Passive House Weekly: July 4, 2022

July 4th, 2022

Please read on for a selection of Passive House happenings, articles, interviews, and developments. The featured project above is the PHI Certified Historic Upper West Side Passive Townhouse.

Do you have Passive House news that we should share in a future edition? Email us at: [email protected].

1. Passive House Week in Preview

WED: First & Templeton: 60 Unit Residential Apartment and Townhouse Development in Vancouver, BC

First & Templeton is a sixty-unit residential Passive House development in East Vancouver BC. The project features four buildings orientated around a central courtyard in a hybrid typology of four-story stacked apartments and three-story townhouses.

Gwill Symons and Scott Kennedy of Cornerstone Architecture will join the Accelerator with an in-depth overview of the project site, design, opportunities and challenges, and lessons learned. Their presentation will cover Passive House strategies relating to ventilation, heating, and cooling; domestic hot water, and envelope and air tightness. Get the Zoom link

NOW LIVE: Episode 94 of the Passive House Podcast

In this Fourth of July episode, Zack interviews Brad Mahoney, Director of Sustainable Development at MP Boston, about his firm's revolutionary development work in the heart of Boston. The two recorded the interview on the 19th floor of the iconic Winthrop Center, a 691-foot tall, 1.8 million square foot high-rise project that will house the world's largest Passive House (PHI) commercial office space once it's completed in early 2023. Brad shares technical details about the project, the performance and health benefits that it will confer to tenants, and why Passive House makes sense for this $1.3 billion development. Listen here

THIS WEEK: Events In the Passive House Community

Passive House Accelerator Live!
First & Templeton: 60 Unit Residential Apartment and Townhouse Development (July 6)

#BS Friday LIVE
The Red Door of Truth "Retrotec" (July 8)

Passive House Canada
Pathway to Passive House Designer/ Certification (July 5-28)
Introduction to Passive House High Performance Buildings (July 6)

Peel Passive House
Certified Passive House Designer Course (July 5)

THANK YOU To This Week's Featured Sponsor:

Visit Sto Corp.

2. Featured Article of the Week

In 2018 Syracuse, NY-based architect Tom King was excited to be an early solutions provider in NYSERDA’s RetrofitNY program, exploring approaches to scale up retrofits in New York State. The pilot project he became involved with was a housing complex in Phoenix, New York that was typical of the state’s low-rise multifamily housing and, thus, a good candidate for developing replicable approaches. The Christopher Court is a 40-unit, two-story, wood-framed complex of five buildings. Continue reading

3. New Videos

Learn how the Passive House movement can channel Solarpunk's outrage AND optimism to build a future where people can thrive. Join Passive House Accelerator's director, Zack Semke, in Part 4 of his four-part video exploration of the climate crisis, the clean energy transition, and how buildings will play a starring role in halting climate change. Can Passive House design and construction help achieve a Solarpunk future where people can thrive?

Our most recent Component Spotlight episode features a lesson on High-Performance, Multi-Family Building Envelopes from Ken Keifer, Director of SIGA's High-Performance Training Academy. Ken covers the basics of membranes, adhesive tapes, sealants and primers and will dive into larger topics such as high-performance vs typical multi-family building envelopes, how to plan for a high-performance building envelope, and common challenges to expect in multi-family construction.

In this episode of "Colorado Voices: Building Back Better After the Marshall Fire" by Rocky Mountain PBS, we hear the remarkable story of the rebuilding effort underway in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire and the role that Passive House design and construction is playing in that effort.

"Six months since the Marshall Fire burned more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County, the Coloradans affected are looking to the future. After the devastating realization that this type of fire can happen any time of year and in almost any place, several families are rebuilding homes that are not only more eco-friendly but also more fire resistant."

4. Upcoming Conferences

NetZeroBuild Summit (June 28 & 29)
NetZeroBuild Summit 2022 brings together the net-zero community in the Midwest to discuss challenges, opportunities, innovations, policy changes and other developments regarding net-zero design, energy, construction, materials and building operations. Learn more

BE+ Building Tech Forum 2022 (July 7)
Built Environment Plus envisions a thriving and diverse community, creating a built environment of net positive systems of water and energy, of financial and social equity, and of ecological and human health. Which innovations in building technology are advancing us towards this vision?

PhiusCon 2022: Emissions Down, Power Up! (Oct 25-28)
PhiusCon is coming home to Chicago Oct. 25-28 at the historic Palmer House. Last year, Phius set its sights on expansion with its motto “Emissions Down, Scale Up!” and despite the obstacles presented by COVID, shared that vision with a sold-out crowd in Tarrytown, New York. PhiusCon 2021 created a wave of momentum, and Phius is looking to carry that into PhiusCon 2022 as it builds for the future. And you can’t talk about building for the future without mentioning electrification, so Phius decided to put a charge into this year’s motto: “Emissions Down, Power Up!” Learn more