passive house

I recently went to two events, a LEED for Homes Rater Training in Chicago and a Passive House California conference in Palo Alto. These separate events reinforced two things that I had lost focus of in the day-to-day business of being an energy and sustainability consultant. The first is that California is so far ahead of the pack when it comes to sustainable building. So much of what people in other parts of the country struggle with is already codified in California.

Passive House California's 3rd annual conference was hands-down the best yet.

Beyond Efficiency will be presenting at two upcoming Passive House conferences and we hope to see you in California, Maine, or both:

9th Annual North American Passive House Conference

September 11-14, 2014
San Francisco Bay Area, California
Presenter: Katy Hollbacher, P.E.

On April 27th, Passive House California is hosting a High Performance Window Panel. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what makes a window "high performance" and to meet some of your local window experts. Networking and beer are included, and the meeting will kick off with an introduction to Passive House. 3pm start, $10 for non-members, $5 for supporters and free for members. Held at the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley.

Tomorrow I'm off to my 3rd conference in the last 3 weeks, this one in Pittsburgh. I always am so excited to be off to a big Passive House event, but recent travel has made me exhausted and I'm glad this is the last of my traveling at least for a little while! If anyone's still on the fence, this conference is sure to be as great a Passive House event as in past years. Here's the scoop:

I returned home to California a few days ago after an incredible week in Jackson, Wyoming for the 2013 AIA Western Region Conference, which rotates between the six member states--Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico--each year. I presented on high-performance building envelope design and crammed in all that I could in two presentation slots (browse or download the presentation below).

Part II in Passive House California's Building Carbon Zero California series is scheduled for October 3rd at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin Civic Center. Randy Hayes (formerly Rainforest Action Network) and Peter Busby (Perkins + Will) are keynote speakers for this event. Attend to learn how we can drastically reduce our carbon emissions today, and build a better environment for future generations.

Katy Hollbacher is delivering Part I and II presentations, Passive House and Energy Modeling: The Foundation for True High-Performance Buildings, at the upcoming AIA Western Region Conference in Jackson, Wyoming. The Western Region comprises Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming--encompassing mountains and deserts along with their harsh conditions and extreme temperature ranges.

Our flights are booked and hotel is reserved for Vancouver- we can't wait and hope to see you there! The Canadian Passive House Institute (CanPHI) will host the first North American Passive House conference dedicated to cost-effective strategies for reducing building energy in cool climates. PASSIVE HOUSE NORTH 2013: Affordable energy efficiency for a changing climate will convene Sept. 27 and 28 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, B.C.

High Performance Details For California Climates: Lessons Learned--Passive House advocates Katy Hollbacher, Bronwyn Barry and Mary James are delivering this presentation at the upcoming 2012 ACI California Home Performance Conference June 5-6 in Sacramento on Tuesday, June 5 from 1:30-3:00 p.m.