The Passive House Network Announces a New Network Chapter, Passive House Empire State

Passive House Empire State expands The Passive House Network’s capacity for training and high-performance ecosystem building with a focus on Upstate New York, from the Capitol Region to Buffalo.

New York, NY, April 11, 2022 – The Passive House Network announced today that it has formed a new regional chapter, Passive House Empire State with the goal of bringing more consistent training, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, to building industry stakeholders interested in achieving high-performance Passive House buildings.  The activities of the chapter are regular meet-and-greet meetings to make personal connections, hosting of introductory, core and advanced training, and to serve as a nexus of change makers—sharing, encouraging and learning from each other.

“We want to focus on the intersection of resilient communities and high performance buildings, showing how Passive House principles work for new construction as well as retrofits of existing structures,” said Daniel Morrisey, Chapter co-leader and Sustainability Director at TAP Inc, “Passive House Empire State will be a vehicle for extending that effort and bringing people from many different backgrounds together.”

“There is a vibrant ecosystem of energy efficiency across Upstate New York,” said Passive House Consultant, HERS Rater and Chapter co-leader, Jonathan Finewood. “The Passive House Empire State Chapter is about helping extend that work, and make a deeper pathway toward net-zero energy and zero carbon buildings.”

“The Chapter will help bring regular demonstrations that Passive House performance is not only needed, but it brings benefits far beyond energy efficiency. Most importantly, it can be done affordably and it is achievable in Upstate New York, for everyone,” said Chapter co-leader and owner of Rochester Passive House, Matt Bowers. He says, “I designed, built and have lived in a Certified Passive House for years with my family and I not only have the data, but the happy and healthy family to prove it.”

“Upstate New York has been a leader in the energy transformation underway, from renewables to electrification—and Passive House can enhance those efforts,” said PHN Executive Director Ken Levenson. “Passive House provides a wide variety of occupant and social benefits, including better occupant health, comfort, storm resilience and affordability—and Passive House Empire State supports this effort.”

The Passive House Empire State Chapter’s first meeting will be held online on May 18. Register here. 

For more information, become a member and plug into this new Upstate building community visit https://passivehousenetwork.org/chapters/ or email [email protected].


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