270: Exploring the United States Passive House Standard

Katrin Klingenberg, Co-Founder & Executive Director of PHIUS (Passive House Institute US), and Isaac Elnecave, Project Certifier & Policy Analyst at PHIUS, join us for episode 270 of Art of Construction. Katrin Klingenberg is a visionary who has driven adoption of the Phius Standard throughout the past 20 years. Passive building methodology originated in the United States and Canada in the 1970s and was enhanced in Germany in the 1990s. Klingenberg reinvigorated it in the United States in 2003 when she built the first passive house in Champaign-Urbana. Her home sparked considerable interest and she went on to found the non-profit organization Phius (Passive House Institute US), dedicated to making passive building a mainstream best practice. We've covered Passive House many times on this podcast, mostly with groups that adhere to the German PHI standard. Since our podcast is located in the United States, we decided it was time to learn the specifics of the US Passive House standard, what their history is, what differentiates them from the German standard, and how contractors and affiliates can get involved and learn more. Join Devon, Katrin and Isaac as they discuss the hidden history of Passive House, the difference between PHI and PHIUS, the recent surge in Passive House multifamily developments, current rebates and legislation in Colorado around Passive House and green building, what it will take to bring Passive House to economies of scale, and much more!