Alpen’s Partners in Arkansas and Ohio Earn Phius Passive House Certifications

Gaining Passive House certification from the industry stalwart, Phius, is not necessarily an easy process, mostly because of the industry organization’s incredibly high standards. Those standards are ultimately a good thing, but are also a barrier to entry right now during this ‘start-up’ phase that passive house building is going through. That is why our team at Alpen gets excited when our partners’ new passive house projects reach completion, pass the certification tests and gain recognition from Phius.

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Passive House Trend Expands Across the U.S.

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The desire to live in a healthier, more comfortable home that is also energy efficient is not limited to passive house hotspots like Massachusetts, New York and California. As a result the passive house building trend is making its way across America. In fact, two of Alpen’s partners were recently awarded Phius certification for new passive home builds in Columbus, OH and Fayetteville, AR, respectively. Both entries have been included in Phius’ Certified Project Database, and were also given their own Phius listings. We are proud to work with these architects and builders and wanted to share their success with you. 

Project 2508: Walnut Street Passive House (Fayetteville, AR)

Architect: Bowerbird Design LLC

Builder: Munson Construction

Square Footage: 1,780 square feet

Windows & Doors: Alpen 

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According to the home’s architectural designer Michael Cockram, and his design partner Cameron Caja, the Walnut Street home is the first all electric, Phius certified passive house in the state of Arkansas, and as part of its certification, will be listed on a national database for both residential and commercial passive-built structures.

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Last June KUAF, the local Arkansas NPR affiliate, published a great story about the Walnut Street home, which you can read by clicking here.

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Project 2053: Clintonville Passive House (Columbus, OH)

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Architect: Steven Rhodes

Builder: First Endeavor, Ltd

Square Footage: 1,873 square feet

Windows & Doors: Alpen 

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The Clintonville passive house was built on one of the last empty lots in a century-old neighborhood based in Columbus, OH. The lot size and the neighborhood’s layout and age presented a number of challenges for its architect/owner/builder, Steven Rhodes. 

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According to Rhodes, “the home seeks to make room for itself while respecting the existing environment. Clintonville is an established neighborhood in the city of Columbus, Ohio with many homes over a century old. There’s not much space left that hasn’t been built on here.”

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“I think Passive House [design] is possibly the best way around to achieve a higher degree of sustainability in our built world,” he says. “That’s why I spend the time to earn my Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC®) status with Phius (Passive House Institute US), which qualifies me to do design work on both residential and commercial buildings, new and retrofit. I don’t work for Phius, and my projects are my own, individual work. But Phius provides the framework for my approach to designing and building better.”