Archinect - News

Phius introduces new REVIVE 2024 standards aimed at carbon-free retrofitting

2024-08-29T16:51:00-04:00

In the interest of improving building performance standards industry-wide, Phius (the group that developed the first Passive House international standards in 2015), has announced a new standard for retrofits called REVIVE 2024.

According to Phius, the four components of the new REVIVE 2024 standard are:

Resilience-focused planning: Emphasizes resilience as a critical safety feature, particularly in adapting to more extreme weather events.
Parametric analysis software: Introduces new tools for conducting parametric studies to identify optimal solution packages that meet resilience standards while minimizing life cycle costs.
Carbon emission goals: Aims for zero operational carbon emissions and considers embodied carbon, aligning with broader sustainability objectives.
Enhanced quality assurance: Implements a robust quality assurance process to ensure all retrofit measures are executed as designed.

The new guidance is designed to make large-scale retrofits of existing buildings both more ...

Snøhetta completes new cultural and education facility in Norway inspired by Indigenous design practices

2024-08-23T19:48:00-04:00

A new cultural and educational hub that draws from the heritage and traditional building practices of the Sámi peoples, an Indigenous group in Norway, designed by Snøhetta, in collaboration with Norwegian practice 70°N architecture and artist Joar Nango, has officially opened.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

Called Čoarvemátta, the project takes its name from the Sámi words for horn and root, after the innermost and strongest part of reindeer antlers. The shared facility creates space for the Sámi National Theater Beaivváš and the Sámi High School and Reindeer Herding School.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The building is located in Kautokeino, a municipality in the middle of Finnmarksvidda, Norway’s largest and northernmost plateau. Čoarvemátta’s design responds to its environment as all the structure’s façades relate to the various landscape spaces that surround them.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The two-story building sits low in the landscape with proportions...

SOM completes lush, high-end residential tower in Mumbai

2024-06-21T15:46:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) has announced the completion of a new high-end residential tower that provides a lush oasis amidst the bustle of Mumbai.

Called Carmichael Residences, the tower addresses an increasing demand for high-rise living. It sits in Tardeo, a neighborhood known for its historic bungalows and expansive gardens. The building is distinguished by a western red cedar façade that is accented with plantings. It also embraces passive design strategies inspired by the architecture of the region.

On the street level, a driveway winds toward an elevated and private lobby surrounded by curved glass.

The lobby offers a serene atmosphere through the presence of gardens that feature scented flowers, running water, lush plantings, and finishes made of locally sourced granite and western red cedar. These natural elements ascend to the parking levels, which are shrouded in plantings.

“This development adds a new residential experience for the neighborhood,” said SOM Partne...

How Harvard GSD's Executive Education Course Explores Designing the World’s Largest Passive House Office

2024-01-22T11:15:00-05:00

This post is brought to you by Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education

In response to global decarbonization mandates and changing occupant wants and needs, architects are racing to identify technologies, critical data, operating models, and financial cases that enable the success of building retrofits and designs. In Building Decarbonization 101: The Technology, Data, Operations, and Finances of Net Zero Development, participants will dig into groundbreaking buildings worldwide, hear from a global group of experts, and emerge with holistic strategies to apply to their projects.

Winthrop Center. Image courtesy Harvard GSD Executive Education.

A highlight of the program is Brad Mahoney, Director of Sustainable Development at MP Boston, diving into the development of Winthrop Center, the world's largest Passive House office space. Brad will use his experience with Winthrop Center to cover both smart and efficient building development and building decarbonization's financi...

Architecture's top green projects and sustainability innovations in 2023

2023-12-27T20:28:00-05:00

Wrapping up a year in the wake of the recently concluded COP28 UN climate summit that resulted in, well, mild levels of agreement on the role of fossil fuels, it is possible to sense a slightly increased urgency toward this most pressing planetary issue on a high-minded diplomatic level. As we're quickly approaching the quarter mark of the 21st century, however, much more concrete action and innovation in various sectors of the AEC domain is needed — and is already happening — on the ground level as well, as we have seen in our reporting on Archinect.

