Active House: EnerPHit

As part of an ongoing series related to Passive House design, the Urban Green Council, with the AIANY Committee on the Environment and New York Passive House, held “EnerPHit: The Passive House Standard for Energy Retrofits” at the Center for Architecture on 04.01.15. EnerPHit is the passive house energy retrofit standard created by Passive House Institute Founder Dr. Wolfgang Feist.

In order to meet the 80×50 targets initiated by the de Blasio Administration, the vast majority of efforts in NYC must focus on existing buildings. By 2050, roughly 80% of our buildings will be buildings that exist today. The impacts of new construction will be less significant through 2050. As more new construction projects embrace Passive House Standards, architects must also find ways to apply similar energy-saving strategies to existing buildings.

Presenters Jane Sanders, AIA, CPHD, Principal and Owner, Jane Sanders Architect, and Jeremy R.M. Shannon, AIA, LEED AP, BPI, CEO and Principal Architect, Build with Prospect, Inc. and Prospect Architecture, spoke about how the EnerPHit requirements will create challenges, but also opportunities to help reach emission reduction goals if applied on a large scale. Sanders and Shannon used Sanders’ Park Slope, Brooklyn, home as a case study.

A video recording of the program is available here.

Pulse Points

• The March think tank discussion “Edge Business: New Modes of Profit,” brought together practitioners who are defining new practice models, services, and ways to increase compensation and productivity. The related public forum, held on 03.30.15, focused on how architects bring a dynamic and disparate skill set to other settings that call for a design-minded approach. Speakers Phil Bernstein, FAIA, RIBA, LEED AP, Thomas Gluck, AJ Pires, and Jane Smith, AIA, IIDA, addressed the ways in which the design and construction fields have changed and merged, along with the importance of working with an interdisciplinary team. A video of the program is available here. Read a brief report in this issue of e-Oculus.
• On 04.17.15, the AIANY Planning and Urban Design Committee will host a session with the NYC Department of City Planning on the “Zoning for Quality and Affordability” proposal. Co-sponsored by AIA Bronx, AIA Brooklyn, AIA Queens, and AIA Staten Island, the program will focus on how zoning changes would remove obsolete provisions and modernize others to encourage development of new high-quality, mixed-income housing. RSVP here.
• AIA New York State Albany Lobby Day is 04.28.15. Read more about the statewide legislative priorities here. Please email Emma Pattiz, AIANY Policy Coordinator, for more information about how to participate.

Emma Pattiz is the AIANY Policy Coordinator. For more information on AIANY policy initiatives and programs, please contact her at epattiz@aiany.org.