Category: Learning Resource

Energy Efficiency made Simple

Changing the way we design and construct the built environment through example, education and innovation.

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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Prefabricated and Factory Built

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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PASSIVE HOUSE PAST, PASSIVE HOUSE FUTURE

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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Video: Tim McDonald on Making Multifamily Passive House a Reality

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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11 great reasons why Passive House is such a great green building standard

When considering a building standard there are eleven complimentary reasons to choose the Passive House Standard. 1.  It fundamentally addresses the climate crisis imperative.  To mitigate the worst effects of climate change we are required to decarbonize our economies while meeting the demands of global development.  Passive House does this by providing the same low…
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Why Building Resilience is the Future of Sustainable Building

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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7.3 Million Homes at Risk of 2019 Hurricane Storm Surge Damage with $1.8 Trillion in Potential Reconstruction Costs, According to CoreLogic Report

CORELOGIC, the CoreLogic logo, RQE and PXPoint are trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its 2019 CoreLogic Storm Surge report, which shows more than 7.3 million single- and multifamily homes along the…
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Hankin Lecture highlights small shifts to create big changes in housing industry

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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On-Site vs. Off-Site: a Deeper Dive

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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On-Site vs. Off-Site: a Total Cost Analysis

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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