This post is meant to be a brief recent history of PHA and how NYPH fits into the bigger picture.
At the 2010 North American Passive House Conference in Portland Oregon, the National Passive House Alliance was officially launched - and a seminar at the conference was dedicated to the formation of PHA.
PHA is a creation of the
PHIUS Board. Tom DiGiovanni is the Director of PHA, appointed by the PHIUS Board - and has been actively working on the PHA startup since the start of October. The initial PHA Board was appointed by the PHIUS Board on November 6th. The PHA Board has met once so far, on November 6th - right after its appointment. The PHA Board has 13 members - 8 Regional Members and 5 "At Large" members. The Northeast Region (of which NY is a part) Board Member is J.B. Clancy of Boston. Ken Levenson, President of NYPH, is an At Large Board Member of PHA. PHA offices will be located in Washington D.C. The PHA website, with all board member bios, is
here.
On November 23rd, a NYPH member meeting was held to discuss formally joining PHA as an Affiliated Chapter. Out of the meeting an encouraging mix of aspirations, concerns, questions and constructive suggestions were expressed - and subsequently passed on to Tom DiGiovanni for his consideration. Later that evening Andreas Benzing, Vice President of NYPH, signed the Affiliation Agreement and we became "official".
Out of the November 23rd member meeting and subsequent conversations among NYPH board members, our accountant and lawyer, and with Tom DiGiovanni, the following rough organizational outline is emerging:
- NYPH is an independent organization - yet bound to the rules of PHA per the Affiliation Agreement.
- NYPH and/or PHA can dissolve the affiliation with or without cause.
- Through PHA's agreements with iPHA, member benefits of iPHA will be made available to NYPH/PHA members.
- A membership fee schedule is to be developed, that equitably shares income among NYPH, PHA and iPHA - and it is hoped at a value structure that encourages membership growth.
- PHA is a 501c(3) tax exempt organization and NYPH is currently in the process of applying to the IRS for its own 501c(3) status.
- It is hoped that tasking of PHA and PHIUS will be substantially clarified. (While still far from formal in definition, it has been expressed that PHA will be potentially focused on: general interest publications, education, promotion and member services - with PHIUS potentially focused on: standards, certifications, research, technical publications and training curriculum.)
The only thing we can say for certain is that there is great enthusiasm at local, regional and national levels to make Passive House a great success in America through the close cooperation and encouragement of efforts by all involved. We will post updates as our organizing efforts develop.
NYPH looks forward to taking an active part in PHA - and helping make 2011 the break-out year it portends to be.
