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Explore job opportunities involving passive house design

2024-01-18T13:22:00-05:00

Dive into this week's curated job roundup as we spotlight eight architecture firms on the lookout for architects and designers experienced or interested in passive house design.

To learn more about previous coverage explore our 2017 op-ed piece from Zack Semke "How Passive House Design Can Propel the Clean Energy Transition in Architecture" and a previous interesting job piece highlighting how passive house design can shape one's career. And for a fun yet related pop culture reference see how passive house design plays a thematic role in the hit Showtime TV series, The Curse, starring Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone.

The Musial Group Architects is hiring a Project Architect and Architectural Designer
Location: Mountainside, NJ

Project Architect details: The Musial Group, specializing in public sector architecture in the tristate area, is seeking a Project Architect with 10-15 years of experience for diverse projects including civic, educational, and residential buildings. The role inv...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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...

Viennese student dorms may Passively House refugees

2015-10-21T17:19:00-04:00

Sustainable, fast, and cheap housing: just what you need when you're escaping oppressive regimes, natural disasters, and other refugee-creating events. Christoph Chorherr, Vienna's Green Party planning spokesperson, has blogged that the mobile Passive House dormitories designed by Günter Lang for students in Vienna's Seestadt Aspern district could easily be adapted to comfortably house refugees.

With a construction cost of 1.140 Euro per square meter, the dorms not only can be erected in a few days, but also meet the "Passive House Standard," meaning that they reduce traditional building energy consumption by up to 90%. Passive House Standard dwellings aren't limited to Vienna: from Canada to Germany to South Korea, the form is proving popular with energy-conscious designers.

Passivhaus Institute Ends Relationship With Passive House Institute US

2011-08-17T15:55:49-04:00

The founder of Passivhaus and director of Passivhaus Institute PHI, Dr. Wolfgang Fiest, has just sent word that the Passive House Institute United States (PHIUS) will no longer be able to provide building certifications, and will no longer be considered a partner of the program.