The Passive House movement began in the US, was carried on in Germany and Sweden, spread though Europe, and is now being re-introduced in North America. An underlying principle is that developed countries need to reduce the emissions from space conditioning their homes by at least 90% on average to bring them within sustainable levels. Not only is this achievable, but available tools help make it cost-effective. Passive House U.S. sets performance-based limits for maximum heating/cooling load, annual space conditioning demand, and total annual home energy consumption. Building enclosures are so tight and well-insulated that heat recovery ventilation becomes the principal – or only – mechanical system. Electric and water heating loads are small and met by renewable sources. Packages of building measures and retrofit strategies can be developed for any combination of climate, geographic region, and building typology. Hear Katrin Klingenberg, founder and president of the Passive House Institute U.S., (www.passivehouse.us) introduce this timely and progressive concept to residential building professionals in Northern California. Besides explaining its economic and technical aspects, Katrin will demonstrate Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) software.
Topics include criteria for selecting neighborhoods and specific houses and how to interview and select the members of the renovation team: realtor, subcontractors, home inspector, etc. The instructor will cover creative buying and selling strategies, including new technology and Web 2.0 resources.

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