Passive House Community

Join us July 12th, 2023 at 5 pm for the Passive House & Living Future Community Summer Social!

We’re abandoning the Hollywood Squares and getting together face-to-face for some great food & fun at Independence Beer Garden! It is located at 100 S Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!


The Passive House Community is dedicated to making Passive House design and construction mainstream. 

We are architects, engineers, developers, builders, energy modelers, material and equipment suppliers, consultants, designers, and others working to address the climate crisis through the creation of a sustainable built environment. 

Green Building United’s Passive House Community Council coordinates public meetings, trainings, and events throughout the year to educate and advocate around this important topic. We meet on the second Wednesday of every month from 4:00 - 6:00 pm ET. If you are interested in joining, please register here for Zoom meeting access details. All knowledge and experience levels are welcome! 

Contact Emily Smith, co-facilitator, if you have further questions.

Passive House Community Volunteers

Co-Facilitators: Samina Iqbal and Emily Smith

Amy Cornelius | Angela Iraldi | Steve Finkelman | Charles Loomis | Jeannie Bellina | Laura Blau | Neil Goldman | Paul Thompson | Shannon Pendleton | Stephen Wayland

 

Get Involved

Education

Green Building United offers educational opportunities throughout the year, including the Sustainability Symposium and New Gravity Housing Conference. These conferences include Passive House-focused sessions that apply classroom theory to built projects from around the country and address the challenges faced by designers and contractors in the field.

If interested in watching past content, please see our Webinars On-Demand library.

Education is not limited to the classroom!  The Passive House Community sponsors on-site tours of Passive House projects – some completed and certified, some under construction, providing participants with in-the-field training in techniques and technologies being implemented to meet the challenge of getting to the Passive House.  These tours included single and multi-family and commercial construction.

The Passive House movement is growing and with that, the demand for trained and certified designers, verifiers, and builders is growing. Green Building United works with partners to coordinate trainings throughout the year. These courses are intensive, grounded, and collaborative. See our events calendar for details.

Sign up for our newsletter to hear about charrette and other Demonstration Project announcements. 

 

New Gravity Housing Conference

Building healthy, safe, and accessible places to live that will both limit and adapt to climate impacts is a key challenge for the 21st century. This annual event explores the tools, techniques, and practices that the building community is using to address the need for quality affordable housing that can withstand increasingly extreme and volatile weather. Stay tuned for more info!

Resources

Passive Rowhouse Manual Project

This ongoing project focuses on how to make any existing rowhouse a Passive House. Detailing window selection and installation, air sealing and insulation, plumbing, HVAC systems and renewal energy options, the Manual takes you step-by-step with your designers and consultants to reach peak performance and reduce your energy loads to near zero. Check out the Manual here and watch the first and second films in our series meant to show real life examples of Passive House in action.

2020-2021 Habitat for Humanity Demonstration Project

We collaborated with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia (Habitat) to further their goal of offering an
increased volume of affordable, high-performance housing. The Demonstration Project involved our joint communities to dream about, design, and generate an affordable passive house alternative for Habitat to use the existing Oxford
Green Community Model. Check out the final report here.

 

Passive House and the Sustainable Development Guide

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are important drivers for improving the lives of all creatures, preserving the environment, and setting a course of action for all of us to participate in that preservation and improvement. Passive House supports the goals of the SDGs by being an amazing tool to in the effort to lower energy consumption, improve indoor air quality and occupant health, and reduce carbon emissions and other green house gases. Check out how Passive House and the UN SDGs align! For more information visit Passipedia.

 

sdgsinfographic

Passive House News and Events


 

We are proud to partner with two incredible organizations focused on Passive House.

North American Passive House Network (NAPHN)

NAPHN is a non-profit educational organization that works to transform the built environment, using the tools developed by the Passive House Institute, in a critical effort to combat global warming. They provide training, conferences, and other events to both engage and educate design and building professionals, policymakers, and the general public. NAPHN supports the success and vitality of the Passive House community.

Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS)

PHIUS trains and certifies professionals, maintains the PHIUS+ climate-specific passive building standard, certifies and quality assures passive buildings, and conducts research to advance high-performance building. PHIUS is committed to making high-performance passive building the mainstream market standard. 


 

Resources We Love

  • Mass Save Passive House Learning Center

The Sponsors of Mass Save®, in partnership with Passive House Massachusetts, have launched a Passive House Training offer to support workforce development and market transformation in the energy efficiency and building construction industries in Massachusetts. The goal is to enhance the skill set of the energy efficiency workforce in Massachusetts by offering no-cost trainings and 50% cost reimbursements of PHIUS/PHI accreditation training. You can keep up with the growing demand for high-performance housing and become certified as a Passive House builder, consultant, designer, rater, verifier, or tradesperson. Check out the Mass Save website and the Passive House Online Learning Center to learn more about the Mass Save® Passive House Training.

Green Building United Legacy Partners

Green Building United Platinum Partners

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