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.

The hotel & Spa Del Monte Lodge wanted to refresh their tastefully modest building in the historic village setting of Pittsford New York with a new porte-cochere that conveyed the elegance of the hotel and spa while harkening to the contextual design elements of the area. Andrew Van Roo the Director of Design & Construction for Del Monte Group and his team thought the best way to address the main entrance, and specifically the space that leads directly into the lobby and reception desk area, was with a timeless timber frame design.

The building itself is gracefully understated featuring a mostly neutral color palate with details that are relatively subdued. To accentuate the existing aesthetic of the building the Del Monte Group’s design team thought there was an opportunity to insert a new structural design element into the overall hotel & spa complex to make an impactful statement in the main entry area that would give the best initial impression when a guest first arrives.

The unique timber frame building surrounding the Buffalo Heritage Carrousel in Buffalo, New York is part of the sweeping Canalside revitalization project at the terminus of the historic Erie Canal. The structure houses the extremely rare De Angelis Carousel, a hand carved menagerie carrousel that is nearly one hundred years old and is believed to be one of only ten carrousels of its kind produced by Spillman Engineering Corporation of nearby North Tonawanda New York.

Designed to be reminiscent of an eight-sided circus tent, the timber frame building surrounding the historic carousel is a merging of old and new technology. Featuring a cutting-edge solar array roof donated by Tesla that powers the antique carousel, that was also manufactured in Buffalo.

“We had targeted early on for the carrousel to be solar powered. We approached Tesla and asked if they would like to be involved and they said absolutely. So, they donated the roof,” says Carima El-Behairy, Director Operations & Development for Buffalo Heritage Carrousel inc. “The local Tesla Plant is only two miles up the road from us and our solar array roof came out of there, and I believe it is the first solar array roof in Buffalo.”