8:00 – 9 AM, June 5

Expo, Coffee, and Light Breakfast

9:00 – 10:15 AM, June 5

Loggia

Deep Multifamily

A two-part look at the architecture and engineering of a 217-unit affordable housing project as it pushes toward net zero.

• Session Host: TBA

Going the Last Mile: Getting to Net Zero in Dense Urban Environments

The Jennings Hall Expansion not only sought to add 217 all-electric units of senior affordable housing wrapped in a 14-story Passive House enclosure in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but also to push toward net-zero goals, all while constrained by a dense urban site and a nearby subway tunnel. Critical to crushing overall energy use was tackling domestic hot water, ventilation, heating, and cooling with integrated solar, hydronic, and ERV systems.

• Crystal Ng, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects
• Mark Ginsberg, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

Hydronic Energy Balance For the Win

Description coming soon.

• Elias Dagher, Dagher Engineering

Blue Room

Keep it Fresh

Ventilation system options and capabilities from Systemair and Zehnder from single-family to complex commercial buildings.

• Session Host: TBA

Description coming soon.

• Speakers coming soon

Green Room

Community Built

Grassroots grit, municipal vision, and industry leaders respond to crises of destruction and affordability in Colorado and California.

• Session Host: TBA

Resilience Rising from the Ashes: How a Diverse, Grass-Roots Community in Altadena is Rebuilding Passive Homes after the Los Angeles Fires

How does a community of homeowners displaced by wildfire, with no building or architecture experience, navigate the Passive House landscape as they work to rebuild? How do we collaborate when everyone has unique Passive House designs and strategies? Despite differences, find out how the group gained valuable insights and lessons along the way.

• Leo Cheng, ResilientHAUS
• Jaime Rodriguez Jr., ResilientHAUS

Municipal Partnerships, Workforce Training, and Attainable Housing Scale Passive House in Colorado

A pilot program to bridge the gap between municipal climate commitments and real-world housing delivery was developed in partnership with the City of Fort Collins, uniting a multidisciplinary team around a single question: Can Passive House be built affordably, repeatedly, and in direct service of community need? Currently underway, the partnership demonstrates that the gap between policy ambition and on-the-ground action can be closed.

• Karen Ramsey, Building Wellness, LLC

Red Room

More Optimization

High-quality Passive House components can be an affordable, sustainable catalyst for stronger project delivery.

• Session Host: TBA

The Biogenic Blueprint: Leveraging High-Tech DfMA to Deliver Low-Carbon, Foam-Free Passive House

High-performance prefabrication does not require high-carbon materials. By utilizing DfMA, we can “profit” from the health and carbon-sequestering benefits of biogenic materials while maintaining the schedule and cost predictability of offsite construction. This provides a scalable path for the industry to move beyond operational efficiency toward total carbon neutrality.

• Steve Hessler, New Energy Works

Passive House as Market Catalyst: Manufacturer Collaboration, Cost Alignment, and Regulatory Agility

Rather than typical projects where manufacturers are often absent from early-stage decision making, let’s reframe and position manufacturers as essential technical collaborators from project inception. A case study demonstrates how Passive House can operate as a performance‑based framework, reconciling competing regulatory objectives, supporting rigorous verification, and enabling innovative solutions.

• Esther van Eeden, Buro Happold
• Gage Boon, Buro Happold

Expo Break 10:15-10:45

10:45 – Noon, June 5

Loggia

State of Change

As the Passive House revolution proceeds in Massachusetts, how are the outcomes being felt in the building and utility industries?

• Session Host: TBA

Passive House is Shaping the Housing Stock in Massachusetts

Description coming soon.

• Alexander Gard-Murry, Passive House Massachusetts

Mass Adoption of Passive House Can Deliver Grid-Level Savings

• Paul Ormond, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources

Blue Room

Pushing Forward

Passive House should hit its full potential. Enhanced commissioning and embodied carbon goals are two ways to meet the mark.

• Session Host: TBA

Operationalizing PHPP as a Day-One Digital Twin for Equitable Performance

Description coming soon.

