The Passive House Network
Year in Review | 2023

It’s been a big year at the Passive House Network. The 2023 PHN Conference led to some incredible presentations, discussions, and connections, continuing to build on the momentum of the rest of the year’s programming, including Ask the Certifiers sessions, Passive House DEI, and Passive House Case Studies. We didn’t stop there. With the launch of two PHN reports and a policy brief—Safe at Home, Phase I of Energy Standards Comparison Study, and Stepping Up to Passive—we reaffirmed our commitment to conducting cutting-edge, comprehensive Passive House research. The Colorado Tour of our Ice Box Challenge was a resounding success in raising Passive House interest from the general public, and our work in training means there are even more Certified Passive House Designers and Consultants ready to bring safe, efficient, resilient buildings to your neighborhood. Before we turn the page on 2023, we’re taking a moment to reflect and celebrate all we’ve accomplished this year.

By the Numbers

The 2023 PHN Conference

The time we spent online and in Denver during our 2023 PHN Conference was incredible. Over 30 sessions, workshops, and a buildings tour gave us much to talk about over lunches and happy hours. With a focus on embodied carbon, multifamily buildings, and rebuilding after climate disasters like the Marshall Fire, the conference was an opportunity to take stock of the challenges we face and brainstorm solutions to create a better, more resilient world. These solutions were made tangible with the announcement of the winners of the first annual Climate Specific Design Awards, celebrating climate resilient design all over the country. Missed out on the great sessions? You can still see them until the end of this year.

Two New Chapters

PHN has been working to broaden your Passive House network, and we’re happy to see two new chapters have come on board this year. Passive House California is now an affiliate chapter of Passive House Network, and Passive House Seattle is gaining momentum and establishing connections in the state of Washington. They join our other chapters for a total of 8 affiliated PHN organizations establishing Passive House in local communities across the country.

Reporting our Findings

With the publication of Safe at Home in July, Stepping Up to Passive in October, and Task I of the Energy Standards Comparison Study in November, our research this year has focused on creating resources that clearly demonstrate why Passive House building standards are an indispensable tool in cutting building emissions while creating safe, comfortable, resilient housing. Safe at Home and Stepping Up to Passive in particular are geared towards helping homeowners and policymakers understand the benefits of implementing Passive House building codes, and our Energy Standards Comparison Study is a great resource to help designers and builders navigate the broad range of existing energy standards. All three of these reports help us to build trust in Passive House building standards that will help us broaden our reach in 2024 and beyond.

Emu Report on Energy Standards

Emu Passive recently released their report, Building Standards, including a separate addendum, Appendix B, California Results. Our recent PHN Presents event with the report author Enrico Bonilauri makes for an important capstone on the year. The study is available for download here, and the recording of the event is now available for everyone to watch. If you haven’t yet, we suggest reading the report and watching the video as one last bucket list item to check off for the year.

Opening Doors, Beating the Heat

This year’s International Passive House Open Days, one held in June and one held in November, helped us to reach out to the Passive House curious by inviting them into buildings at all stages of construction and allowing them to experience the Passive House difference. The heat of summer helped us convey the dramatic effects that Passive House design can have on cost-saving energy efficiency through the Colorado Tour of the Ice Box Challenge. Demonstrations held in Fort Collins, Louisville, and Denver made it clear that Passive House design holds up so much better than local building codes. The enthusiasm for Passive House was palpable at each reveal when the Passive boxes were keeping the cool while the code boxes were struggling, in some cases sweating out to nothing!

Enter: EnerPHit

While we work to ensure that new buildings are built to the very best standards, we’re also taking on the challenge of decarbonizing our existing building stock. Our November Symposium on the retrofit of Rubin Hall was an incredible case study on navigating the challenges of transforming landmarked, high-rise buildings into high-performing EnerPHit spaces. One of our many accessible, online events, this Symposium has us excited to continue promoting your EnerPHit efforts and reminds us of the role existing buildings will play in our decarbonization strategies.

The Loss of a Friend

Sharon Gaber, our longtime General Manager and Director of Education, passed away in August after a long battle with breast cancer. Her commitment to energy efficiency and green building protocols spanned over 18 years. In 2017, she joined the PHN team as the organization’s first full-time employee. She also served as the Development Chair for the Environmental Climate Network and the American Alliance of Museums and volunteered her time educating organizations connected to museums, art, and sustainable buildings. In 2023, Sharon continued to share her knowledge by teaching an online Capstone class in the Business and Science Masters program at Rutgers University and by coaching a team of researchers working to create seaweed-based plastic bags for produce. Sharon’s commitment to sustainability throughout all of her diverse work and interests serve as a reminder of the importance of intersectional connections in non-profit work. Though we miss her dearly, the deep care she had for her students, colleagues, friends, family, environment, animals, and collective future will stay with us, remaining a source of inspiration at PHN for years to come.

We Go Forward

As we reflect on the events of this past year, we are reminded of the importance of our work in creating safe, comfortable, climate resilient spaces to live and work in. The effects of climate change can be felt every day, in how the air is just a bit smokier, or the polar vortex is just a little more unstable, or how it never used to be so warm so late in the year. We have done good work over the past 12 months, but it’s clear there’s a need for more. We’re ready to meet this challenge, but we need your assistance.

As the demand for climate-resilient buildings rises, so too will the demand for people trained to design and build them. You can help us broaden the Network. Advocate for the implementation of Passive House building codes in your local communities. Bring a friend to your PHN Chapter Meeting. Present on Passive House at your next architecture or sustainability conference. And don’t forget to tell your colleagues about our CPHD training so that they can join you in designing the buildings of the future.

Here’s to all we’ve done in 2023, and all we’ll do in 2024. If you like the work we do, the programs we plan, and the future we’re fighting for, help us do more. You can make a donation to support our work here.