The 2012 Passive House Symposium is a one day exploration of the many Passive House projects underway in the New York City area.  The symposium will demonstrate how local architects, builders and owners are meeting the demanding Passive House standard, and making a substantive contribution to New York's climate change mitigation efforts.

Passive House is an international building standard that affordably achieves the very highest levels of comfort and indoor air quality while reducing heating energy costs by up to 90%.  Passive House was formalized in Germany in the early 1990s by Dr. Wolfgang Feist and the Passive House Institute - and has a proven track record of accurately predicting and delivering building performance.  Passive House offers a clear, sustainable and affordable path for combating climate change.

The event facility opens at 8:30AM with opening remarks at 9AM.

Become a NYPH member:  Professional Membership in NYPH also provides the added benefit of membership in the International Passive House Association and access to their global Passive House Institute resources.    Join here.

• NYPH Members (and students):  $20
• General Public/Guests: $40
• At the door (for all): $50

Note to students:  sign-up as NYPH member.  Status will be verified at entry.

Beverages and lunch included.

Register Now!

5.5 hours of NY State Professional Education Credits can be earned.

Event in brief:

9am Welcome

Passive House: a global standard, Tomas O'Leary, Passive House Academy (PHA) Founder and Director.   Tomas will describe the latest developments at the Passive House Institute (PHI), and PH activities generally in Europe - including the Frontrunner Region of Brussels, where they've gone from no Passive Houses to over 1mill square feet in just a few years and how New York fits into this worldwide effort. 

Certified Passive House:  Architect Bill Ryall and Passive House consultant David White will present their completed project Orient Point, a new building on Long Island recently certified by PHI.   

Short Break

Project roundtable:  Architects Julie Torres Moskovitz and  Andreas Benzing describe retrofit projects.  Paul Castrucci on ABC NoRio: PH, a tight urban site.  and Chris Benedict on doing PH in NY.

Noon Lunch

Passive Passion: during the lunch break a 20 minute documentary on Passive House by Charlie Hoxie - featuring New York area practitioners - will be presented. See the trailer here.  A copy of the documentary can be purchased here.

Certified Passive House:  Omega Institute.  Architect Stephanie Bassler presents this upstate institutional new construction/addition certified in Fall of 2011.

Project Slam: (4) PechaKucha 20x20 presentations: Stas Zakrzewski:  PH in France, and what construction there can show us here.  Wendy Ing: Facing thermal bridges in an upstate home. Ken Levenson: rowhouse, multi-family & country house, Chris Steffens:  Data collection in PH buildings

Short Break  

Project roundtable:   Jeremy Shannon on Landmarks and PH.  Gennaro Brooks-Church on radical sustainability.  Engineers Jordan Goldman on New England PH: commonalities and differences and Lois Arena on assembly selection for upstate housing. Greg Duncan on commercial PH in Brooklyn: concerns beyond residential buildings.

 Closing remarks

4:30pm Drinks and networking nearby

Speaker Bios:

Andreas Benzing, founder of a.m.Benzing architects pllc is a LEED AP, BPI Certified Building Analyst, Envelope Professional, and a Certified Passive House Consultant. He is an adjunct professor at Parsons the New School.

Charlie Hoxie, documentary filmmaker, producer and editor.

Chris Benedict is a licensed Architect in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Washington D.C.   Her firm, Architecture and Energy Limited, specializes in healthy, durable and efficient buildings.  Chris teaches about energy efficiency and sustainable practices to professionals and students.

Christopher Steffens is the principal of Lightmill Design, providing lighting, energy and controls consulting services.  Christopher consulted for the "Empowerhouse" entry tor the DOE 2011 Solar Decathlon.  Christopher is an adjunct professor at Parsons The New School for Design in New York.  

David White, through his office Right Environments, designs enclosures and mechanical systems for  buildings.  He is an assistant professor at Parsons the New School for Design and is working with PHI on adaptation of the PHPP to humid climates.

Gennaro Brooks-Church is director of NYC green building company Eco Brooklyn.  He is a NY licensed Real Estate Broker, Certified EcoBroker®, National Sustainable Advisor Program, LEED AP and Passive House builder. He is also an educator, lifetime builder and author of the Build It Forward and Zero Building concepts. 

Greg Duncan, is principal of Greg Duncan Architect in Brooklyn.   He is a Registered Architect, LEED AP and a Certified Passive House Designer.

Jeremy Shannon is principal of Prospect Architecture, PC, and an owner of Prospect Development and Construction in Brooklyn. He is  a LEED AP, BPI Envelope, Heating, and Multifamily Specialist, and a Certified Passive House Consultant.  

Jordan Goldman is an engineer practicing for ZeroEnergy Design.  He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, a LEED AP, a Verifier for NAHB’s National Green Building Standard, and a HERS Rater. 

Julie Torres Moskovitz is founder of Fabrica718, based in Brooklyn. She is a visiting professor at Pratt Graduate School of Interior Design, a Certified Passive House Tradesperson and LEED AP. 

Ken Levenson is an architect, Certified Passive House Designer and founding partner in 475 High Performance Building Supply.

Lois Arena works for Steven Winter Associates, Inc. on the Department of Energy’s Building America program, and conducts advanced systems research. She holds Passive House, BPI and RESNET certifications.

Paul Castrucci, is a principal at Paul A. Castrucci Architect in NYC - a Passive House design firm.  Paul is also a partner at Red Industries, LLC, a design build/low energy development company.

Stephanie Arwen Bassler incorporated North River Architecture & Planning, PC in 2009.  She is licensed to practice architecture in the State of New York, is a LEED Accredited Professional, and is a Certified Passive House Designer.

Stas Zakrzewski,  is licensed in the state of New York, a Certified Passive House Designer and partner at Z+H Architects.

Tomas O'Leary is a co-founder of the Passive House Academy, a dedicated Passive House training and building certification company which is fully accredited by the Passivhaus Institut. PHA has trained Certified Passive House Consultants across the US - recently the Certified PH Tradesperson training in NYC.  Tomas is currently Certifying several (25+) Passive House projects across the US.

Wendy Ing has worked in architecture in Europe before opening up businesses in New York.  Wendy is a Certified Passive House Consultant and is designing a private residence in upstate New York.   

William Ryall  is a LEED AP and a Certified Passive House Consultant.  Bill is a founding partner of Ryall Porter Sheridan Architects in NYC.