The January 2026 issue of Architectural Record features an article by Joann Gonchar, FAIA, exploring how the International Passive House standard is shaping fire-resilient rebuilding efforts one year after the devastating Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires. The article highlights the California Rebuild Competition, organized by Passive House Network (PHN) and Passive House California (PHCA). The competition challenged architects to demonstrate how high-performance design, airtight construction, and balanced ventilation can contribute…
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Passive House California , January 20, 2026 -
The Passive House Network national Conference will be held on June 4-5 in New Haven, Connecticut, at Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist masterpiece, the Armstrong Rubber Headquarters, reborn as the PHI EnerPHit-certified Hotel Marcel. We invite you to step inside a Passive House at Hotel Marcel and join our 2026 Conference. Spend the night. You will feel it. You will learn from leading experts. You will form lasting connections. Buildings designed and…
The recent devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires challenges us, not just to rebuild, but also to innovate. Consequently, the Passive House Network with Passive House California is launching a design competition to develop a groundbreaking catalog of high-performance homes to inspire and inform the rebuilding efforts in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades communities. We invite architects and designers to showcase the power of Passive House in creating sustainable, healthy,…
Join Passive House Network (PHN), Passive House California (PHCA) and the AIA Los Angeles on November 4th at 5:30 PM at the AIA Los Angeles Center for Communities for an evening of exceptional buildings. We'll be announcing the winners of our California Rebuilds Design Competition hosting a panel on fire-resilient design, and sharing our ideas for a better built environment over drinks and light food. Location: AIA Los Angeles Center…
Explore a small-scale urban infill single-family residence in West Los Angeles, designed under California’s SB9 regulation—a recent law aimed at increasing residential density to help address the housing shortage in Los Angeles. Designed by PARAVANT Architects, this home was recently certified as a Passive House Classic by the International Passive House Institute (PHI). You’ll also have the opportunity to observe the ongoing renovation of an existing home, which is being…
What do Zero Emissions Buildings look like? The Department of Energy has just finalized an official definition. The new guidance outlines three pillars of a Zero Emissions Building: energy efficient, free of onsite emissions from energy use, and powered solely from clean energy. The definition includes different compliance options for new and existing buildings, but in either case requires zero onsite emissions (with an exception for emergency backup in case…
Passive House California is excited to announce the initiation of a monthly Virtual Community Meeting program. The meetings will be on the third Tuesday of each month at Noon. We will provide information about each monthly meeting on the PHCA website (passivehousecal.org) and in the previous month’s PHCA newsletter. Meeting information will also be posted on the Passive House Network website (PHNetwork.org). The Community Meetings will be aligned with the…
On June 26 - 30, the Tri-County Regional Energy Network (3C-REN), in collaboration with the Passive House Network, hosted a five-day in-person Certified Passive House Designer/Consultant (CPHD/C) training at Santa Barbara Community College. Situation on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the LEED Platinum classroom building was a perfect location for discussing Passive house concepts. 14 students completed the week. All indicated that they plan to take the CPHD/C exam…
Thank you for your interest in the Certified Passive House Designer and Consultant Certification offered by the Passive House Network (PHN) and PG&E Workforce Education and Training. We are now accepting applications to participate in the next Certified Passive House Designer/Consultant (CPHD) training cohort. See the course layout below for the training curriculum, important dates, final examination, and more. Details Training starts April 14, 2023, and runs 11 weeks including…
On February 1, 2023 architects, developers and advocates celebrated the 29 design concepts that were submitted to the Zoning Holiday Competition. The concepts submitted were based on a five-unit multi-family building on a 50’ wide by 100’ deep site and designed to the Passive House Standard and the CEQA Class 3 exemptions. The term Zoning Holiday is based on the fact that “many California cities have not met State-mandated requirements…
“This is an overview of the existing policies in place that were designed to accelerate Passive House adoption across the U.S. They are based on the input received at an informal gathering convened by PHN on November 6, 2020, where we gathered representatives from across North America to share information regarding policies in place in their specific regions. (This report was updated in April 2022 to include new measures and…