Continuing with our 2023 Year in Review series, let's take a look back at some of the story highlights focusing on decarbonization efforts, material research, policy implementation, and successful applications of sustainability principles this year.

Building Electrification

Energy-efficient heat pump technology is gaining in popularity. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Øyvind Holmstad.

The process of gradually phasing out fossil f...

Atelier L’Abri completes Passive House retrofit of 1970s garage in rural Quebec

2023-10-19T12:43:00-04:00

Montreal-based Atelier L’Abri has completed a Passive House retrofit in the southern Quebec village of Frelighsburg, Canada. Named Maison Melba, the project saw a former 1970s car garage transformed into a living space that is also open to the community for collaborative projects.

Image credit: Alex Lesage

The project brief and program were inspired by the fertile ecosystem of Frelighsburg, resulting in a scheme where, as Atelier L’Abri puts it, “beauty is in harmony with performance.” Outside, an Écomestible-designed landscape holds a greenhouse and a garden dedicated to small-scale vegetable production, while inside, the main building houses a residence, work studio, workshop, and a culinary production and meeting space.

Image credit: Alex Lesage

The exterior of the building is defined by a “noble and timeless look that blends with the countryside.” A steel roof is paired with wood plank cladding that gradually shifts from brown to g...

Boston’s new Winthrop Center is now officially the largest Passive House office building in the world

2023-10-06T17:58:00-04:00

The new Winthrop Center in Boston by Handel Architects has just been certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) as the largest Passive House office design in the world, according to an announcement made Friday by its developer Millennium Partners.

Inaugurated in the spring after a six-year concept and construction phase, the 691-foot mixed-use tower includes 812,000 square feet of Class A office space and another 510,000-square-foot segment with 317 luxury residences within its 52-story design.

The office component of the Center, which earned the PHI designation, incorporates between 30 and 35% more fresh air than a typical commercial design. Millennium Partners shares: "A typical Class A building in Boston’s existing stock uses 150% more energy and existing LEED Platinum buildings in Boston use 60% more energy than Winthrop Center’s office space."

Image courtesy of Millennium Partners.

“With Winthrop Center, we wanted to think beyond the status quo, and we were ready to employ ...

SOM's two-tower office complex in Guangzhou has topped out

2023-08-04T15:36:00-04:00

SOM’s striking two-tower project, the Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou, China, has officially topped out at 669 feet. Situated in the city’s rapidly developing Pazhou business district, the structure was built for construction equipment company Sany’s new cloud technology arm.

Photo: SOM and Mo Peihua

The 1.9 million-square-foot complex is comprised of two Class A office towers. One will serve as the company’s headquarters, with the other being a leasable tenant space. Both structures are united by an external system of five-story steel columns that rise in a diamond grid pattern, which creates a self-shading façade. The diagrid system also contributes to the building’s resilience against seismic activity and strong winds.

Rendering courtesy of SOM

The design allows the floors to be suspended from the structure, ridding the need for interior columns. Landscaped terraces are also featured at five-floor intervals across the façade.

The towers sit atop an elevated podium, which br...

Moody Nolan and Stull & Lee to lead design of mixed-use, affordable Columbia Crossing development in Boston

2023-02-24T15:19:00-05:00

The City of Boston has announced its financial support for a mixed-use, mixed-income development in the Upham’s Corner neighborhood. Called Columbia Crossing, the project will repurpose the historic Dorchester Savings Bank building and adjacent parking lot into an approximately 86,000-square-foot residential, commercial, and retail complex.

The scheme will be developed by nonprofit developer Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) in partnership with the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC), a nonprofit Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) based in Upham’s Corner. The endeavor will consist of the construction of a new six-story building addition to the back of the existing Dorchester Savings Bank as well as the adaptive reuse of the bank building. Stull & Lee, Inc. and Moody Nolan are partnering on the architecture.

