Tyler Whaley is the internal coordinator for our Passive House Rocky Mountains chapter. He’s been organizing chapter meetings full of interesting content and great discussions.
How did you get involved with the PHRM chapter?
I want my work to be more resilient and harmonious with the natural world. I attended one of the monthly PHRM chapter meetings and was delighted to see how passionate and welcoming everyone was. All these people, from different perspectives, they’re all coming together around a common and challenging goal. I knew I wanted to be a part of this.
You’re building an accessory building on your property using Passive House design. Can you tell us about that project?
My family and I live in a 1970’s ranch home in Lafayette, Colorado and we’re preparing to build a detached accessory building behind the home. The structure has two levels; there’s a carport, garage, office, and half bath on the ground level. The upper level contains a two bedroom, one bath accessory dwelling unit (ADU). The footprint of the structure is 24’x31’. The lower office and half bath are roughly 240 sf and will be used by my architecture practice. The garage will be unconditioned. The ADU above is accessed via an external stair and has an open living/kitchen/dining area to the south that’s separated from the bedrooms via a zone that contains the mud/laundry/bath functions. The ADU will be used as rental housing. I’m midway through the CPHD course and we have been receiving some amazing consulting help from Steve Mann. He’s been instrumental in guiding us towards Passive House Standard. We’re closing in on a final design and will be starting to build this summer. It’s going to be both challenging and great!
You’ve been organizing some great topics for the PHRM chapter meetings. What have you found works best for that setting? What other topics are you exploring?
We’ve been trying a number of different approaches. I’ve been bouncing around the idea of the four P’s: projects, process, products, and policy. I think they’re a good framework for thinking about Passive House from different angles. The Marshall Fire rebuilding efforts and the local building culture bring a series of new projects to share. The members and guest experiences provide a deep well of knowledge on processes. Technological advances give us the opportunity to review and learn about new building products. The Inflation Reduction Act and incentives from our energy delivery companies offer us a lot to discuss about policy and how it may aid us. Aside from subject matter, I think it’s beneficial to vary the presenters’ perspectives for a more comprehensive picture. We want to have guest presentations from owners, policy makers, builders, subcontractors, engineers, technicians and designers.
Living in Colorado is all about being outdoors, am I right? What do you like to do in your free time?
Surely! I enjoy rafting and camping with my family. I especially enjoy multi-day desert rafting trips. The feeling of remoteness and wildness in these areas is invigorating to me. The idea that there’s new wild terrain around the bend or maybe even a petroglyph hidden in a side canyon motivates me. It also refreshes me. Ten days on a river will wind your clock and re-synchronize it with the rhythms of nature!
