Board Members & Team

Adina S Banayan

Adina S Banayan, Assoc. AIA is the Lead Architectural Designer and Sustainability Manager for Promont's Development and Construction Group. She also works in Promont's sister companies: Latitude Compliance (ESG + Local Law 97 Compliance) and Smarcon (BIM Coordination). She graduated from Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture of CCNY with a double major in architecture and studio art, focusing on urban planning, sustainability, and climate change governance. Adina is a proactive professional that takes the initiative to be a part of the sustainable, regenerative, and interactive future of architecture and construction. She volunteers for the Open Air Collective, advocating for net-zero and negative emissions local policies, is on the Board of Directors of American Institute of Architects WHV Chapter, and leads the Sustainability Committee. ×

Sara A Bayer

Sara A. Bayer is an Associate Principal and Director of Sustainability at Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP), where she manages many of the firm's most energy efficient multifamily housing projects. She also leads studio-wide efforts to design for passive house, implement broader carbon reduction methods, and incorporate healthy building systems and materials. This work includes nine NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence Competition winners and two NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence Early Design Phase studies. Sara was certified CPHC in 2016, serves on the board of New York Passive House and is a frequent contributor in forums such as Urban Green, AIANY, ASHRAE, NESEA, BEEX, and PHA; striving to make sustainable, healthy, and uplifting design achievable for all. ×

Amy Failla

Amy Failla is a Principal Architect at Baxt Ingui Architects, P.C. and has been with the firm since 2007. She has been an integral member to creating the firm’s systematic approach to building Passive House and has completed two certified EnerPhit single family projects. One of those two projects is the first Certified Passive House in a New York City Landmark District which was graciously awarded the AIA Brooklyn and Queens Design Award of Excellence and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Building Brooklyn Award for Historic Restoration. In her practice, she aims to balance the highest quality of design with sustainability and to work collaboratively with the clients, builders, and consultants to find innovative solutions to fulfill their needs. As a certified Passive House Designer (CPHD) she has been thoroughly involved in numerous Passive House educational events, conferences and seminars, some of which have been hosted by Baxt Ingui Architects. ×

Todd Kimmel

Todd Kimmel is the Chief Executive Officer for Schoeck North America and Chairperson of the Rainscreen Association in North America (RAiNA). He has over 20 years of experience working on façade systems and the building enclosure, holding technical and business development leadership positions for multiple leading product manufacturers. He is a certified passive house designer and currently sits on the board of directors for New York Passive House (NYPH). ×

Louis Koehl

Louis Koehl is the Director of Sustainable Design at Handel Architects, where he is responsible for advancing the firm’s mission of industry leadership in sustainable design by supporting strategic initiatives focused on aspirational goals. He serves as both a resource to the office and the development community. Mr. Koehl’s projects at Handel Architects include the world’s largest fully affordable Passive House Building, Sendero Verde in East Harlem; a new dormitory for the University of Toronto, which will be the largest Passive House dormitory in the world; and Winthrop Center, a mixed-use project in Boston which will include 812,000 SF of Passive House commercial space and 604,000 SF of LEED Platinum residential space. Louis is a registered architect in the State of New York and a Certified Passive House Designer. He received his Master of Architecture from Columbia University after receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Kentucky. ×

George Kontaroudis

George is a Registered Architect, LEED Accredited Professional and a Certified Passivehouse Designer. He is currently the Principal Architect with newly founded kw/h architecture, a practice that focuses on Passivehouse and socially equitable design. George serves as the Vice-Chair of New York Passivehouse, where he also co-chairs the Policy Committee. In 2020, he became a Climate Reality Leader in Al Gore's organization, the Climate Reality Project. He teaches design at the New School, Sustainability courses at Pratt Institute and the University of Oklahoma, and is an instructor with the Building Energy Exchange, where he teaches courses on Passivehouse and the Climate Mobilization Act. George regularly writes and talks in public about Passivehouse and the benefits of high-performance building. He holds a degree in Architecture from The Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London. ×