• Matthew Bowers, Auros Group

Passive House & Embodied Carbon

Let’s gain a better understanding of the life-cycle carbon impact of Passive House design strategies by examining large-scale building examples. Let’s compare the embodied and operational carbon impacts by intentionally addressing key design and construction variables, and explore how the results may inform action going forward to deliver greater Passive House carbon emissions reductions.

• Louis Koehl, Handel

Green Room

Step-By-Step

The flexibility of Passive House retrofits with PHI’s EnerPHit program is pushed to the limit.

• Session Host: TBA

Rural Workforce Housing on a Shoestring

This project is an opportunity to explore and understand the potential cost-effective envelope interventions that advance toward Passive House EnerPHit performance for the adaptive reuse of metal buildings as affordable workforce housing, and in so doing, leveraging the substantial upfront carbon investment the metal building represents.

• Buck Moorhead, Buck Moorhead Architect

Decarbonizing Public School Districts Through a Phased EnerPHit Approach: A Case Study in London

Description coming soon.

• Nidhi Shah, RACE-Studio

Red Room

Care for Kids

Discover how Passive House can support our children through a school in Washington State & a healing lodge for indigenous youth in British Columbia.

• Session Host: TBA

From Airtight to All-In: When Performance Enables Purpose

Passive House, at its best, is a foundational platform for holistic, transformative design. The award-winning Upper School project at The Bush School in Seattle, Washington, exemplifies this potential by connecting high performance with community, ecology, and human development. Attendees will gain practical guidance on fostering collaborative team environments and applying transferable systems thinking to projects of any scale.

• Mike Fowler, Mithun

Witset Indigenous Youth Healing Lodge

Description coming soon.

• Andrew Peel, Peel Passive House

Expo & Lunch Break Noon-1:00

1:00-2:15 PM, June 5

Loggia

Standard Relations

Compare energy standards, models, and results. How difficult is it? What can we do to accelerate the recognition and acceptance of Passive House performance?

• Session Host: TBA

A Modeling Crosswalk: Recognizing Passive House Performance within California Title 24 and Beyond

Passive House design performance can be translated into state energy code compliance software while preserving credit for high-performance envelope and ventilation strategies. By examining a case study comparing PHPP, WUFI Passive, and CBECC results across residential prototypes and climate zones in California, differences in modeling tools that cause Passive House measures to lose visible credit in compliance outputs are identified. The results provide a repeatable framework for improving consistency, documentation, and recognition of Passive House performance within compliance pathways for energy codes in California and other jurisdictions.

• Keith Saechao, Frontier Energy

PHN Energy Study – Phase II

Description coming soon.

• Marine Sanchez, RDH

Blue Room

Journey of Improvement

Affordable housing gets better as Passive House design and delivery get better with examples in Jamaica Queens and across the region.

• Session Host: TBA

Sticking to Passive House: Higher Performing Better Buildings Every Time

The struggle to maintain PH as an objective is not usually due to a lack of technical knowledge but from process breakdowns, unclear priorities, misaligned assumptions across disciplines, constructability challenges, and incremental cost-driven decisions that erode performance. We need practical, repeatable strategies for treating Passive House as a durable framework guiding decisions from kickoff through closeout.

• Adam Watson, L&M & Cheryl Saldanha, SGH

Sutphin Boulevard, Breaking Ground, and Permanent Housing

97-10 Sutphin Boulevard, a 173-unit, permanently affordable housing building for seniors and individuals exiting homelessness with an integrated health center in Queens, NY, delivers rigorous, high-performance architecture, within the constraints of affordable housing pro formas. Look at the lessons of energy modeling, envelope detailing, mechanical coordination with healthcare, construction challenges, and a frank accounting of cost and value. Find out what Passive House delivery actually demands — and what it can return.

• Brandon Pietras, Bernheimer Architecture

Green Room

Pride of Place

A renovated Greek island getaway and a Connecticut home work with constraints of place and provide invigorating and inspiring destinations for living.

• Session Host: TBA

Retrofitting on a Greek Island: The Inspiration, Construction Challenges, and Delight of it

High-performance prefabrication does not require high-carbon materials. By utilizing DfMA, we can “profit” from the health and carbon-sequestering benefits of biogenic materials while maintaining the schedule and cost predictability of offsite construction. This provides a scalable path for the industry to move beyond operational efficiency toward total carbon neutrality.