POAH and DBEDC were chosen through a competitive, community-driven RFP process led by Dudley Neighbors Inc. (DNI), a local community land trust and t...

DIALOG & Group2 selected to design $54 million mass timber student housing facility

2023-02-17T13:25:00-05:00

The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) in British Columbia has selected Canadian firms DIALOG and Group2 to design and the construction companies Clark Builders and Turner to build a six-story, CAD $73 million (USD $54 million) mass timber student housing building.

Located on the University’s Abbotsford campus, the facility will feature 398 beds, increasing on-campus student housing from 200 beds to 598.

Architect and DIALOG partner Marion LaRue said the firm aims to create a welcoming and efficient student housing building that utilizes leading techniques and materials.

The building will include lounges, shared kitchens, study rooms, and mixed-use and cultural spaces. It will also integrate passive house building certification standards.

The project will utilize the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method, which increases efficiency by engaging all parti...

An Edwardian terrace house refurbished as a sleek, energy-saving abode in London

2023-02-16T15:32:00-05:00

British firm Architecture for London has recently completed the extension and refurbishment of a traditional Edwardian terrace house into a modern, energy-efficient home.

Photo: Lorenzo Zandri and Christian Brailey, courtesy of Architecture for London

Called Low Energy House, the residence is located in Muswell Hill, a suburban district in north London, and aimed to set an example of a sustainable refurbishment of a typical terraced home with a constrained budget. The project’s embodied energy and energy in-use were taken into heavy consideration.

Photo: Lorenzo Zandri and Christian Brailey, courtesy of Architecture for London

The energy requirements were reduced through insulating, triple-glazing, and improving airtightness. The home was extended via a rear extension and a loft conversion.

The home incorporates a timber structure, a continuous airtight layer, and insulation to the entire building envelope. The walls were insulated externally at the side and rear and internally at t...

Scotland will mandate passive house standards for all new social housing starts by 2024

2022-12-29T09:00:00-05:00

New legislation aimed at enacting a countrywide mandate for the use of passive house design standards in all new housing developments is gaining traction in Scotland after Labour MSP Alex Rowley’s bill was endorsed by the national government earlier this month.

The new Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill will now be fast-tracked through secondary legislation in order to be fully enacted by the end of 2024, according to a letter sent to Rowley by Scotland’s Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings Patrick Harvie.

In a statement, the UK’s Passivhaus Trust said: “It is a truly forward-thinking approach by the Scottish government and a positive response to the 2021 Scottish Climate Assembly recommendations. They are to be applauded for taking this crucial step towards meeting their net zero/climate emergency goals. Now we must ensure that the bill is well developed and implemented to deliver the greatest impact on the actual performance of new homes in Scotland.”

Related...

Dattner debuts a record-setting new 26-story passive house high-rise in the Bronx

2022-11-14T12:35:00-05:00

Dattner Architects recently celebrated the opening of a new 26-story affordable housing project in New York City it says sets a new standard for the application of one of the building industry’s most sustainable techniques in the design of high-rise apartment structures.

Located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, it has 277 total units with a host of on-site community services and is considered the largest passive house building in North America.

According to a city press release, the $178 million new structure at 425 Grand Concourse is meant specifically for the formerly homeless and those earning between less than 30% and 130% of the median income in an area in which 22% of all residents are considered food insecure.

Image courtesy Dattner Architects

“Our administration is focused on creating affordable housing for New Yorkers that doesn’t just help those who move in but enhances the entire community, and 425 Grand Concourse does exactly that,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said dur...

MVRDV completes ‘geological’ residential complex in Rennes, France

2022-10-21T13:35:00-04:00

MVRDV has completed work on Ascension Paysagère, a residential complex in Rennes, France which takes inspiration from “geological formations.” Designed in collaboration with co-architects ALL, the project delivers 138 homes within the 12-story, 113,000-square-foot scheme, including 37 social housing units and 42 affordable housing units.