Buck Moorhead

Buck Moorhead is a licensed architect in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland and is an International Certified Passive House Designer (CPHD) and a North American Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). Buck graduated from University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and designed structures with trombe walls, double wall houses, active solar hot water heaters funded by Jimmy Carter’s programs, and visited the sustainable community efforts in California and Oregon. Upon arriving in NYC in 1980, Buck worked initially with Proposition: Architecture,P.C., primarily on the adaptive reuse of existing commercial and manufacturing buildings to residential lofts in Lower Manhattan. Buck founded Buck Moorhead Architect in 1984. The firm has worked on a very diverse range of projects over the years, coming from Buck’s never-ending curiosity to design at different scales and within a variety of building types. Combining an academic background in economics, education, and linguistics from Worcester University and Boston University with over two decades of construction experience, he focuses on helping builders and architects transition from baseline practices to designing and building more responsibly, resulting in higher-performance, healthier, more efficient and comfortable homes built to Zero-Net-Energy and Passivhaus standards. ×

Sebastian Moreno-Vacca

Sebastian Moreno-Vacca is architect and the founding member of www.A2M.be. His firm designs regenerative architecture for people and for the planet operating at the crossroads of science, art, and technology, demonstrating for years that we can not only limit our impact on the environment but go beyond, to the point of regenerating it Since starting A2M in 2000, Sebastian has led it to international recognition through his knowledge-building in sustainable practices and his long tenure as president of the Board of the Belgian Passive House Association. Since 2006, he has also been teaching architecture at ULB university in Brussels. In 2009, he co-founded and edited the quarterly magazine ‘be.passive’. In 2015 he helped Brussels to become the first region in world to adopt Passivehouse as the norm for all new build and retrofit. For over 18 years, he has been a regular lecturer for several professional networks (architects, engineers, builders and developers), offering an extensive set of presentations, conferences and training all over the world. A2M is headquartered in Brussels and has offices in Luxembourg and in New York through its sister company, M2A. ×

Crystal Ng

Passionate about the capacity of low-carbon design to help build a more equitable society, Crystal Ng is Director of Sustainability at Curtis+Ginsberg Architects. She leads many of the firm’s Passive House and LEED projects and directs C+GA’s commitment to meeting the AIA 2030 Challenge. She was recognized as one of Crain’s 2023 Notable Leaders in Sustainability. Her work to advance high performance design directly contributed to C+GA’s 2021 Ivory Prize for Innovation in Affordable Housing. Crystal has degrees in architecture and urban design from Columbia University and the University of Southern California and currently teaches in the Building Energy Exchange’s Passive House Primer Program. ×

Jane Sanders

Jane Sanders is the Director of Sustainability at Henson Architecture. She has been a certified Passive House Designer since 2011 and a Registered Architect since 1995. Her work focuses on Passive House retrofits of historic buildings and phased building upgrades to comply with Local Law 97. She recently completed a Passive House retrofit of a pre-war apartment as a repeatable unitized strategy. Before Joining Henson, she had her own urban residential practice for over fifteen years where she completed 3 EnerPHit Certified Passive House rowhouse retrofits. Prior to that, she specialized in historic preservation and adaptive reuse for 12 years at Jan Hird Pokorny Associates. Jane was selected by the Department of Buildings to serve as a member of the 2019 NYCECC Residential Advisory Committee. She is a member of the AIA NY Committee on the Environment, the AIA NY Historic Buildings Committee, the Association for Preservation Technology, and the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing & Historic Buildings. Jane was a co-organizer of AIA and APT panel discussions exploring case studies in carbon reduction for modern heritage buildings. Jane lives in an EnerPHit certified Passive House in Brooklyn and frequently gives tours of her house to students, potential clients, and the general public to promote Passive House. ×

