and Vienna House by PUBLIC Architecture + Communication.
The shortlist for the Cold to Arctic category included The Bridge by OPAL Architecture; Hotel Marcel by Becker + Becker Associates, Inc; Englewood Passive House Duplex by SHAPE Architecture Studio; Six & Kane by Moshier Studio; and Millhaus by Greg Fisher, Architect.
The shortlist for the Temperate to Cool category included Flow Chelsea by ZH Architects; UBCO Skeena Residence by PUBLIC Architecture + Communication; and Westchester Passive House by BarlisWedlick Architects.
For the Warm to Hot category, the shortlist included PHLA+ by PARAVANT Architects and West Palm Beach Net Zero by pH design.
All participants were shortlisted for the Details Award.
For a deeper dive, some of these projects have been covered in Passive House Accelerator magazine, including The Bridge, Hotel Marcel, Six & Kane, Millhaus, and UBCO Skeena Residence. Six & Kane has also been featured on Construction Tech, while Vienna House and UBCO Skeena Residence have been featured on the Project Showcase.