The Passive House Alliance US recently launched a new website.

Join us at Common Roots Cafe on September 29, 2011 from 5:30-7:30pm to mingle with passionate members of the local Passive House community. We will briefly discuss what the local group has been up to this year and what challenges lie ahead.

This will be a cash event, food and drink not provided.
Once there please proceed to the Common Room.

Please RSVP using this link.

Yesterday, Passive House Alliance MN supported the first Passive House Designer exam in Minneapolis. 6 candidates took the exam to become certified.

Michael Huber interviewed Jay Wiederholt, the current president of the Passive House Alliance Minnesota about the Passive House building energy standard. You can find the complete podcast here.

PHIUS will lecture at Better Buildings, Better Business conference in  Wisconsin Dells, March 2-4/2011. Click here for details.

RESNET posted this on their blog a few days ago.

RESNET and the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) have entered into an agreement that synchronizes standards, modeling, quality assurance and quality control for low energy homes and buildings.

The agreement provides for:

• PHIUS to become an affiliate member of RESNET
• PHIUS will adopt the RESNET HERS Index – the minimum requirement for this would be that PHIUS would use the RESNET HERS Index as a template to assign an Index Score to its certified buildings.
• PHIUS will adopt rating standards and procedures that harmonize with the RESNET provisions for Certified Passive House Project certification, quality assurance, codes of ethics and standards of practice
• PHIUS will work with RESNET in adopting a uniform calculation of carbon savings from improving a building’s energy performance.

PHIUS is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization working to further the implementation of Passive House standards and techniques nationwide by:

• Constructing, measuring, and verifying performance of Passive Houses in all US climate zones
• Conducting nationwide training and certification of Passive House Consultants
• Contributing to the development of minimized mechanical systems for heating, cooling, and dehumidification
• Creating design guidelines for Passive Houses in all climate zones

PHIUS has been authorized by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany as the official certifier of passive houses in the U.S.  For more information click on Passive House Institute US. Passivehous is a growing movement in Europe and recognized by such organizations as the International Energy Agency, Steve Baden, Executive Director of RESNET commented on the agreement,  “This is an important agreement for both organizations, and promises to help the building industry meet the fast-growing need for low energy building design, testing and modeling.”

“We’ve seen awareness and acceptance of the Passive House Building and Energy Standard grow dramatically in the United States. By harmonizing standards with RESNET—one of the most respected standards organizations in the country—we expect Passive House to vault into the mainstream, where it belongs,” said Katrin Klingenberg, founder and Executive Director of PHIUS.

For more information about PHIUS and how the agreement with RESNET affects quality assurance and quality control for the Passive House building energy standard, email your questions and contact information to: info@passivehouse.us.

Thanks to all the visitors that came to today’s Passive House Minnesota event. We had a great time and enjoyed talking with you about Passive House. We hope to do this again real soon and keep in touch.

The PHMN board.

Please follow this link for details on our first annual meeting this Thursday. You can RSVP at info@phmn.org.

[Upd.] Product Suppliers in Attendance:

Peak Building Products | Energate Windows | Rehau Ecoair | Logix ICF | Cemstone/Reward Wall

We’ll see you on Thursday!

Katrin Klingenberg, the executive director of the Passive House Institute U.S., will be giving a lecture on Feb 8 at 4.15 pm at NDSU’s Renaissance Hall, 650 NP Avenue, Fargo, ND, 58102.

The event is free and open to the public.

For questions, please contact Malini Srivastava.