Max G. Wolf

Max Wolf is a Built Environment Innovation Scientist at Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), is a registered Professional Engineer and Architect in New York State, and Certified Passive House Designer with Passive House Institute. As a member of AIA NY Committee on the Environment, the Board of Governors representing the public interest at the Insulating Glass Certification Council (IGCC), and the SOM Enclosure Group, Max researches and advocates for strategies and products that minimize environmental impacts of the built environment and that reintegrate it with the often fragmented and degraded ecosystems on which they depend with an overall focus on an eighty percent or greater reduction in anthropogenic greenhouse gases by 2050 in order to level off global warming and ocean acidification. To this end, he continues to strongly support Local Law 97, passive house design principles, and passive house certification as a pathway to code compliance, and to design practice innovations that minimize embodied and operational carbon in a manner consistent with the rapid phasing out of fossil fuels and petrochemical-based products. In parallel with research and development, Max provides building science analysis for a range of project types including Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, Montgomery County Justice Center and New York Public Health Lab. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering summa cum laude from The Cooper Union and a Master of Architecture from Pratt Institute. ×

Victoria Yee

Vicki Yee specializes in energy modeling and certification design support for Passive House projects in NYC. She coordinates with multidisciplinary teams on high-performance projects with the latest cutting-edge technology in the industry. Her design guidance on the envelope and mechanical systems is integral to project planning and implementation throughout design and construction. Her experience in Passive House includes all-electric buildings, carbon neutral ready community developments, multifamily new construction, mixed-use, and affordable housing. Vicki also serves on the Board of Directors at New York Passive House, where she focuses on inclusion, equity, and diversity initiatives. ×

Andreas M. Benzing

Andreas M. Benzing is a practicing architect, teacher, and social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of New York Passive House, and in 2015 received the prestigious Urban Green Council’s National EBie Award "Power to the People" in recognition of the greatest percentage reduction in building energy use. Mr. Benzing was appointed by the Department of Buildings Commissioner to serve on the 2015 and 2019 New York City Energy Conservation Code (NYCECC) Residential Advisory Committee, and served on Manhattan`s Community Board 5, Land Use & Zoning committee. As founder and Senior Partner of a.m.Benzing architects pllc, he personally directs the design of each of the firm's projects. Mr. Benzing developed his tireless work ethic at the famous Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, where he received his Master of Architecture degree in 1998. He was awarded the European Erasmus Scholarship and studied architecture with Professor Giorgio Grassi at the Politecnico di Milano. Mr. Benzing established his career at O.M.Ungers, and Hans Kollhoff in Berlin, Germany learning the craft of the architectural profession. He founded a.m.Benzing architects pllc in 2006 with the expressed goal of integrating high performance Passive House building systems with architectural excellence. Mr. Benzing is a distinguished faculty member and Part-Time Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design, teaching Environmental Design and Design Studio to the next generation of architects. He developed a successful course integrating environmental control systems with studies in tectonic culture. Mr. Benzing cultivated a deep commitment to Passive House while serving as President and Executive Director at New York Passive House. He is licensed to practice Architecture in New York State and Germany, and became a Certified Passive House Designer in 2009. He is a LEED Accredited Professional and has specialized training from the Building Performance Institute. Follow on LinkedIn ×

Kendall Rocco

Kendall Rocco graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Supply Chain Management and recently started her own business, White Palm Marketing. Kendall is a creative, brand strategist who has a passion for providing custom-tailored marketing approaches for any sized business from start-ups to large corporations. After watching the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, Kendall wanted to create a solution for best marketing practices in various sectors. Her goal with White Palm Marketing is to form a lasting legacy, by challenging herself and others to practice excellence. The combination of her background in Supply Chain Management and Marketing allows her to bring a unique perspective into the marketing industry. Kendall is excited to promote and share the story of Passive House’s mission for a healthy, comfortable and energy-built environment. ×

