The spring 2024 issue of Passive House Accelerator is a lesson in optimism. As a companion to our global online conference, Reimagine Buildings '24, our newest edition shows that people from around the world are adopting better building techniques that not only embrace Passive House standards, but also embodied carbon, plant-based materials, and localized approaches to decarbonization and resilience. In this issue, you'll find projects that come from vastly different parts of the globe, like the Huff'n'Puff Haus in rural Australia ("Off-Grid Strawbale Home Marries Sustainability with Self-Sufficiency") or The Rise in Brooklyn ("Hope Rises in Brownsville"), as well as projects that take embrace tremendously different approaches to sustainability and the employment of Passive House principles. There are also several articles on policy ("Scottish Schools Mind the Gap", "A Blueprint to Decarbonize Affordable Housing"), sustainable timber ("What Is Good Wood? Form Follows Forest", "From Forest to Frame"), and more! We hope you enjoy the issue!
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Articles in this Issue
1/19/24
Hope Rises in Brownsville
A winner of NYSERDA's Buildings of Excellence Award, The Rise will provide formerly incarcerated women and their families with supportive services, as well as programs designed to promote health and wellness.
2/22/24
Phius REVIVE 2024 Open for Comment
Phius has debuted its new and improved retrofit standard, Phius REVIVE 2024, and is soliciting public comments on the standard until March 31st.
12/8/23
Passive Resilience Gets Valued
A report commissioned by the U.S. DOE’s Building Technologies Office provides a better understanding of the value of energy efficiency and passive building methodologies.
1/31/24
Figuring Out Deep Retrofits in Real Time
POAH-owned Salem Fairweather is undergoing a deep energy retrofit that utilizes exterior prefabricated panels. If successful, it may become a model for the DER of similar buildings in POAH's portfolio and beyond.
2/9/24
Scottish Schools Mind the Gap
A novel funding mechanism that encourages Passive House construction will help Scotland improve the real-world performance and indoor air quality of its new schools.
3/22/24
From Forest to Frame
Following the progress of the first single-family home to be built using Timber Age's revolutionary mass timber modular system.
2/23/24
Off-Grid Strawbale Home Marries Sustainability with Self-Sufficiency
Designed by Talina Edwards of Envirotecture, the Huff'n'Puff Haus uses an assortment of natural materials, including strawbale, to reduce its embodied carbon.
3/29/24
How Does Passive House Construction Impact Indoor Air Quality?
A team headed by Gabriel Rojas published a review in Energy and Buildings that examines how building to Passive House standards can improve indoor air quality and limit CO2 concentrations.
12/1/23
Early Design Support Helps Two MAP Projects Explore Novel Solutions
NYSERDA's Buildings of Excellence Early Design Support program has given Magnusson Architecture and Planning the opportunity to study novel design solutions for projects in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx.
11/10/23
Comfort Comes to a Dramatic Desert Landscape
Trent Laughton, the architect and builder of a Passive House in California's Morongo Valley, talks about the challenges and rewards of building a high-performance oasis in the desert.
12/15/23
The Passive House Triplets of West Roxbury
Designed by RODE Architects, the trio represent the first three single-family homes in the city of Boston to be certified by the Passive House Institute - and hopefully a look of what's to come in Massachusetts.
1/12/24
Adding High Performance to LA’s Housing
Two homes designed by PARAVANT Architects and built to Passive House standards exemplify how evolving policies, and tastes, are reshaping the urban landscape of Los Angeles.
2/16/24
A Life-Cycle Assessment of a Retrofit
Vancouver-based Carbon Wise conducted an LCA of a retrofit project and explored how materials choices affect high-performance retrofits.
3/15/24
What Is Good Wood? Form Follows Forest
Auri Mas of RMI explores some of the questions designers should be asking as they seek to use "good wood" as a material to lower the embodied carbon of the built environment.
12/20/23
A Blueprint to Decarbonize Affordable Housing
With three projects underway, Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation offers a model to fund retrofits in Massachusetts