Session · Climate and carbon · Designers and consultants · Builders and trades · Owners and developers

The Catskill Project: Scaling Decarbonized Single-Family Housing

Buck Moorhead, Buck Moorhead Architect; Remy Moorhead, Buck Moorhead Architect · February 12, 2026 · Chapter · PHES (Passive House Empire State)

A rural, all-electric Passive House community in the Catskills, occupied and measured: clustered site planning, panelized construction, low-GWP assemblies, and carbon tracking, with what worked, what didn't, and which policies mattered.

Key points

• Applying Passive House principles to rural single-family communities.
• How whole-building performance cuts energy demand beyond equipment upgrades.
• The role of embodied carbon tracking in residential decisions.
• How predictable energy loads can inform utility and community energy planning.

Learning objectives

• Identify strategies for applying Passive House principles to rural, single-family communities.
• Evaluate how whole-building performance reduces operational energy demand beyond equipment upgrades.
• Explain the role of embodied carbon tracking in residential project decision-making.
• Assess how predictable energy loads can inform utility and community energy planning.

Topics: Cost, Embodied carbon, Electrification