Image © Ossip van Duivenbode

Located at the meeting point of two rivers, the development comprises two curving buildings with gradually receding slopes. A mixture of matte and glossy ceramic panels clad the complex in five “stratified” tones of gray, with dark matte tiles concentrated near the ground and lighter, glossier tiles to the upper levels. This stratified arrangement continues at night, with lighting integrated in the ceramic panels becoming more prevalent as the buildings rise.

Image © Ossip van Duivenbode

The two buildings step up towards the center of the site to form three peaks. Th...

Resilient housing prototypes designed by Marvel Architects utilized a range of self-sustaining strategies to survive Hurricane Fiona

2022-09-23T12:00:00-04:00

After Hurricane Fiona tore through Puerto Rico on Sunday [Sept. 18], roads in the small mountain city of Caguas—hit with more than 20 inches of rain—were underwater. Landslides washed away some streets. As on the rest of the island, the electric grid went down, and it wasn’t clear how many homes had been damaged or destroyed. But in two new prototype homes, the electricity stayed on.

The prototypes are single-family homes completely off-grid with electricity and potable water. They were designed by New York City and Puerto Rico-based Marvel Architects and paid for by nonprofit Acacia Network. The homes utilize hurricane and seismic-resistant components, which include an insulated concrete panel system that has shown to be just as if not more effective against earthquakes than traditional concrete block construction. They also employ passive design strategies, allowing natural cross ventilation, heat extraction, and shade. In addition, the structures are modular so that they can adapt to a variety of locations and square footage.

Jonathan Marvel, the firm's founder, addressed the cost of these resilient homes with Fast Company's Adele Peters stating, "I don't want to say 'affordable,' because the average Puerto Rican income is below the level of poverty in the United States. So this is a housing system that's going to require assistance to build." Marvel added th...

What is Passive House, and how can it shape your career?

2022-06-22T08:10:00-04:00

In a 2017 feature article for Archinect, NK Architects’ CMO Zack Semke set out the case for adopting Passive House design principles.

“The genius of Passive House design is that it recognizes the building itself – its skeleton and skin – as a technology,” Semke wrote. “Powered by modern building science, energy modeling, and an advanced analysis of the thermal properties of building structures, Passive House architecture sits squarely in the realm of information technology and science-based innovation. That is a potential game changer for buildings’ role in the clean energy transition.”

Archinect Feature: How Passive House Design Can Propel the Clean Energy Transition in Architecture

Five years later, the Passive House movement across the United States has surged, as architects seek to move their design proposals towards zero-carbon. The Passive House Institute of the Unites States (Phius), the body which oversees Passive Building standards in the U.S., has certified more than 7.4 m...

Foster + Partners designs timber department store in Tokyo

2022-06-02T14:27:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has unveiled designs for a nine-story, timber-structure department store in Tokyo, presenting an elegant retail space that features several green-building practices.

Called the Shibuya Marui Department Store, the space is set to become a new showcase for sustainable lifestyle brands. Its design ensures the maximization of daylight and passive thermal comfort while using natural materials.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

“We are delighted to be working on such a ground-breaking and sustainable project, which is a stone’s throw away from the world-famous Shibuya Crossing,” said Foster + Partners Senior Executive Partner David Summerfield. “A timber structure will significantly reduce the embodied carbon of the building, while simultaneously creating a warm and open experience for visitors.”

The department store is inspired by traditional Japanese building techniques featuring a timber structure that greatly lowers the building’s embodied carbon and offers a distinct...

New timber building by Haz Arquitectura employs a range of sustainable features to reduce its carbon footprint

2022-05-27T14:50:00-04:00

A new multi-use complex made nearly entirely of wood has been introduced to Barcelona’s Trinitat Vella district.

