CONTACT: Christopher Hacker
PHIUS Communications
312-561-4588 hacker@passivehouse.us
PHIUS Receives Grant for Commercial Passive Building Resource Center
Building on solid growth in multifamily passive building, the new center will feature technical, practical, and operational information on passive building for the commercial sector.
Chicago, IL — June 8, 2017 — PHIUS received a grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to create a Commercial Passive Building Resource Center. This organization is also offering a new net zero energy building grant available for commercial projects that choose PHIUS+ certification as baseline.
The online center, for developers, architects, engineers, policymakers, and investors, will offer information on the PHIUS+ standard, design tools, information on the PHIUS+ certification process, and case studies of successful commercial passive buildings.
This launch follows the 2015 launch, and tremendous success, of PHIUS’s Multifamily Resource Center, a similar resource for multifamily passive building, which was funded by a grant from the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
“The Commercial Passive Building Resource Center should nourish the demand in commercial passive building,” said Katrin Klingenberg, Director of Passive House Institute US. “It will compliment the strong growth in single and multifamily passive building we’ve seen over the last five years. We are grateful to Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for this opportunity.”
PHIUS+ certified buildings use 60-80 percent less heating and cooling energy than standard buildings. Continuous insulation, high-performance windows, airtight enclosure and ventilation with energy recovery make the standard ideal for commercial construction.
The PHIUS+ Passive Building Standard is already being adopted for commercial buildings in North America, including:
- The RMI Basalt Innovation Center in Basalt, CO
- The Hazelwood Neighborhood Center in Pittsburgh, PA
- The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies– Women's Leadership Center in Rhinebeck, NY
- The Malcolm Rosenberg Hillel Center in Blacksburg, VA
- The Valley Waste Management Office Building in Kentville, Nova Scotia
About PHIUS: PHIUS is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to making high-performance passive building the mainstream market standard. PHIUS is transforming the building sector by developing and promoting North American specific standards, practices, and certifications for buildings, professionals, and products to create structures that are durable, comfortable, healthy, and super energy efficient.
Founded in 2003, PHIUS has trained over 2,000 architects, engineers, energy consultants, energy raters, and builders in the passive building standard.
The organization is the leading passive building research and information provider in North America.
PHIUS released the PHIUS+ 2015 climate-specific building standard, developed under a DOE grant in partnership with Building Science Corporation, in March of 2015. In addition to the DOE, PHIUS has also established strategic relationships with key organizations including RESNET and the Home Innovation Research Labs, among others. The organization has received funding from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and, more recently, the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Through its Passive House Alliance US (PHAUS) program, a membership-based organization with over 800 members across 18 local chapters and dozens of corporate sponsors, PHIUS is building a robust national network of passive building communities across North America.
Learn more at www.phius.org.