• George Kontaroudis, Ikc

No Excuses: Making High-End Homes Passive House

High-end residential construction can readily support innovation and meet the highest standards of energy performance, durability, and climate responsibility, yet it remains one of the least optimized sectors in terms of performance. This home demonstrates that when clients invest in bespoke design, we can make rigorous energy modeling, airtightness, embodied carbon reduction, and long-term resilience a fundamental expectation rather than an exception.

• Stas Zakrzewski, ZH Architects

Red Room

Middle Matters

While luxury and affordable housing have found their groove, let’s track down the “missing middle” and the business case for it.

• Moderator: TBA

Why Passive House Architect-Developers are Embracing Prefab and the “Missing Middle.”

As developers often lack more ambitious energy-efficient building strategies, it is the architect-developer who is emerging as a new catalyst for urban densification, Passive House quality, and good design. And where labor shortages and site experience are limited, they are leveraging prefabricated panels. Small multifamily developments in Washington and British Columbia demonstrate this emerging paradigm’s ability to serve the “missing middle.”

• Craig Toohey, Collective Carpentry

Filling the Missing Middle: Architect-Led Development for Attainable Passive House

Passive House works. The harder problem is making it attainable for middle-income buyers in the communities that need it most. This session follows pHdesign’s live attempt — a PHI low energy home near Ellenville, NY where the architects became equity partners and took on the developer role to test what it actually costs, and what it takes, to deliver high-performance middle income housing.

• Hilary Padget, pHdesign
• Anthony Harrington, pHdesign

Expo Break 2:15-2:45

2:45 – 4:00 PM, June 5

Loggia

Closing Plenary – Passive House Value

Technical and performance outcomes continue to develop, while challenging us to transcend and transform the world we act in.

• Jessica Grove-Smith, PHI
• Vanya Chan, PHI
• Timothy Lock, OPAL

Expo & Happy Hour 4:00-5:00 PM

Gage Boon is a skilled associate mechanical engineer in the Buro Happold Boston team. Specializing in HVAC and building services, he has extensive experience leading large-scale, multi-disciplinary projects across a wide range of sectors. He brings a decade of professional experience and has proven knowledge in the mechanical design of heating, ventilation & air-conditioning and associated building services. Understanding the impact buildings have on our natural environment, Gage is passionate about delivering sustainable engineering solutions that have a positive impact on the environment. Gage is presenting Passive House as Market Catalyst: Manufacturer Collaboration, Cost Alignment, and Regulatory Agility.

Matthew Bowers served six years as a Naval Nuclear Engineer during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. This foundation in complex systems informs his deep expertise in passive design and modeling, through which he manages projects across all typologies ranging from 5,000 to 1.5 million square feet. A recognized authority in the field, he is a BEMP, Passive House Certifier, and published author who frequently serves as a college lecturer and instructor on high-performance building science. Matt is presenting The Living Spreadsheet: Operationalizing PHPP as a Day-One Digital Twin for Equitable Performance. More information coming soon.

Beth Campbell, Education Program Director at Passive House Massachusetts, brings over 20 years of hands-on experience in residential passive building construction. Beth’s background as a high-performance builder gives her a uniquely grounded understanding of real-world project challenges. She has a proven track record of delivering innovative net-zero and passive single-family and “missing middle” residential projects. Beth has focused on improving panelized construction methods at Unity Homes/Bensonwood. Beth is a Certified Passive House Tradesperson, an instructor for the Phius Certified Passive House Builder course, and the Chair of Passive House Rhode Island. Beth will be presenting Massive Learnings from Massachusetts: Practical Takeaways from 40+ Passive House Practitioners.

Leo Cheng is a former NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineer who has worked on robotic missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and beyond. After losing his beautiful Altadena home in the Eaton fire, he decided to rebuild his home to withstand future wildland fires and other extreme weather events. Leo is currently studying to become a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) and a Certified Passive House Tradesperson (CPHT), with hopes of a second career as a building science professional. A firm believer in the Altadena community, Leo currently serves as the Secretary of the Altadena Fire Safe Council, and co-founded the ResilientHAUS group along with Jaime Rodriguez. Leo is presenting Resilience Rising from the Ashes: How a Diverse, Grass-Roots Community in Altadena is Rebuilding Passive Homes after the Los Angeles Fire.