Ania Diduch

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Katia Lucuy

Katia Lucuy is a Bolivian Architect and a LEED accredited professional, in 2017 she received a Fulbright Scholarship and moved to New York City to continue her education. In 2019 she graduated from CCNY with her degree of Master in Sustainability, her studies focused on sustainability, resilience, and urban environment. In 2020 she began her internship at HWL international where she currently works with the Materials-Technology department while also collaborating with the Sustainability branch of the firm. She has been involved in LEED projects and healthier material initiatives that pursue a better quality of life for users by selecting sustainable materials that prove to be harmless for human health. Katia has recently been involved in Embodied Carbon calculations where trade offs of high-performance buildings can be reflected. She is passionate about Passive House and believes it is the most noble way to make architecture. She joined the team to help spread the word in a way that Passive House becomes the norm of design worldwide. ×

Rose Morrison

Rose Morrison is a freelance writer with a passion for sustainable building and innovative construction technologies. She is the managing editor of Renovated and regularly contributes to a number of reputable sites, such as NCCER, The Safety Mag, and Geospatial World. For more from Rose, you can follow her on Twitter. ×

Alisia Colon

Hi, my name is Alisia Colon. I recently graduated with the spring class of 2021. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Central Florida. I was introduced to Passive House principles during my senior year in college while competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, where I developed a passion for high-performance building design. In June I moved to NYC to work as a building system analyst at Steven winter Associates, specializing in field support for PHI and PHIUS projects. I am looking forward to getting involved in the NYPH organization and meeting likeminded people in the industry. ×

Caleb Crawford

Caleb Crawford is an architect who constantly seeks to reconcile his loyalty to issues of energy and the environment with his dedication to design and the visual arts. He studied fine arts at the University of Michigan and film at Hunter College before completing a Bachelor of Architecture degree at Pratt Institute and a Master of Architecture degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). In 1996 he established Coggan + Crawford Architecture + Design with his partner Annie Coggan. In 2019 Coggan and he founded Chairs + Buildings Studio. Professor Crawford has been teaching since 1994, and has taught at Pratt Institute, Penn State, Mississippi State, the City College of New York, and the School of Visual Arts. Caleb is a registered architect in New York State, a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design and Construction (LEED AP BD+C), and a Certified Passive House Designer (CPHD). ×

Thomas M. Eisele

THOMAS M. EISELE is the founder of Eisele Architects, a design and consulting firm in New York City. He is an urban planner, licensed architect, LEED Accredited Professional, Certified Passive House Designer, member of the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Adaptation Professionals. He has over 37 years of professional experience on building and planning projects around the world. From 2010 to 2019, Tom was Senior Policy Advisor in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability (MOS) and the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency (MOR) drafting local laws amending the city’s construction codes, zoning resolution and environmental regulations. Tom also created work force development programs, and policies addressing environmental justice. He has acted as principal drafter of over 60 local laws. Tom worked with MOS to develop methodologies for tracking building energy consumption and establish metrics for this purpose, including the targets for mandated Greenhouse Gas Emissions caps for buildings as part of the city’s Climate Mobilization Act. After Hurricane Sandy, Tom worked with the city’s Department of Buildings on updates to flood-resistant construction requirements of the NYC Building Code. He also served on the Technical Review Committee in the city’s Housing Recovery Office (HRO) to help homeowners rebuild after the disaster. ×

Hao Li

Hao Li is the founder of Multipliciti, a platform that helps sustainable builders procure energy-efficient building materials. Prior to founding Multipliciti, Hao has worked as an architectural designer at SOM, Büro Ole Scheeren, AECOM for notable projects globally, such as Moynihan Station, LIRR Concourse, Burj Jumeira tower and many more. Hao holds a M.S. in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, a Master of Architecture and B.S. in Architecture from Northeastern University. While pursuing an architect license and building her business, Hao is excited to join the NY Passive House team to help extend the influence of passive house standards in the industry and for the general public. ×