Called the Center for Community Life, the new public building will form part of a community facility hub for the districts of San Andreu and Nou Barris set to be built in the coming years. It will house various social services and bodies, including a Women’s Information and Attention Point, along with community housing and homes for young people and the elderly. The facility is the work of architects Manuel Sánchez-Villanueva and Carol Beuter of Haz Arquitectura, a studio with expertise in the construction of public and private spaces in the health, cultural, and social sectors, as well as offices and sports amenities.

Image Copyright José Hevia

Because this is the first building in the future complex, the firm wanted to avoid creating a major contrast with the upcoming projects. Therefore, they opted for a simple, abstract outer design that opens up to a future plaza tha...

Is Chicago ready to become the climate city of tomorrow? A new exhibition at the CAC explores an 'Energy Revolution'

2022-05-04T18:48:00-04:00

To coincide with the recent Earth Day celebrations, the Chicago Architecture Center has opened up its archives for a look inside the revolution that could restore the city, traditionally thought to be a mecca for the seminal works of 19th- and 20th-century architectural pioneers, to the top of the new mantle of sustainable design.

Titled Energy Revolution, the exhibition is being curated by Farr Associates founder and former Congress for New Urbanism Chair Doug Farr, an urbanist and outspoken sustainability advocate whose roots in the city extend nearly 40 years. Farr says one of his main goals was to “get architects to bring their clients to the show and start asking themselves the question: Can our next building be one that is all-electric and has no fossil-fuel connections?”

Image courtesy the Chicago Architecture Center

The answer is invariably tied to the direction shown by the city’s elected officials. On Friday, Chicago officially submitted a Climate Action Plan that includes ...

Can the architecture industry deliver a carbon-neutral building revolution?

2022-04-15T18:40:00-04:00

There’s ever-growing panoply of efficiency measures — better insulation, improved heating and air-conditioning, less-polluting appliances — that could help the building sector rapidly decarbonize. By 2030, almost all new buildings could consume zero net energy — net meaning there’s some give and take from the grid to equal zero use. That’s a big deal, especially with a corollary switch to electrified forms of transportation.

The list of new green technologies is long and includes innovations like low-carbon concrete, cross-laminated timber, and living wall systems that have all developed into scalable products over the past ten years.

So far, big-name firms like Gensler, Lake|Flato, and KieranTimberlake have been among their many evangalizers, with high-profile projects like the White Arkitekter-designed Sara Cultural Centre, Arup's recently completed HAUT residential building, or the Sonoma Academy Janet Durgin Guild & Commons by WRNS Studio serving as the new standard-bearers in an industry seemingly reluctant to adopt its own rhetoric as to the need for systematic change.

The residential sector is another key area of focus if the 2030 ambit mentioned above is to ever truly become a reality. There is quite a bit of reason for hope in this area, too, with more and more governments providing fundin...

Massachusetts is using incentives to build a small passive house empire

2022-03-09T18:59:00-05:00

A pair of statewide incentive programs in Massachusetts is driving a surge of apartment buildings designed to the highly energy-efficient passive house standard. In the past year, families have moved into 257 affordable housing units in complexes built to the standard, and about 6,000 additional units are now in various stages of development.

The Commonwealth has been ramping up investment into the technology since 2018, when it instituted The Passive House Design Challenge that awarded a total of $1.73 million (or $4,000 per unit) to eight separate multifamily developments from Gloucester to Boston. Another initiative called Mass Save was launched the following year, offering an additional $5,000 per unit and helping architects to pursue some innovative projects including the new 1599 Columbus building in Boston from Utile.

Related on Archinect: How Passive House Design Can Propel the Clean Energy Transition in Architecture. Photo by Aaron Leitz.

Passive house techniques are supposed to be well-suited for such developments because of their ability to fit so many units inside the tighter building envelopes. They also offer the added benefit of energy savings, which are vital to low-income families in colder states like Massachusetts. One developer also sees it as a great way to deliver high-quality design to people who mi...