Edie Dillman is the CEO & Co-Founder of B.PUBLIC Prefab, a woman-owned public benefit company based in New Mexico. Her company is a collaborative team of architects, designers, and tradespeople meeting the climate and housing crises head-on. Edie came to this work from her role as communications director at Innovate + Educate, leading the education-to-workforce shift to skills-based hiring by linking community colleges and trade schools with ed-tech and employers. She went from designing platforms, apps, partnerships, and conferences to building jobs and green homes. Her passion for positive disruption comes from a career in small business development, graphic design, and publishing, including Outside Magazine and New Mexico Magazine, plus dedicated service to non-profits. Edie is presenting Fire Rebuild Off-Site and On-Site in Four Months.

Caroline Dunn, AIA, CPHD, is a licensed architect at Cairn Collaborative, a design build company based in Morro Bay, California. Through her role at Cairn Collaborative she leads the design phase of energy efficient homes across the Central Coast and Southern California. Based out of Austin, she also serves as the Co-chair of the AIA Austin Resiliency + Climate Response Advocacy committee. BIOBUILD is her design and consulting practice focused on natural materials and low impact design.

Darin Dusan brings hands-on construction experience to his role as Managing Director, California for Joubert Homes. At Joubert Homes, Darin works to advance awareness and adoption of the Passive House standard, helping make the Passive House case to homebuyers, policymakers, and the broader industry. He has become an active voice in the Passive House community, speaking at industry events, leading webinars, and engaging directly with homeowners navigating rebuilding decisions. Darin is presenting From Ashes to Airtight: Passive House as Post-Fire Resilience Strategy.

Mike Fowler, CPHC, is an associate principal and sustainability integration leader in the Seattle office of Mithun. He is a seasoned specialist in energy efficient and sustainable design for complex projects. His skills span policy, energy codes, occupant health, and decarbonization while integrating key issues like wildfire smoke protection, passive survivability during extreme heat events, and resilience during power disruptions. Mike is presenting From Airtight to All-In: When Performance Enables Purpose. More information coming soon.

Alexander Gard-Murray, Executive Director at Passive House Massachusetts, is a building performance advocate, researcher, and educator. He was previously the Director of the Greenhouse Institute, where he was a leader in a national movement to accelerate space heating electrification. Before that he taught and researched energy policy in the Government Department at Harvard and the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown. Alexander holds a Doctorate in Politics and a Master’s in Politics Research from Oxford, and a Bachelor’s in Politics from Brown. Alex will be presenting Massive Learnings from Massachusetts: Practical Takeaways from 40+ Passive House Practitioners.

Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, LEED AP, is a partner at Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP. His firm’s work is community- and policy-focused, including developments comprising over 30,000 units of housing, many of which are designated as low-income and affordable. Mark has a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a past President of the AIA New York Chapter. Currently, Mark serves as Vice Chair of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development and President of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council. He’s on the Board of Trustees of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) and is a Commissioner of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Mark is presenting Going the Last Mile: Bridging Passive House to Net Zero in Dense Urban Environments.

Jessica Grove-Smith is joint managing director and senior scientist of the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt, Germany. A physicist by training, her areas of expertise include highly energy efficient building solutions to the Passive House Standard around the world under different climate conditions, interrelations between efficiency and renewable energies (PER method) and application of Passive House concept to indoor swimming pools. Jessica frequently participates in conferences and conducts training internationally. Jessica is presenting Latest Developments from the Passive House Institute.

Anthony Harrington is a registered architect and co-founder of pHdesign, where he leads the firm’s multi-family and mixed-use portfolio. Teaching is a thread that runs throughout his career — he has long been committed to training the next generation of architects, with design studios at both NYIT and NJIT, where he continues as an adjunct instructor. Over the past year he has taken on a new dimension as architect-developer, co-leading pHdesign’s first development project in upstate New York with partner Hilary Padget. He is a Certified Passive House Designer and a member of New York and New Jersey Passive House. Anthony is presenting Filling the Missing Middle: Architect-Led Development for Attainable Passive House.

