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Username
Beverly Craig
Proposer First Name
Beverly
Proposer Email
bcraig@masscec.com
Proposer Last Name
Craig
Proposer Company/Organization
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Proposer Phone
(617) 315-9370
Proposer Job Title
Senior Program Manager
Proposed Session Description
Passive House new construction multifamily can be built today for low incremental cost and dramatic energy reduction. Join us for a quick run down of incremental costs of 8 affordable passive house projects and demonstration that built Passive House buildings in the Northeast are regularly achieving 60% lower energy use per square foot than code built comparable. Then learn what has been hardest, what has been surprisingly easy, and what teams would do differently next time from two passive house affordable built projects in Massachusetts: SquirrelWood (55units) in Cambridge, MA and Harbor Village (30 units) in Gloucester,MA. Find out how these projects are getting to the passive house finish line, especially with challenging requirements related to final all building air infiltration and balanced ventilation requirements.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
All examples in incremental cost and Philadelphia performance are affordable housing related. 2 women speakers proposed. ICON is a woman owned architecture firm.
Learning Objectives
1. Attendees will be able to: summarize the highest incremental cost categories in Passive House multifamily projects and the scale of incremental costs needed to achieve certification
2. Verify the range of energy use per square foot in built Passive House projects and how that compares to code built comparable buildings
3. Plan for design team communication to help anticipate sequencing and constructability challenges for contactors and subs during passive house construction and resolve them early
4. Analyze benefits and challenges in strategies that can help achieve final whole building air infiltration and balanced ventilation requirements of Passive House
Has this session been presented before?
No
Additional Comments
Harbor Village as a case study was included as Passive House MA Symposium but this treatment of the project will be about what team might do differently if doing over instead of summary of project. About ½ content of Incremental cost and performance was included in Passive house symposium, but will be much more developed by end of February for Building Energy Boston. Noone has presented on Squirrelwood before, so all new content.
Session Format
Presentation followed by facilitated discussion or breakout groups
Session Format Details
Break outs to 1) discussion of cost and performance 3) discussion of blower door testing strategies for whole building logistic and when constractor should attend 4) discussion of challenges of achieving balanced ventilation and strategies that have worked

Strongest Content Connection - Boston 2022

Comments about your speaker roster
ICON is a woman owned architecture firm. Both case studies are of affordable housing projects where many benefits will occur for low income residents and non-profit owners. 2 women speakers proposed.
Reviewer 1
Heath, Anna
Reviewer 2
Evans, Bryan
Curator
Craig, Beverly
Proposal #
182
Session #
202
Committee Decision
Accepted
Full Description
The presentation will allay concerns that Passive House is too expensive, too hard, and not worth the effort by showing specific examples with incremental cost and specific examples of how much better Passive House certified buildings perform. The session will also provide practical lessons learned from two specific affordable housing passive projects including the most difficult parts to achieving passive requirements: getting extremely low whole envelope infiltration and achieving balance in the final ventilation system.