Passive House and All-Electric Homes Learning Center

Proper ventilation is essential to making Passive House buildings work and providing high levels of air quality and comfort. This presentation discusses integrating comfort control systems with variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems.  Presented by: Mike Woolsey, Certified Passive House Designer and building systems expert at Swegon North America JS Rancourt, Principle at DXS New England, VRF HVAC specialist   Read more

  Electrification is the buzz word du jour for decarbonization, and it’s pushing policymakers to rethink how they structure everything, from local codes, to energy models, to how they incentive programs focused on high performance buildings. Passive House has always provided a more careful accounting for ‘source energy,’ looking closely at which fuels power which appliances and HVAC equipment, noting that not all source energy is equal. This presentation will delve into how the Passive House standard is structured to support both electrification and decarbonization. We’ll delve into the back end of the Primary Energy Renewables framework. We’ll look at how these renewable source energy factors are derived, how they’re applied to the various active components in buildings. Lastly, we’ll look at how these work for New England using a specific project in PHPP. Presented by: Bronwyn Barry, North American Passive House Association Board President Dylan Martello, Senior Building Systems Consultant, Steven Winter Associates Read more

Presented by Bronwyn Barry, North American Passive House Network Board President This presentation will take a macro view of policies applied to building development, highlighting opportunities available to policymakers to accelerate decarbonization using the Passive House standard. Ms. Barry will look at where and how the Passive House development process fits (or doesn’t fit) within conventional code frameworks. This macro view of the development journey typical for most buildings will identify specific leverage points available to policymakers, highlighting how and where Passive House may be leveraged to drive higher performance, not just for projects targeting Passive House, but for all buildings. She’ll close by reviewing specific policies and programs currently being utilized in North America as onramps to Passive House, sharing why they’re working and how these programs may be adapted for similar local success. Read more

This interactive online four-session workshop series draws on project experience to demonstrate cost-effective planning and design of affordable, low-emission, mid-rise, multifamily, wood-framed housing. Featuring regional case-studies and strategies for Massachusetts and New England.  The solutions presented in this workshop are drawn from the hundreds of affordable multi-unit buildings constructed to the Passive House standard worldwide, because this is the largest cohort of affordable, low-emission, mid-rise, multi-unit housing. While these solutions are taken from multi-unit Passive House buildings, they are equally applicable to buildings constructed to other low-emissions standards. Likewise, while affordable housing projects dominate the case studies presented in this workshop, the patterns apply equally to market- and luxury-housing projects. The curriculum has been prepared by the Energy and Sustainability team at RDH, a team that is consulting to more than five million square feet of Passive House projects, in consultation with Passive House Massachusetts and Mass Save. The workshops will be presented by Monte Paulsen, a veteran Passive House trainer and leader of the RDH Passive House team. Recordings of all workshop sessions are available for a limited time. Register to watch now.  Workshop 1: Guide to a Pattern Language, Form Patterns, Costs, Discussion Workshop 2: Embodied Carbon, Assembly Patterns, Thermal Bridging Patterns, Incentives Workshop 3: Summer Comfort, Shading & Window Patterns, Cooling Patterns, Open Discussion Workshop 4: Ventilation Patterns, Electrification Patterns, Planning Process & Timelines, Wrap-up Discussion   Read more

This innovative virtual "hands-on" training series features presentations and discussion on all aspects of constructing high-performing Passive House buildings. Geared towards general contractors, carpenters, project managers, air sealing and insulation trades, HVAC and plumbing trades, window installers, and quality control specialists - as well as all members of a project team.  Taught by experts from Steven Winter Associates with guidance from Passive House Massachusetts and Mass Save. You may attend all sessions or just the ones that apply to you.  Schedule: (9am to 12pm EST each day) Workshop 1: Intro to PH and Building Envelope Date: 11/20/2020 Workshop 2: Carpentry, Window Installers, Air Barrier, and Insulation Trades Date: 12/04/2020 Workshop 3: HVAC and Plumbing Trades Date: 12/11/2020 Workshop 4: QA/QC Techniques for Ensuring Success Date: 12/18/2020 Continuing education credits available for PHIUS, AIA, and CSL. *CSL credits provided by partner group Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston  Read more

This virtual workshop on air-tightness testing in buildings was conducted remotely by experts from Retrotec in a building air tightness testing simulator. They cover the equipment and software needed to conduct a whole building air tightness test where more than one fan is needed. Topics include test planning, building preparation, equipment set-up, software overviews, and troubleshooting. Live Q&A/discussion included.    Read more