Worth 7 AIA LU-HSWs and 7 PHIUS CPHC CEUs / Select sessions worth GBCI CE hours

2018 New Gravity Housing Conference

Thu, 8/2/2018 - Fri, 8/3/2018 - 7:30am - 5:00pm

Temple University, Science Education and Research Center, 1925 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122

Event Overview

The reality of climate change will fundamentally alter the way buildings are designed, built, and operated in the coming decades. At the same time, the need for quality affordable housing that can withstand increasingly extreme and volatile weather continues to grow. 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 cutting edge conference will explore the tools, techniques, and practices that the building community is using to address this challenge.

The two-day conference is worth 7 AIA LU-HSWs and 7 PHIUS CPHC CEUs. Select sessions are worth GBCI CE hours (noted in the online and print program).

There was also a pre-conference workshops on Wednesday, August 1st.

Parking and Transportation

The Science Education and Research Center at Temple University can easily be accessed by foot, bike, and public transportation. Please visit SEPTA's website to explore transit options.

If driving - street parking is available but limited. The Montgomery and Liacouras parking garages, as well as the Cecil B. Moore and Tuttleman open lots are open during the summer (see campus parking garage map).

Chris Benedict, R.A., Architecture for a Changing World

Chris is a registered architect with 30 years of professional experience. Her office, Chris Benedict, R.A., was founded in 1995 and specializes in the design of exceptionally energy efficient buildings. A leader of the Passive House movement in the United States, Chris has designed over 80 apartment buildings in New York City, including three recently completed apartment buildings in New York City designed to meet the Passive House Standard. She has another 15 Passive House buildings on the boards, all designed to cost the same as typical construction.

Chris is a graduate of the Cooper Union where she was inducted into the Cooper Union Hall of Fame. Chris teaches internationally about her groundbreaking work and is a thought leader in the building industry.

Photo Credit: TGS

Steve Bluestone, founder of Passive Dwellings

Steve has worked as a developer, general contractor, and property manager, producing thousands of units of housing and tens of thousands of square feet of retail space. Whether working on single-family homes or very large mixed-use apartment buildings, he has helped produce structures that have reduced energy consumption by 90% and more, others that are net zero, and some that are energy-positive. He has been an industry leader in energy efficiency for decades and continues to pursue his passion of researching new products and systems and introducing innovative building methods. He has spoken at numerous building and energy conferences and continues to share his knowledge to inspire the industry to reduce overall energy and water consumption. Steve recently shifted gears in a big way. He is now manufacturing a new Passive House level prefabricated wall panel system using insulated concrete forms (www.icfpanels.com) that is proving itself to be a major game changer. Incorporating a relatively little known rebar replacement product (www.helixrebar) into the panels is allowing him to offer up the absolutely lowest cost, strongest, and fastest system for building envelopes available in the market.

Holly Glauser, PHFA

Holly is the Director of Development for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. In this capacity, she is responsible for the development and administration of the Agency's multifamily loan programs including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, PennHOMES and taxable and tax-exempt bond financings. Holly has been with PHFA since 1990 and previously served as an Associate Counsel. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Emory University and her Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law.

Hank Keating, AIA

Hank is a registered architect with more than 30 years of experience in the design and construction of residential developments. Recently retired from Trinity Financial (but consulting back on select projects), Hank completed over nine affordable housing developments totaling over 1500 units in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York City. For the last 10 years, he has been engaged with the Passive House movement and designed and completed a passive house for himself while pushing to move Trinity’s large scale affordable projects toward the Passive House Standards.