Cornell Tech celebrates Roosevelt Island Campus phase one completion

2022-02-24T14:33:00-05:00

Cornell Tech, Cornell University’s urban campus for technology research and education, has announced the completion of the first phase of its Roosevelt Island campus development in New York City. This news comes following the recent completion and opening of the Snøhetta-designed Verizon Executive Education Center and the Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel in 2021.

The first three buildings at Cornell Tech, which opened in September 2017 include the Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center, designed by Morphosis Architects, the TATA Innovation Center, designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and The House, designed by Handel Architects and developed by The Hudson Companies and Related Companies.

Previously on Archinect: Snøhetta completes two new buildings for Cornell Tech campus in New York

The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center is the campus’s first academic building offering a variety of spaces designed to support different learning modes, while incorporating advanced sustainability features and comm...

Winthrop Center is making progress in its quest to become the world's largest Passive House office building

2021-06-09T13:09:00-04:00

Curtain wall construction has begun on what will become the world’s largest passive house office building, marking an important milestone in the drive to give Boston an iconic and environmentally friendly new skyscraper that could help the city meet its carbon-free mandate by midcentury.

Winthrop Center is awaiting certification from the Passive House Institute conferring its office portion with a status that, once completed, will make it the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.

Winthrop Center. Image courtesy of Millennium Partners Boston.

Handel’s vision for the 52-story center is a mixed-use development that includes a bar, restaurants, 321 luxury residences, and a triple-high atrium gathering space dubbed The Connector that seeks to blur lines between indoor and outdoor space in the through-block site along Federal Street to the adjacent Winthrop Square.

Only the 800,000 square foot office portion of Winthrop Center will seek the designation although the building’s overal...

Perkins and Will designs mass timber Passive House proposal for West Vancouver

2020-06-04T14:08:00-04:00

An innovative multi-family residential development has been proposed for West Vancouver’s Ambleside area, just steps from the waterfront. A preliminary development application submitted by Delta Land Development and designed by Perkins + Will Architects calls for the redevelopment of 2204 Bellevue Avenue [...].

The proposed eight-story mass timber tower was designed by Perkins and Will for Delta Land Development and aims for Passive House sustainability standards, reports Urbanized Vancouver.

One year ago, P+W made headlines with another wooden tower design proposal: Canada Earth Tower could rise up to 40 stories and, if realized, bring the coveted title of "World’s Tallest Timber Building" from Norway back home to Vancouver.

North America's largest Passive House affordable housing complex

2020-06-04T12:50:00-04:00

Bronx - Park Avenue Green is a 15-story Passive House certified housing complex designed by New York City-based Curtis + Ginsberg Architects. The 154-unit complex is considered the largest Passive House certified building in North America as well as the largest Passive House affordable housing complex on the continent.

The brick and metal panel-wrapped tower features simple, streamlined massing. Photo courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects.

Developed by Omni achieved Passive House with $48.4 million in funding provided by the New York City Housing Development Corporation and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the development represents an example of a private-public partnership.

The building's ground level is set back from the street. Photo courtesy of Curtis + Ginsberg Architects.

The spartan, brick-and-metal-panel-wrapped tower features structural insulation that helps maintain a high level of environmental performance for the building alongside ...

"Hygiene ventilation" and the case for Green Stimulus

2020-05-04T13:29:00-04:00

As society plans its transition out of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response and into a new era of social distanced, post-quarantine life, the gradual re-inhabitation of existing buildings will necessitate that many aspects of daily life be re-examined, both in terms of social custom and functional layout.

Lecture halls and performance spaces that once held hundreds will now accommodate dozens; High-rise office buildings will see their capacities drastically reduced, as well; Grocery aisles will be redesigned to allow for more space between shoppers; Restaurants could see their dining rooms transported outdoors; Banks, post offices, government buildings, and all sorts of commercial, cultural, and entertainment facilities will likely, either periodically or for a period of time moving forward, will be impacted by this shift.

