The WUFI Passive modeling software is a powerful tool for optimizing the energy performance and cost premium of a passive house project. But purchasing and learning it creates a clear barrier-to-entry for many designers. The prescriptive path, introduced under the Phius 2021 certification protocol, removes modeling and offers an alternative path that eliminates that barrier-to-entry. This makes Phius certification and QA/QC available for a wider range of single-family project teams and project budgets. The new Prescriptive Path offers significant impacts on the workflow of a designer and CPHC that make project certification more easily attainable. The whole-building energy balance approach at the core of performance-based certification provides infinite variation and flexibility. For the seasoned CPHC with the proper project budget, this is a blessing and leads to creative problem solving and ingenuity. For the new CPHC with a tight budget, however, this flexibility can be debilitating – leaving the design team with a long list of questions and wishing for clear direction. The Phius 2021 prescriptive path is that clear direction. Shortly after the Phius 2021 prescriptive path was announced, an influx of passive house projects flooded the Hudson Valley north of New York City. This presentation tracks six of those projects that have both successfully and unsuccessfully navigated the 2021 prescriptive path. It highlights roadblocks, pitfalls and common questions that were encountered along the way. In addition to highlighting the critical aspects of the criteria itself, it will lay out a step-by-step guide on how to use the prescriptive path from project start to project plaque.