Late this summer, the Germany-based Passivhaus Institut severed ties with its former sister organization, Passive House Insitute US. (You can read more about the split here, in a story by EcoHome’s Jennifer Goodman.) Last week I talked with Seattle architect Rob Harrison, AIA, about the situation. Harrison is an avid Passive House practitioner–he’s currently working on two Passive Houses and is considering taking on a third. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:
“The split, which I hope will be temporary, is disconcerting. But it’s not going to make a huge difference in what I do…. I’m still going to be using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to create houses that use 90% less energy than typical houses.”
“Everyone I’ve talked to, my colleagues, we pretty much feel the same way. We all support both organizations and are hopeful they’ll work things out… Both organizations have experienced rapid growth over the last several years. It’s been a challenge for them to accommodate all the new inquiries. I think it will all be sorted out.”
“it comes down to physics, and that part of it has not changed. It’s a question of sorting out these procedural and organizational growing pains. I do think there needs to be a way to work with pounds [and other American measurement units] versus the metric system in the PHPP.”
