Bryan Bleier from our HPEz team and Kyle Barber from our design team recently attended the 16th annual PhiusCon (formerly North American Passive House Conference) at the historic Palmer House in Chicago IL. The guys specifically attended this year’s conference to connect with like-minded professionals in the industry and talk about New Energy Works investment in our High Performance Made Easier ™ (HPEz) enclosure systems as well as the teams ongoing commitment to develop sustainable and accessible higher performing homes.
PhiusCon is the leading passive building conference for climate-specific zero energy design, construction, and building science expertise. The conference is presented by parent organization Phius which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to decarbonizing the built environment by making high-performance passive building the mainstream market standard. Phius also certifies the majority of passive house projects in North America with their locally tailored, globally applicable passive building standard.
This year’s conference covered topics like passive and zero energy ready building, materials and technology solutions, and carbon reduction best practices for the building industry, among a large variety of other topics. Both Bryan and Kyle had a lot of take aways from the event from very different perspectives, Bryan from the build/construction standpoint and Kyle from the design side of the industry.
“Something that was really interesting to me was the conversations that took place during the seminars about pre-panelization at the conference. As people in the audience asked questions towards the end of these presentations it was clear that there is some hesitation in the industry when it comes to enclosure components that are manufactured off-site. It was clear that some folks have a preconception that enclosures that are built off-site are somehow of lower quality,” Bryan Bleier from our HPEz team shared. “But as you listen to the experts at a conference like PhiusCon, and they start talking through the quality assurance systems and rigorous vetting of project specifications that are done before fabrication even begins, people start to change their minds. That is what is really special about an event like this, it opens people to new possibilities, new ideas.”
“Bryan and I geeked out on building science and off-site panelization with some of the coolest people in the industry. One of the best quotes of the conference was: “it’s a room full of black sheep”. It was amazing talking with pioneers of the building science world and have them talk to you as a peer,” Kyle Barber from our design team shared. “It’s one of the coolest communities I’ve ever been a part of, and I hope it never loses its welcoming spirit. The excitement for passive house construction was intoxicating. Thanks to Steve, Ilka and Emily of Holzraum System for hanging out with us and making us feel welcome at our first PHIUSCon.”
Related Blog:
Passive House Enclosure: Partnering for the Future | New Energy Works
