Overview: Passive House strategies raise the bar for serving diverse populations from Spanish Seniors to Upper West Side families.
Presentation 1: Mirador de Gracia: Catalonia’s First All-Electric Passive House Certified Elderly Care Home
Description: As our population ages, more people are particularly susceptible to the growing risks of overheating driven by global warming. In addition, elderly care homes are among the most energy‑intensive building types, operating 24/7/365 with high internal gains from industrial kitchens, laundries, medical services, and high occupancy density. Located in Catalonia, Spain, Mirador de Gràcia demonstrates that Passive House can be successfully applied to large, complex healthcare‑residential buildings in warm climates, providing superior comfort and air quality for a vulnerable population while dramatically reducing operational costs and carbon emissions.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the specific challenges and opportunities of applying Passive House standards to large, 24/7, high internal load buildings such as care homes.
- Identify how airtightness, thermal bridge optimization, and ventilation strategies can be successfully implemented at scale in complex healthcare residential buildings.
- Investigate how electrification (heat pumps, controlled DHW recirculation, and kitchen loads) integrates with Passive House to achieve deep operational energy reductions.
- Explore warm climate design strategies—including shading, glazing selection, ventilation control, and internal gain minimization—that maintain comfort and avoid overheating in Passive House buildings.
Presentation 2: 470 Columbus Avenue: Passive House Without Compromise
Description: Charlotte of the Upper West Side is Manhattan’s first residential condominium in a landmark district to earn PHI certification, setting a new standard for sustainable urban living. Join the architects as they demonstrate that Passive House principles can not only enhance performance but also integrate with the refined formal aspirations of this high-end real estate development project.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the motivations of the team to make a condominium project Passive House.
- Outline the challenges the team faced given fixed orientation and aesthetic requirements in developing the building to be Passive House.
- Describe the strategies to address the needs of market expectations, Passive House performance and regulatory limitations.
- Outline the performance results of the project.
CEUs:
Upon completion of all modules a Certificate of Attendance will be automatically issued for AIA & PHI credit. Please self report to both AIA & PHI using the codes provided.
