Going to try my best to be there, really looking forward to it.

yeah phu!

it'll be good to see more MFH passivhaeuser here in the u.s.

I hope a lot of Archinectors will be able to make it to the presentation. New York Passive House is up and running now. There is a good range of projects from a single family house in upstate NY to an arts center in Manhattan and townhouses in Brooklyn.

I think there's a compelling case for building multifamily houses to Passive House standards. Landlords typically pay for heat, so it's in their interests to have low heating costs. The new NYC energy code is raising the bar for a minimally code compliant building so that a Passive House building doesn't cost much more. Also, typical PTAC units are not strictly code compliant because they make too much noise. Finally, super-insulated windows also block street noise.

Hope to see you there.

Just RSVP'd, will definitely be there. Interested to see how this first batch of PH projects going up in the area are turning out. I completely agree about the new energy code, it will hopefully motivate some architects to take that extra step. I'm passing along the word to old classmates and coworkers in the area.

I would love also to hear Werner and Sam at Loading Dock 5 talk about the PH work they've been doing, they have two PH projects under construction right now as well.

brooklynboy
not just MFH, but commercial and institutional buildings as well.
the better part of these is that because they're usually many times larger than a single family home, the levels of insulation can be reduced to achieve the PH standards.

why any landlord wouldn't want that is beyond me, but it's probably the same disease that makes developers throw up fugly, shoddy buildings.

So far, 46 people have RSVP'd. We might have to find a larger space for future events.

holz.box, true, commercial and institutional buildings can be built to Passive House standards fairly easily in NYC. Michael Loughran of the Related Companies -- the developer of the Time Warner Center -- spoke at the Urban Green Council's presentation of the NYC Green Codes Task Force in July. He said that "it's not that hard" for commercial developers to use triple-glazed curtainwall. If it were required by code or if there were specific incentives, they would do it.

You probably know about the Power Tower in Linz, Austria, which is a 74-meter tall office building built to Passive House standards. The name "Passive House" is a little unfortunate because passive solar is only a part of the system and it applies to all building types, not just houses. Maybe if we called them "Freedom Buildings" more developers would go for it.

phuyake, we hope to have Loadingdock5 present sometime, probably in January.

Seemed like a decent turnout last night, and good to see building owners there as well as architects interested in PH design.

Interesting presentation as well; it's great that there are people like Chris who are so vocal about changing the way we think about sustainability... and not just to other architects, but on a city, zoning, and legislative level. Aesthetics aside, I will be really interested to see how her project turns out. There are obviously many hurdles she had to overcome between low budgets and unfavorable site orientation, but if successful this could be a dramatic turning point in the way developers and designers alike think about building in the city.

Looking forward to the next meet up.

It was a good turnout and I enjoyed hearing Chris Benedict's passion as well as her skepticism. Her project will be, if all goes well, the first certified Passive House apartment building in NYC. The building is very conventional in many ways -- block and plank construction, EIFS, boilers, window A/C, no PV, etc. The Passive House elements were actually a net savings to the upfront construction costs according to her calculations. It would be very interesting to see what could be done with a larger budget and a south-facing lot.

Next up is Irish architect Tomas O'Leary on September 28. He will also be presenting at the Urban Green Expo later that week.

good to hear there is decent mobilization on both coasts. EIFS can be done well, hell there are tons of quality EIFS projects in the EU.

"Aesthetics aside"
i hope not, ugly buildings - even if highly energy efficient - may be the downfall of a movement like PH.

This looks like it was cool! Glad Passive House is showing up in NYC.

Er, sidebar though, how can EIFS be done well? Not in wet climates, presumably?


Hi holz!

"Aesthetics aside" -- It's hard to judge from the sketchup renderings we saw at the presentation. The articulation of the metal A/C boxes and the angled EIFS could work well. There are also thin-brick veneer accents. It looks likes a pretty typical mid-rise NYC apartment building. That's probably a good thing for one of the first Passive House buildings in the city. It's proof that PH buildings don't have to look any different from other buildings.

EIFS can be done well. It has to be water managed and detailed properly. Sto and Dryvit know how to do this now. EIFS over CMU is very solid construction as long as the EIFS won't get banged up by people or cars at ground level.

brooklynboy is happy that so many of the PH projects in NY are in BKLYN.

hey dubk, glad to see you are blogging again! next time i'm in pdx, i'll try and send a heads up. btw, there is a budding PDX PH group if you are interested.

EIFS over CMU works. i can understand the aversion cos of the history of only a decade or so ago, but it's been done well and correctly on some incredible PH projects.

i think i'm getting uber jealous of the BKLYN PH scene. wtf, i thought seattle was green?!?

By 'aesthetics aside' I just wanted to focus my comments more on the sustainable aspects of the project rather then having a design discussion, because that's definitely what's most important about it. I certainly didn't mean to speak negatively about the project as a whole...

As bkboy says, it will look like the majority of developer units in the area. As a knee-jerk reaction on my part, I was disappointed with this at first. I was hoping that PH design in the city would be the start of not only a new direction of environmentally conscious development, but also a more aesthetically pleasing (take that for what you will, in the eye of the beholder, etc) development. But the more she spoke about it, and the more I thought about the way that developers are in the city after dealing with so many of them over the years, and it is a good thing that this project doesn't try to stand out. It's something familiar, and shows that PH doesn't have to be something fancy which would scare away the majority of developers and builders. Rather, it can be a certification that comes at a similar price-point as any other development, saves way more money in the long run, and is a healthier, more pleasurable living experience for the tenants.

And i really did like her sculpting of the efis as a means to shade the southern sun, she clearly excels at making the most out of every detail.