Mike Horgan is a PHI Certified Passive House Consultant, zero-net-energy and Passivhaus design-builder, and licensed general contractor in Massachusetts and California. Mike founded Horgan Design-Build, Inc. on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and now runs Cairn Collaborative, LLC, a design-build firm in San Luis Obispo, California. Mike provides education for builders and architects with In Balance Green Consulting as a residential construction specialist. He is on the advisory board of the Tri-County Regional Energy Network on the Central Coast and was named San Luis Obispo’s Climate Champion of 2019 by the SLO Climate Coalition. Mike is presenting Adobe or Not to Be: Rebuilding with Vernacular Materials in a Modern World.

Steve Hessler is the Building Systems Specialist for New Energy Works, one of the industry’s leading eco-conscious, high-craft timber frame companies with a focus on sustainability and high-performance structures. Steve is a Certified Passive House Consultant, project manager in sustainable residential construction, and DfMA designer for heavy and mass timber buildings, high-performance enclosures, and cross-functional collaborations. Steve brings together technical insight, design-phase collaboration, and prefabrication strategies to build and deliver resilient, lyrical buildings. Steve is presenting The Biogenic Blueprint: Leveraging High-Tech DfMA to Deliver Low-Carbon, Foam-Free Passive House.

Floris Keverling Buisman is a renowned expert in building science, materials, and high performance envelopes. He’s been involved in NYC Building Code Committees, and numerous Certified Passive House projects in NY and VT. He blends academic knowledge with practical experience as a LEED AP, Registered Architect in the Netherlands, and City College of New York adjunct professor. Floris holds a dual Master’s degree in Architecture and Real Estate Development from Delft Univ. of Technology. His unwavering commitment to find synergy between architecture and sustainability is what drives his effort to transform the building industry toward a low-carbon future. Floris will be presenting Mass Timber Renovation in NYC—The Data 1 Year Later.

Zachary Koch has worked in the Commercial HVAC industry for the past fifteen years and spent the last twelve years with Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating as a Regional Sales Manager. His main focus is working with consulting engineers and architects on the design and application of ductless splits and VRF products in the Western Mass, Connecticut and Upstate NY markets. He graduated from Clarkson University in 2011 with Bachelors of Science in Engineering and Management, as well as graduating from Clarkson University with a Masters of Science in Engineering Management in 2015. Zachary is presenting Air to Water Heat Pumps for Commercial Passive House Projects.

Louis Koehl is an Associate Principal and Director of Sustainable Design at Handel Architects, where he is responsible for advancing the firm’s mission of leadership toward a regenerative future for the built world. Louis’ projects at Handel Architects include several of the world’s largest passive house buildings including the fully affordable Sendero Verde in East Harlem, an all-electric dormitory for the University of Toronto, and Winthrop Center in Boston, as well as multiple LEED Platinum projects. Louis is presenting The Criteria or the Carbon: Assessing the Impact of Passive House on Life Cycle Carbon.

David Komet David Komet is a real estate developer and a Certified Passive House Consultant based in San Antonio, Texas. He focuses on applying Passive House principles to real world development, especially in hot humid climates, where comfort, durability, and energy performance must work together. His work connects building physics, low carbon design, and financial performance to help clients create healthier, more resilient buildings. David is presenting The Business Case.

George Kontaroudis is a Registered Architect, LEED Accredited Professional, and a Certified Passive House Designer. He is currently a Principal Architect at LK Collaborative, a practice that expands Passive House into affordable housing. George serves as the Vice-Chair of New York Passive House. In 2020, he became a Climate Reality Leader in Al Gore’s organization, the Climate Reality Project. He teaches design and sustainability at the New School, and sustainability courses at Pratt Institute and the University of Oklahoma. George is presenting Retrofitting to a Passive House on a Greek Island: The Inspiration, Construction Challenges, and Delight of Living in it.

Sarah Lewis is an architect, author, and Co-Director at the UK Passivhaus Trust. A long-time advocate for Passivhaus in the UK, her project experience includes London’s first Passivhaus home and the award-winning Carrowbreck Meadow development. She is the author of PHPP Illustrated, a Passivhaus trainer with Coaction, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Passivhaus Conference. Sarah is presenting Delivering Quality at Scale: How Construction-Phase Excellence Unlocks the Full Value of Passive House.

