To minimize the resulting effect of full sun on the south side of the building, the project team introduced sunshades along the lengths of 13 floors. Each 100 foot-long sunshade, however, presented a potential thermal bridge where it attaches to the interior building slabs via steel brackets. The team avoided the problem by specifying structural thermal breaks.

A typical building loses up to 25 percent of its heat through the roof. Industry-leading Elevate roofing and insulation systems by Holcim were thus instrumental in the construction of the world’s largest Passive House-certified office building: the Winthrop Center in Boston.

Sto Corp., the innovative world leader in complete single-sourced solutions for the building envelope, has teamed up with Pratt Institute and Passive House for Everyone as an advocate sponsor for the first-ever US Collegiate Designed and Built rendition of the International Passive House Ice Box Challenge.

RESNET announced its recent collaboration with Passive House Institute US (Phius) to promote the construction of sustainable and affordable homes.

With increasing evidence of a shifting climate, many building project teams are confronting the compounded threat of increasingly severe heat waves and the vulnerability of our country's electrical grid.

Whole-building pressurization testing is becoming standard practice for building projects. Many common energy conservation standards and model codes now exhibit requirements for enclosure airtightness, which are to be achieved through measured air leakage rates.