There’s some interesting changes going on at the Department of Energy: The new 45L provisions include two tiers of credits, with the higher credits for eligible homes and dwelling units certified to applicable ZERH program requirements. The Inflation Reduction Act 45L credit is $1,000 for apartment dwelling units that are part of a building eligible to…
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The savings to be realized by Passive House architecture are exponentially increased when we build institutional and commercial projects. We are pleased to have one of the most experienced commercial/institutional Passive House architects in the world as our founder. Adam Cohen brings thirty years of experience as both a builder and an architect. He has…
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With demand for Passive House-quality panels and modules on the rise, the factories producing these goods are expanding in number, capacity, and production. Most are new businesses producing Passive House-performance exterior wall, floor, and roof panels. Yet a strong contingent of existing businesses are also growing their product lines to include higher-performance, thermal-bridge-free Passive House…
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At this decadal-shifting, stock-taking moment, where is Passive House headed? On the one hand, Passive House building—like other parts of the clean energy transition—is growing at an exponential rate. In the United States, for example, it is doubling every year (based on PHUIS+ project data). That is heartening! On the other hand, the market share…
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This presentation was recorded on October 8th, 2019 for the Passive House Rocky Mountian monthly online roundtable, a regular event typically on the first Tuesday featuring a wide range of speakers and topics related to Passive House and low carbon buildings. The goal of Zero Carbon Multifamily starts with Passive House Tim McDonald is the President and…
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Hurricane Michael. Superstorm Sandy. The Phuket Tsunami. The Nepal Earthquake. Super Typhoon Haiyan. Whenever and wherever a natural disaster wreaks havoc in the world, sustainability and building resilience, a.k.a. resilient design, becomes the topic of conversation amongst architects, builders, and contractors. Yet the two, while equally important, are not synonyms. A newsfeed populated with catastrophic images of death and…
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Original Post by Passive House California California’s Codes and Standards (CASE) team issued their review of PHCA’s low-rise multifamily Reach Code proposal last week and the results are remarkable. We’ve posted the full report on our website for those who want all the details, but for those wanting a high level summary, here it is: PHCA is now working…
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Original Story Published On Penn State News by Rachel Fawcett UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Timothy McDonald, president and co-founder of Onion Flats LLC in Philadelphia, will deliver the 2019 Hankin Distinguished Lecture, titled “Leverage Points: Climate Change and the Imperative of Affordable Housing,” at 4 p.m. Nov. 13 in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium at…
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Closer analysis of total cost leads to the ultimate concept of “total value” in home building After working a variety of construction jobs and for a large commercial lumber dealer in my youth, I cut my teeth after college at U.S. Steel, then Motorola—low-tech and high-tech manufacturing, respectively. I truly saw the good, the bad,…
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Most builders and component suppliers do a marginal job of calculating true, fully loaded, total cost when comparing various methods. It’s time to remedy that The articles, columns, seminars, and social media posts describing how off-site construction methods will revolutionize home building continue unabated. With labor shortages once again polling near the top of home builder concerns,…
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