Timothy Lock specializes in the management and direction of large-scale institutional projects and spearheads the practice’s overall approach to building ecology and climate action. Timothy believes firmly in the importance of architectural design in imagining and producing transformational, ecological, and positive societal outcomes, and is committed to maintaining the highest quality of process and integrity of ecological architectural design, practice, and implementation. Timothy sits on the AIA National Committee On The Environment Leadership Group and the Maine AIA Board of Directors, and is a Certified Passive House Designer. Timothy is presenting Who Decides What Counts? Life, Value, and Passive House.

Meredith McDaniel received her Master of Architecture from Yale University and her Bachelor of Art from Pomona College. Starting her career as the director of a prominent Los Angeles-based gallery, Meredith immersed herself in the contemporary art world before transitioning into the field of design. Meredith sets the creative direction for the practice and brings her unique vision to each project. Her pursuit of authenticity and conceptual rigor, along with a love for the visual arts and storytelling, invigorate MAAM’s designs with meaning and resonance. As partner at MAAM, she has led residential projects with a discerning eye for detail and proportion. Meredith is a registered architect in the State of California. Meredith is presenting From Ashes to Airtight: Passive House as Post-Fire Resilience Strategy

Buck Moorhead‘s portfolio includes residential, commercial, and institutional retrofits, as well as new construction. His foremost goal is to design projects that are integrated closely within the context of the systems in which they exist—social and economic—while understanding the priorities of system elements. Buck is the architect, as well as principal in the development team for The Catskill Project, a Passive House single-family housing development in upstate NY. He is the current board chair of New York Passive House and a board member of City as Living Laboratory and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability. Buck is presenting Rural Workforce Housing on a Shoestring.

Crystal Ng, NOMA, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC, champions innovative design solutions that help achieve more sustainable and socially equitable projects. She leads C+GA’s office-wide sustainability efforts, including the firm’s commitment to meeting the AIA 2030 Challenge and Material Pledge towards the design of carbon-neutral buildings. Crystal serves her community in efforts such as the Neighborhoods Now initiative launched by the Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute. She currently serves as the NESEA BuildingEnergy NYC Conference Chair and is a New York Passive House Board Member, where she also chairs the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group. Crystal is presenting Going the Last Mile: Bridging Passive House to Net Zero in Dense Urban Environments.

Tomás O’Leary is Managing Director of MosArt, a multi-disciplinary design, consulting and education firm specialising in Passive House since 2002. MosArt is currently active on over 15,000 Passive House residential units across the globe, as well as many complex and challenging non-domestic projects. MosArt has trained over 5,000 Certified Passive House Designers and Tradespersons across Europe and North America and regularly delivers bespoke training for large developers and contractors. Tomás will be presenting Passive House Performance: 1,100 Sensors in Social Housing Scheme.

Paul Ormond is presenting A Generational Value Opportunity: How Mass Adoption of Passive House can Deliver Grid-Level Savings. More information coming soon.

Hilary Padget is a registered architect and co-founder of pHdesign, a New York-based practice specializing in Passive House and sustainable design. Her work spans historic retrofits to ground-up builds, with a focus on making high-performance design accessible across a broad range of clients and project types. Over the past year she has expanded into architect-developer work, co-leading pHdesign’s first development project in upstate New York alongside partner Anthony Harrington. Hilary is actively engaged in advancing the Passive House standard as a founding member and external coordinator of New Jersey Passive House and as co-developer and instructor of a Passive House course at NJIT. Hilary is presenting Filling the Missing Middle: Architect-Led Development for Attainable Passive House.

Andrew Peel is a renowned expert in the field of Passive House buildings. He is the founder and principal of Peel Passive House Consulting, a consulting firm that specializes in supporting the design and construction of high-performance, low carbon buildings. Andrew has over 19 years of experience in the field and is an accredited Passive House certifier, consultant, and trainer. Andrew is presenting Innovative HVAC Solution for Passive House Multifamily Buildings.

Brandon Pietras (AIA, RA NY/NJ/MA, LFA) is the Lead of Decarbonization and Building Health at Bernheimer Architecture. For the past 8 years, Brandon has contributed his passion for environmentally conscious design to several projects at BA including 97-10 Sutphin Boulevard, the first PHI-certified project at BA, where he has served as project manager since 2019. Brandon leads the office’s partnership with NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence program. Their first report, on the project River Commons, was published in 2025. Outside of BA, Brandon is a Partner at the lighting design practice thirds Studio. Brandon is presenting Housing at the Intersection of Equity and Performance.

