Author: Nikki Goad (iPHA) For someone outside the building sector, many of the shorthand symbols frequently used in Passive House related content – including educational videos, press releases, webinars, and even some of our other blog posts – can be quite confusing. What the heck is a U-value? What are all those different subscripts? And what the heck is this symbol -> Ψ? Don’t fret. We will get into all…
Product Showcase | The Story of Supplying Passive House Components
Laundry Rooms are Complicated: Integrating Vented Clothes Dryers in Multifamily Passive House Projects
This post was originally produced by the Passive House Group at Steven Winter Associates (SWA). Read more on the SWA Blog. Common laundry rooms are typically provided in market rate and affordable multifamily buildings. Because there are no ventless clothes dryers available for commercial use in North America (such as condensing or heat pump dryers), Passive House (PH) projects must make do with standard coin-operated, conventional vented clothes dryers. With a…
Dublin City Council Votes to Make Passive House Standard Mandatory
Dublin City Council has voted to make the passive house standard or demonstrably equivalent evidence-based approaches mandatory for all new buildings in the city, after a similar policy was enacted in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in February. (From Passive House Plus Magazine) On 30 May the council met to discuss the chief executive’s report on the public consultation in response to the first draft of the development plan, which included…
New Passive House Classes Presented at Vancouver Conference
Criteria combining energy efficiency and renewables take immediate effect (Press Release, Passive House Institute, 7 October 2015) [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="771"] Photo Credit: Passive House Institute[/caption] Darmstadt, Germany. Clearly-defined criteria for combining the international Passive House Standard with renewable energy sources are now applicable: the Passive House Institute's new guidelines for building evaluation have come into effect with the introduction of a new version of the planning tool PHPP at…
Designing Sustainable Buildings Made Fun: Enhanced Planning Tool Released
English version of PHPP 9 to be presented at NAPHN Conference in Vancouver (Press Release, Passive House Institute, 16 September 2015) [caption id="attachment_5546" align="alignright" width="397"] Photo Credit: Passive House Institute / Cyrill Rückner, Oliver Rückner, Andreas Gäde[/caption] Darmstadt, Germany. The tried and tested PHPP tool for designing energy efficient buildings is available in a brand-new version. This upgrade not only allows reliable calculation of the energy demand in accordance with…
Compete in the AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE) Awards 2015
The AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE) Awards recognizes results-oriented achievements in the urban context. Winning submissions demonstrate processes that culminate in beautiful, timeless, and measurable design. AWARDS SCHEDULE: August 5, 2015 - Launch October 9, 2015 - Submissions Due November 11, 2015 - Winners Announced December 7, 2015 - Winners Presentation ABOUT THE AIANY COTE AWARDS: The awards will further sustainable design in the architectural profession, make transparent lessons learned,…
Monitoring Confirms Energy Efficiency of Passive House City District
Press Release, Passive House Institute, 1 September 2015 Report on measurements in Heidelberg’s Bahnstadt project now available online Passive House City District in Heidelberg, Germany (Image Credit: Passive House Institute) Darmstadt, Germany. The Passive House district of Bahnstadt in Heidelberg (Germany) has passed the test: according to a report on recent measurements, the values being strived for in relation to energy efficiency were met in full. In 2014, the…
Component Award announced for ventilation in residential buildings
Press Release, Passive House Institute, 11 August 2015 Innovators in the field of cost-effective systems for broad application to be honored [caption id="attachment_5342" align="aligncenter" width="779"] Ventilation With Heat Recovery (Image Credit: Passive House Institute)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5341" align="alignright" width="300"] Component Award 2016 (Image Credit: Passive House Institute)[/caption] Darmstadt, Germany. Ventilation with heat recovery is absolutely essential in energy efficient construction. The application of such systems in practice often fails due…
NAPHN15 Conference & Expo – Register Before August for Best Price
There are many reasons to attend NAPHN15 October 1-2 in Vancouver BC. It has the best Passive House program of any building conference in the Western Hemisphere - ever: http://naphn15.canphi.ca/schedule/. No fluff. No BS. Early bird ticket sale ends August 1st so don't wait and register here. 38 speakers confirmed - Passive House designers, builders, sustainability experts and policy advisors from around the world Keynote speaker - Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Director for Centre…
Call for Papers for the International Passive House Conference 2016
Forum for energy efficient construction returns to Darmstadt on its anniversary (Press Release, Passive House Institute, 29 July 2015) "Darmstadt, Germany. Big anniversary for the International Passive House Conference: from 22 to 23 April 2016 this central event for energy efficient construction will take place for the twentieth time running. Experts from around the world can now submit their abstracts for the conference program. A special focus of the event…
NAPHN Passive House Windows Workshop Series
The Windows of Change are Blowing When the first Passive House was built in Darmstadt, Germany, there was not a single window on the market that met the stringent Passive House performance requirements. Fast forward to today, and the situation is vastly different: a robust European market with over 200 certified Passive House window products. In Canada and the US, the Passive House market is heating up. With countless low,…