Ed May

Ed May is a licensed Architect and a LEED Green Associate. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2001 and a Masters of Architecture from Parsons the Newschool in NYC in 2009. Ed has been an Adjunct Professor at Parsons the NewSchool University as well an Industry Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ where he directed the 2015 ‘Solar Decathlon’ program. Ed teaches with the Passive House Academy the North American Passive House Network, and Passive House Canada and is certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Germany and the Passive House Institute of the US (PHIUS) as a Certified Passive House Consultant. ×

John Mitchell

John Mitchell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College in 1996 and a Masters of Architecture from Parsons the Newschool in NYC in 2009. John has worked for both Parsons the NewSchool and Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. John also teaches with the Passive House Academy and the North American Passive House Network. John is certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) and the Passive House Institute of the US (PHIUS) as a Certified Passive House Consultant. ×

Victoria Yee

Vicki Yee is a building systems analyst with 3+ years of experience in consulting, research, and sustainable development. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering and Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where she developed her passion for high-performance building design. ×

Ken Levenson

Ken graduated from Pratt Institute in 1989 and has been a registered architect in New York State since 1993. Ken is a Certified Passive House Designer, a founding board member of New York Passive House, the National Passive House Alliance and the North American Passive House Network. Ken is a founding partner at 475 High Performance Building Supply. ×

Andreas M. Benzing

Andreas M. Benzing is a practicing architect, teacher, and social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of New York Passive House, and in 2015 received the prestigious Urban Green Council’s National EBie Award "Power to the People" in recognition of the greatest percentage reduction in building energy use. Mr. Benzing was appointed by the Department of Buildings Commissioner to serve on the 2015 and 2019 New York City Energy Conservation Code (NYCECC) Residential Advisory Committee, and served on Manhattan`s Community Board 5, Land Use & Zoning committee. As founder and Senior Partner of a.m.Benzing architects pllc, he personally directs the design of each of the firm's projects. Mr. Benzing developed his tireless work ethic at the famous Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, where he received his Master of Architecture degree in 1998. He was awarded the European Erasmus Scholarship and studied architecture with Professor Giorgio Grassi at the Politecnico di Milano. Mr. Benzing established his career at O.M.Ungers, and Hans Kollhoff in Berlin, Germany learning the craft of the architectural profession. He founded a.m.Benzing architects pllc in 2006 with the expressed goal of integrating high performance Passive House building systems with architectural excellence. Mr. Benzing is a distinguished faculty member and Part-Time Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design, teaching Environmental Design and Design Studio to the next generation of architects. He developed a successful course integrating environmental control systems with studies in tectonic culture. Mr. Benzing cultivated a deep commitment to Passive House while serving as President and Executive Director at New York Passive House. He is licensed to practice Architecture in New York State and Germany, and became a Certified Passive House Designer in 2009. He is a LEED Accredited Professional and has specialized training from the Building Performance Institute. ×

Stas Zakrzewski

Stas Zakrzewski is a NYC Architect whose work focuses on integrating sustainable practices into traditional design thinking. As a multiyear board member of New York Passive House, Stas has been active in advocating for the Passive House standard with local government and regulatory agencies. Most recently this work has included meeting with LPC officials and window manufacturers to facilitate inclusion of Passive House Windows at staff level. Stas has also had an active role in NYPH’s work with the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. This outreach has aimed to catalyze the One City Built to Last report into Passive House development in the region. Beyond his work as a NYPH board member and committee chair, Stas is a principal at ZH Architects and has been a CPHD since 2011. ZH is currently working on several Passive House projects in the NYC region ranging from a 20 story residential high-­‐rise, to a 10 story mixed use condo, to single family homes. This range of work has been informative in understanding the hurdles and opportunities available from the current code and regulatory climate. Moving forward, Stas is excited to capitalize on recent developments and City mandates to further ease the way for Passive House construction. ×