Marketing Passivhaus

Jeremy Clarke is the founder and CEO of Simple Life Homes and Simple Life Building Systems, based out of Bowmanville, Ontario. They combine the principles of passive house design with off-site (prefabricated) and carbon-conscious construction to produce sustainable, healthy home packages. 

In this episode, we talk about Passive Houses, Pretty Good Houses, the challenges of being a "building enclosure technical integrator," the importance of gathering your team together in the pre-construction phase (especially if you want to leverage pre-fab), and which CCDC contract is ideal for making sure that gathering happens.

Connect with Jeremy and S...

Jacob Deva Racusin is the lead researcher at Builders for Climate Action and the co-founder of New Frameworks. Jacob comfortably bridges the gap between seemingly (though not, in fact) disparate worlds, valuing both the intuitive comfort of building with the natural materials our ancestors have used for millennia and the cutting edge of building and climate science. 

In this episode, we discuss communication, empathy, straw, carbon emission calculations, and how knowledge sharing between large- and small-scale projects is a two-way street.

Connect with Jacob, New Frameworks, and Builders for Climate Action:

Beth Eckenrode is the co-founder of AUROS Group, "where building science meets data science." Beth co-founded the AUROS Group with Craig Stevenson in 2017 to provide building owners with more confidence in their sustainable building investments.  Together with academic sustainability expert Robert Sroufe, they co-authored the book, "The Power of Existing Buildings--Save Money, Improve Health and Reduce Environmental Impacts" (Island Press, 2019). 

In this episode, we discuss the power of Passive House to help you uncover and reach a building's optimum performance potential, and how neglecting to do so can mean leaving significant amounts of money on the table fo...

Enrico Bonilauri is an architect, trainer, passive house certifier, and the CEO of Emu Passive. Started as an architectural practice in Italy in 2009, they soon discovered passive house as the building science handrail they needed to guide their design decisions. In 2016, they decided to get into education to promote passive house ideas and methodologies, and help people become better at their profession. Emu Passive's mission is to bring the most advanced building science to mainstream construction, and they've set themselves the challenge of training 5,000 builders by 2030. 

Connect with Enrico and Emu Passive:

Shefali Sanghvi is the Director of Sustainability at Dattner Architects, a mission-driven, women-owned design firm based in New York City and focused on civic spaces and the urban experience. One of the things she loves about being a director of sustainability in an architecture firm with multiple studios is the opportunity to leverage what she learns from the passive house and affordable housing sides into other typologies in the office. We talk about the connection between sustainability and affordability, debunk the myth that affordable has to mean low quality, and highlight how the drive for electrification is making Passivhaus...

Brian Pearson is an architect and the co-founder of Studio Pear. Brian created a flyer, which he shared on LinkedIn, titled "Air-Tightness in Buildings: Benefits You can Enjoy Every Day." In that graphic, he lists seven benefits you can enjoy EVERY DAY from the investment in an airtight building: Comfort, Energy Efficiency, Ventilation Efficiency, Pollutant Control, Vapor Control, Acoustic Control, and Building Durability.

Connect with Brian and Studio Pear:

Mariana Pickering is the Chief Brand Officer and Community Director at B.PUBLIC Prefab. After graduating with a Master's in Design Science from the University of Sydney, she co-founded EMU Architetti in Italy with Enrico Bonilauri, doing sustainably focused architectural design for ~8 years. In 2017, they moved the company to the US, renaming to EMU Passive and pivoting to become one of the first accredited education providers with PHI, in order to address what they saw as one of the biggest gaps in passive house: training architects and builders. Then, having sold her partnership in EMU Passive, Mariana made her...

Renee Relf is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, where she earned her Master of Architecture with a specialization in Architectural Technology. In the course of finishing her M.Arch, Renee also became a certified Passivhaus consultant (CPHC) and acquired a Living Future Accreditation (LFA). We discuss the differences she noticed between becoming a CPHC and acquiring the LFA, her experiences of viewing the world through new eyes as she completed her degree and certifications, and her upcoming internship, in which she expects her CPHC to be put into practice.

Connect with Renee:

Bronwyn Barry is an architect and principal at Passive House BB, as well as co-founder and recently retired Board Chair of the Passive House Network. It was from Bronwyn that I first came across the catchy phrase Boxy But Beautiful (#BBB) to describe the form factor that is key to optimal Passivhaus performance. She's also the first person I saw pointing out that Passivhaus' airtightness standards mean these buildings are also smoke-tight, which is increasingly important in these times of heightened air pollution from wildfires. In terms of marketing Passivhaus, it doesn't get much better than that! Listen to...

Lloyd Alter is an author, reformed architect, adjunct professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the writer of the excellent Substack, Carbon Upfront! Having followed his work for the better part of a decade, primarily through his prolific stint as a writer and editor at Treehugger, I have heard Lloyd talk about the virtues of Passivhaus (and the frustrating nature of its name) more than anyone else. In fact, it was Lloyd's article, "Passivhaus or Passive House? Efficiency, low carbon, or Comfort and Security?" that convinced me — mere days before I was about to start building in earnest — to call this...

Two people, 1.5 months, 50 square meters, passivhaus + carbon neutral...all built with nothing more than tools that can fit in your car. Martín Comas of Arquitectura Regenerativa believes it's possible. His mission is to "pollinate sovereignty and empower communities" through scalable, affordable, accessible, high-performance buildings.

Connect with Martín and Arquitectura Regenerativa:

Graham Irwin, AIA, NCARB, is the Principal at Essential Habitat Architecture—architecture for the future of California. Working at the forefront of high-performance architecture in California since 2008, Essential Habitat designs modern, sustainable homes for people who want exceptional performance without sacrificing style. In this episode, we discuss the lack of a visual typology for Passivhaus buildings, the profound tranquility of being inside a Passivhaus home, and the importance of feeling happy and comfortable in your space.

Connect with Graham and Essential Habitat Architecture:

...

Zack Semke is the Director at the Passive House Accelerator and host of the Reimagine Buildings Collective, collectively described as a big community and a media company dedicated to building decarbonization with passive house at the center of that effort. Zack is also the co-host of the amazing (and inspiring) Passive House Podcast. In this episode, we discuss the power of community, why leading with benefits is so much better than leading with technical details, and what's wrong with the name "Passivhaus."

Connect with Zack and the Passive House Accelerator:

Tanya Savas, CPHT, is the Sales Manager at Collective Carpentry, a construction company specializing in Passive House and Net Zero design principles, low embodied carbon materials, and off-site prefabrication, serving the Western US and Western Canada. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of coming to market with a solution that's pre-designed to meet passive house standards.

Connect with Tanya and Collective Carpentry:

Laurence Hamel Dorais is Director of Business Development and Marketing at NZP Fenestration, a family business based in Québec, Canada, manufacturing Passivhaus Certified windows. In this episode, we consider how building toward the Passivhaus standard is a way of creating a legacy with benefits that extend to future generations.

Connect with Laurence and NZP Fenestration:

Hello and welcome to the trailer for Marketing Passivhaus, a new podcast focused on growing the conversation around the Passivhaus building standard and drawing ever more people into its quiet, comfortable, low-carbon fold.