Passive House Featured in New York Times

Herb Swanson for The New York Times

Above the fold in today's Sunday Business section, Can We Build in a Brighter Shade of Green? by Tom Zeller Jr., does a wonderful job of describing the significance of Passive House construction and its rigorousness.   It is especially gratifying because the featured project, a single family home in Norwich Vermont is the product of Zero Energy Design, an engineering and architecture firm located in Boston and New York and whose partner, Jordan Goldman, is an active NYPH member.   The article also has a wonderful set of graphics titled The Secrets of a Passive House, explaining some of the more esoteric aspects of the approach.   Along with a fun video interviewing the family and showing the shell construction.  This NY Times contribution to Americans' understanding of Passive House cannot be overstated.   Enjoy.

2010 Passive House Conference Announced

An exciting conference agenda was announced this week by PHIUS for the 5th Annual North American Passive House Conference - to be held November 5th, 6th and 7th.  The conference will include presentations by such luminaries as Dr. Wolfgang Feist, founder of PHI and Amory Lovins, founder of RMI.    The agenda is chock full of what should be practical and inspiring seminars - and of course unparalleled networking opportunities with others serious about Passive House around  North America, including designers, engineers, builders and component suppliers.

To be held in beautiful Portland Oregon, this conference looks to be the best yet.  We hope to see you there!

NYPH September Newsletter

Dear Passive House enthusiast,

After an exciting summer of organizing and events - including a great presentation by Chris Benedict in August – it is a good time to share news of upcoming events and goings on.   

Upcoming Events:

SEPTEMBER 28^th, Meetup.

Presentation by Thomas O’Leary, founder of the Irish Passive House Institute.

Find out more here.   

SEPTEMBER 29^th, Urban Green Expo

Panel discussion, “The Active State of Passive House: European Perspective on Implementation in North America”

Find out more here. 

(OCTOBER events coming soon – see NYPH Events Calendar for updates.)

NOVEMBER 4^th – 7^th,

North American Passive House Conference, Portland Oregon

Find out more here. 

NOVEMBER 12^th – 14^th,

2010 International Passive House Days

Find out more here. 

(We expect a few local projects, currently under construction, to be listed over the next 2 months.)

more events to be announced soon....

Goings On at NYPH:

Passive House Alliance (PHA):  It is expected that PHA will be sending initial information regarding it’s formation in the next month.   We’ve heard that the November convention is to include a “kick-off” meeting of regional member groups.   If you’d like to participate in the upcoming PHA formation dialogue please contact Ken Levenson at  info@nypassivehouse.org.  

NYPH Membership: A “NYPH Member” logo will be distributed to current members in the coming weeks.    If you’re not already a member, consider joining today - here.   And if you’d like to lend a hand in managing the membership database and developing future membership benefits please email Jordan Goldman at membership@nypassivehouse.org.

Events:  Many events are in the planning pipeline.   More than any other aspect of the organization, event planning and execution requires regular assistance.   As the event schedule grows over the coming weeks and months consider helping out.   Contact Floris Buisman at events@nypassivehouse.org.

NYPH Website:  The website www.nypassivehouse.org is ambitious, and is expected to be a growing resource for all things Passive House for the New York region.  Therefore in the push to fill-out content and develop specifics – more and more helping hands are needed.   If you have skills in writing, proof reading, website programming, graphic design among others, and are interested in helping, please contact Andreas Benzing at marketing@nypassivehouse.org.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more...:  Be sure to friend NYPH on Facebook here, and connect with NYPH on LinkedIn here.   If you'd like to contribute to the social media development contact Greg Duncan at network@nypassivehouse.org. 

This fall should be energizing for Passive House, and your participation in attending events and helping organize will help ensure the season's success.

Best Wishes,

Ken Levenson

info@nypassivehouse.org