Previously on Archinect: "MASS Design Group brings pandemic design expertise to American hospital wards." A diagram showing interventions that the ...

Cross-Laminated Timber net-zero apartment comes to Boston

2020-02-20T15:29:00-05:00

In winter 2021, Boston is expecting Model-C, its first ground-up full Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Passive House demonstration project. Designed and developed by Generate, an architectural tech company, and Placetailor, a leading sustainable housing developer, Model-C replaces the conventional concrete and steel construction materials with the CLT "cellular structure."

The new development will consist of 14 residential units and an "affordable" co-working space for the surrounding community on the ground level. Moreover, the five-story mixed use building will use a prefabricated kit-of-parts for its construction. A CLT rooftop canopy sits at the peak of the structure, allowing for the implementation of photovoltaics.

The construction speed achieved through the reduction of interior framing and the use of modular and prefabrication methods has enabled the construction timeline to significantly diminish. Construction is due to begin later this summer and building is projected to be c...

How Vancouver leads North America in slashing building-related carbon emissions

2019-11-04T05:00:00-05:00

With support from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance’s Innovation Fund, [Vancouer] collaborated closely with the building industry and its partners, and, in 2016, Vancouver’s City Council approved a Zero Emissions Building (ZEB) plan. That plan launched a bold commitment to make near-zero emissions homes and buildings the new normal in Vancouver by 2030. Few cities had yet gone that far.

Writing in Fast Company, Sean Pander, green building manager for the city of Vancouver, lays out the multi-faceted approach the Terminal City has taken to chart a new course with regards to carbon emissions generated by the city’s buildings.

The effort, according to Pander, involved working with building industry experts to examine and rewrite regulatory obstacles standing in the way of the widespread adoption of Passive House standards, among many others.

60-story passive house tower unveiled for Vancouver

2019-08-26T13:30:00-04:00

Henson Developments, WKK, and IBI Group have unveiled designs for a 60-story Passive House tower slated for downtown Vancouver. If completed as designed, the wavy tower could become the tallest Passive House building in the world.

The tower, according to renderings published by Narcity, is defined by billowing, double-curved geometries that frame a series of inset loggia spaces. Wrapped in repeating horizontal bands that alternate between solid cladding and glass, the tower is designed to produce no operating emissions and is proposed as part of the city's Zero Emissions Building Plan, a 2016 agreement that aims to eliminate operating emissions for all new buildings by 2030.

View of the tower's lower areas. Image courtesy of Henson Developments.

According to previously submitted documentation for the building, the tower's exterior facades are divided equally in terms of surface area between glazed and unglazed surfaces, with unglazed wall components made up of "super-insulated walls...

Passive House towers are good

2019-07-30T13:17:00-04:00

Over the last 10 years, the passive house, a form of green design that originated in Germany, has surged in popularity. By creating an airtight building envelope with thick, insulated walls and triple-paned windows, passive houses can eliminate the need for heating and cooling systems in temperate climates and greatly minimize it in a place like New York. But applying those design principles to the construction of a 26-story high-rise is more complicated than it is in a single-family home.

The New York Times profiles Fernando Gómez-Baquero, a visiting doctoral researcher at the new Cornell Tech campus on New York's Roosevelt Island who lives in a 28-story, Handel Architects-designed Passive House residential tower. The tower is the world's tallest and largest Passive House building, according to the architects.

Photo of Cornell's Roosevelt Island complex. Image courtesy of Handel Architects.

Life in the tower, where thermostats are kept between 68 and 75 degrees and a floor-by-floor energy usage is tallied in the lobby, is good, according to Gómez-Baquero. He told The New York Times, “I geek-out on this building. I was really fascinated by how you make a building this tall consume 60 to 70 percent less energy.”

Gómez-Baquero is the founder of ipHaus, an off-the-grid affordable housing development company.