The 7 Habits of Local, Highly Successful Passive House Organizations – thoughts on resource efficient advocacy

Posted by NYPH , April 3, 2013 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, Passive House Institute

By Bronwyn Barry Over the past five years I've been fortunate to interact with a vast network of Passive House advocates from Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand.  At home in California, I've worked to promote the PH concept both locally at Passive House California, and nationally at the American Passive House Network in coordination with NY Passive House, Passive House Northwest…

NYPH Member to speak at Passive House Conference in Frankfurt

Posted by NYPH , March 26, 2013 - Events, Passive House Institute

On Saturday April 20 NYPH Member Cramer Silkworth of Baukraft Engineering will present a tool for PHPP modeling of multiple zones and/or design options at the Passive House Conference in Frankfurt. Developed in collaboration with David White of Right Environments, the free Excel-based tool coordinates the inputs for any number of design variations and collects key results in one location for easy review. Highly flexible in design, any number of…

Tintin goes Passive

Posted by NYPH , March 19, 2013 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, Passive House Institute

Belgium, the country that brought us Tintin, the reporter-turned detective, is in the midst of another great adventure. Belgium has finally found the culprit in its high energy costs and CO2 emissions which translates directly into loss of money and global warming. The culprit was always hiding right under their nose and worse yet in their homes and places of work: poorly insulated buildings. This was the perfect villain for Tintin to confront with energy savings strategies.…

Brussels: 15 million SF of Passive House in 5 years

Posted by NYPH , February 26, 2013 - Events, General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, Passive House Institute

March 11, 2013 Ms. Joke Dockx, Director for Energy at the Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment (“Brussels Environment”) will explain how Brussels has created a government-private Exemplary Buildings partnership promoting Passive House construction and retrofits.   Since 2007, the Exemplary Buildings partnership has assisted 52 Exemplary Building projects with another 44 under construction (collectively, over 15 million square feet of Passive House buildings). A growing share of the Exemplary…

17th Annual International Passive House Conference

Posted by NYPH , February 12, 2013 - Events, Passive House Institute

Greg Duncan is a Certified Passive House Designer and principal of Gregory Duncan Architect     UPDATE: Early registration discounts extended to March 1 Early registration discounts for the International Passive House Conference in Frankfurt end February 15 March 1, 2013. New York Passive House members at the professional level get additional discounts through our affiliation with the International Passive House Association (iPHA). Click here to become a member of NYPH.…

How three light bulbs help keep my house 72 degrees

Posted by Andreas Benzing , January 29, 2013 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, Technical

How three light bulbs help keep my house 72 degrees  By Doug Mcdonald, NYPH Member It has been cold in January up here in New England. A cold snap moved into the northeastern US, and through it all the interior temperature was maintained at 72 degrees without any active heating - with the notable exception of my tiniest of supplemental heaters, items one doesn't think typically of as heaters at all.  …

International Passive House Open Days 2012

Posted by Andreas Benzing , November 18, 2012 - Events, Passive House Institute, Technical

We opened our Mamaroneck Passive House to the public all day Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 November and had an incredible turn out. Close to 200 people diverted from their week- end routine to come and visit our construction site and see the finished skeleton of the house only waiting for siding outside and for blown in cellulose and Sheetrock inside. Contractors, engineers, realtors, students, manufacturers, the French American School Board…

PHI airtightness maximums compared to current USA airtightness code requirements

Posted by NYPH , October 4, 2012 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, HVAC, Passive House Institute, Technical

By Floris Keverling Buisman, reposted from  Four Seven Five It has been argued by many that the air-sealing requirements set by the Passivhaus Institute are too strict, unrealisticly low and thus too costly. However, the kind people on the other side of the Atlantic have shown that it is not hard to surpass these requirements by far, save both energy and prevent moisture and mold issues in walls. We are starting…

Certified Tradesperson Training in NYC

Posted by NYPH , August 30, 2012 - Events

Certified Passive House Tradesperson Training starts again the AEA Passive House Lab in New York City September 17th.  This five day course provides ideal training for contractors undertaking Passive House level projects and provides them with a Certified Passive House Tradesperson credential issued by the Passive House Institute if successfully completed.   The course offers not only the theory of Passive House methodology but hands-on air tightness and thermal bridge free construction experience in the building…

PHPP Multi-Zone Manager

Posted by Andreas Benzing , August 16, 2012 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, Technical

David White of Right Environments and Cramer Silkworth of Baukraft Engineering have recently released their "PHPP Multi-Zone Manager" to the public. The tool, an Excel spreadsheet and macro, helps coordinate multiple PHPP models for a multiple-zone building or multiple variations on a building for parametric modeling. By centralizing the variable inputs and referencing just one "template" PHPP, you can quickly develop and control multiple models from one place.   From the documentation:…

TWO CHANCES TO WIN the new 2012 PHPP!

Posted by Andreas Benzing , August 2, 2012 - Technical

TWO CHANCES TO WIN the new 2012 PHPP!   The American Passive House Network would like to support and encourage designers to show and share their work with other designers. To build more Passive Houses, designers should have the best tools available and often those new tools are created in our own community. How can we help potential clients choose to build Passive Houses? The success rate of building Passive…

Blowerdoor protocol for verification of 0.6 ACH50 for Passive House

Posted by Andreas Benzing , July 21, 2012 - General Interest - Science & Lifestyle, HVAC, Renewable Elements, Technical, Translucent Elements

By Floris Keverling Buisman,  Four Seven Five Automated blowerdoor test according to EN13829 with DG700 manometer controlled by laptop Building air-tightness that is below 0.6 air changes per hour at 50 pascals pressure (0.6ACH50) is a simple target that the Passive House Institute (PHI) requires for new building certification.  (A retrofit may meet 1.0ACH50 for EnerPHit certification.)  This is a measurement of air flow and not much input or calculations are required…. Just…