Todd Poisson integrates contemporary design with advanced construction technology to craft buildings that articulate each client’s vision while honoring context, user experience, and meticulous detail. As Partner at BKSK Architects with over 30 years of professional experience, he has guided the design and realization of landmark institutional, residential, hospitality, and mixed-use projects. His award-winning portfolio includes 470 Columbus, a Passive House–certified multifamily development, and the reimagining of Tammany Hall with a contemporary glass dome. A Cornell University alumnus with a Bachelor of Architecture, Todd has also dedicated two decades to evaluating and mentoring prospective students for the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Todd is presenting Demystifying Passive House Design.

Karen Ramsey, founder of Building Wellness, is a sustainability strategist and cost consultant based in Fort Collins, Colorado. With over 20 years of experience in the commercial and residential construction industry, Karen works at the intersection of high-performance building science and real-world affordability. Karen is also President-Elect of the Colorado Green Building Guild (CGBG), where she actively contributes to growing the state’s green building community through education, advocacy, and professional development. Karen is presenting From Policy to Practice: Scaling Passive House Through Municipal Partnerships, Workforce Training, and Attainable Housing.

Jaime Rodriquez, Jr is a product leader with decades of experience developing consumer software and hardware across global markets. His career includes roles at Canon, Netscape, AOL, Yahoo!, several video game companies, and multiple startups that later went public. After moving from Silicon Valley (San Francisco) to Altadena with his teenage daughter, Jaime became a Altagether Block Captain following the Eaton Canyon Fire and now serves on the Eaton Fire Collaborative LTRG and the Altadena Fire Safe Council Board. He is a passionate Passive House evangelist; founding the RelientHAUS community group. Jaime is presenting Resilience Rising from the Ashes: How a Diverse, Grass-Roots Community in Altadena is Rebuilding Passive Homes after the Los Angeles Fire.

William Russell joined BKSK in 2015, was promoted to Associate in 2019, and became a Principal in 2025. Will has contributed to several of BKSK’s most ambitious hospitality, commercial, and multi-family residential projects. His deep expertise in sustainable design is especially valuable on projects requiring innovative, performance-driven strategies. Beyond his sustainability credentials, Will brings thoughtful design thinking and a holistic approach to every project. Driven by a curiosity for both the art and science of the built environment, Will earned a degree in Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and is a certified Passive House Designer. Will is presenting Demystifying Passive House Design.

Keith Saechao provides energy modeling support to evaluate proposed improvements to California’s Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, helping to verify projected energy savings and reductions in utility costs. His prior experience in energy efficiency evaluation, including the design and construction of structural components and electrical assemblies, as well as project planning and technical documentation, supports Frontier Energy’s building codes development and analysis efforts. Keith is presenting A Modeling Crosswalk: Recognizing Passive House Performance within California Title 24 and Beyond.

Cheryl Saldanha leads SGH’s Building Science and Passive House practice and has extensive experience in the design, evaluation, and commissioning of high-performance building enclosure systems, including facades, roofing, and below-grade waterproofing. Cheryl works closely with project teams to identify and mitigate risks related to air, water, and moisture infiltration through detailed design review, performance analysis, and field verification. Cheryl is a member of the NYC Commercial Energy Code Technical Advisory Committee and the AIA NY Building Science Committee, and is on the Board of Directors for NY Passive House. Cheryl is presenting Sticking to Passive House: Higher Performing Better Buildings Every Time.

Cecil Scheib NYU’s Chief Sustainability Officer, leading the university-wide effort to build a healthier and more sustainable future. Cecil formerly served as Chief Program Officer at Urban Green Council, as the Managing Director of the Building Resiliency Task Force for the City of New York, as Director of Energy and Sustainability at NYU from 2007 to 2012, and co-founded Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. He earned a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He was a member of the LEED v5 Existing Buildings Consensus Committee, serves on the Board of Directors of Urban Green Council, and is a New York State licensed professional engineer, Certified Energy Manager, and LEED Accredited Professional. Cecil is presenting Decarbonization at Rubin Hall: The Design, Construction, and Results of a Large Urban EnerPHit Retrofit.

Jonah Stanford drives the engineering and deployment of B.PUBLIC’s proprietary panelized building system, which is fundamentally optimized for streamlined, off-site manufacturing and rapid on-site assembly. He directs the R&D of the B.PUBLIC Prefab panel system, enabling fabrication in a controlled workshop environment, implementing LEAN principles to off-site construction. Jonah designed the first Passive House project in the Southwest (Santa Fe, NM, 2010) and was the founder of NEEDBASE, a firm specializing in high-performance custom homes. He is a registered architect, a former licensed contractor, and a graduate of the AKI in the Netherlands. Jonah served as a founding board member for the Passive House Institute U.S.. Jonah is presenting Fire Rebuild Off-Site and On-Site in Four Months.

Oliver Style is an energy consultant, Passivhaus-accredited certifier, and trainer. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture, Energy and Environment from the University of East London and is the director of Praxis Resilient Buildings, an engineering firm based in Barcelona specializing in the design and consultancy of high performance buildings. He has extensive experience in building energy efficiency, hygrothermal simulation, building physics, and ultra efficient HVAC systems. His work focuses on developing buildings that deliver maximum indoor comfort with minimal energy consumption. Oliver is presenting Delivering Comfort, Resilience, and Deep Energy Savings in Catalonia’s First All-Electric Passivhaus Certified Care Home.

Michael Syracuse AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Partner at FXCollaborative. Michael’s work has encompassed some of New York City’s premiere educational and cultural institutions, including New York University, Juilliard School, Columbia University, and the Brooklyn Friends School. In addition to his architectural work, he stays connected to academia through his support of Rensselaer’s Integrated Design Development studio, offering office and project tours, and serving as a guest reviewer to give students insight into the professional practice of architecture. Michael is presenting Decarbonization at Rubin Hall: The Design, Construction, and Results of a Large Urban EnerPHit Retrofit.

Craig Toohey is a business strategy and development leader with 15 years of experience driving growth for innovative companies in the low-carbon wood construction sector. He has presented extensively to architecture offices and at industry conferences across North America on building science, high-performance construction, and prefabrication through his work with market leaders like 475 High Performance Building Supply and Collective Carpentry. Now based in Lyon, France, he brings a unique perspective on European Passive House and prefabrication trends to the North American context. Craig is presenting Designing the Bottom Line: Why Passive House Architect-Developers are Embracing Prefab and the “Missing Middle.”

Esther van Eeden is a Certified Passive House Designer with more than a decade of experience delivering high‑performance buildings around the world. Before joining Buro Happold in Boston, she served as Director of High‑Performance Building in Canada, where she provided technical and strategic leadership on Passive House projects ranging from small residential projects to large housing developments and retail facilities. Her work has consistently advanced rigorous energy‑efficiency standards while creating comfortable, resilient, and cost‑effective environments. Esther is presenting Passive House as Market Catalyst: Manufacturer Collaboration, Cost Alignment, and Regulatory Agility.

Adam Watson is a Registered Architect and Senior Director of Preconstruction at L+M Development Partners. Since joining L+M in 2012, Adam has been a part of the project team for many passive house projects, including Sendero Verde in Harlem and Alafia in Brooklyn. He has also been a part of adaptive reuse projects like the Hahnes Department store in Newark and dozens of preservation projects. Adam is a member of the AIA, LEED AP and a Certified Passive House Designer with a BArch from Virginia Tech and MArch from City College of New York. Adam will be presenting Sticking to Passive House: Higher Performing Better Buildings Every Time.

Stas Zakrzewski is a founding principal of ZH Architects, a New York based practice recognized for integrating high-performance building strategies with rigorous contemporary design. Together with co-founder Marianne Hyde, Stas has led the development of numerous high-performance projects that demonstrate how ambitious environmental goals can be paired with clear architectural expression and high-quality living environments. Stas’s work spans residential, institutional, and civic projects. He is currently collaborating with the New York City School Construction Authority on school projects including libraries, multimedia centers, and electrification retrofits, and with the NYC Department of Design and Construction on housing, theater, and library projects. Stas is presenting No Excuses: Making High-End Homes Passive.