What happens when you get a room of Passive House nerds in a room together? Some serious learning! Last weekend, we had the privilege of opening our job sites to builders, architects, and enthusiasts from across the country as part of the Passive House Northwest Spring Conference.
It was an energizing day! Watching people from different corners of the industry walk through these spaces, ask hard questions, and leave with new ideas reminded us why we do this work.
We hosted stops at two Chuckanut Builders projects that reflect our commitment to building homes that are durable, healthy, and genuinely connected to their building sites. One, Dragonfly Ridge, is still under construction, and the other, that a family has called home for two years, the Soundview Home.
Julie Kriegh of Kreigh Architecture Studios and our own Forest Chiavario walked the group through our process of collaboration to build a panelized passive house in Bow. Dragonfly Ridge is built on land that was clear-cut prior to the current owner. Folks have a chance to see high-performance building mid-process. The story goes beyond the prefab panels, and low carbon materials. It’s got a team of women leading the way at every level; from ownership to architecture to construction! You can meet Greta, the Site Lead making it happen in an interview on our blog. We invite you to watch this build come together through time-lapse footage on our website.
The Soundview Home was completed in early 2024 and has hosted countless family gatherings (and a few home tours!). Designed by Aaron Westgate who integrated techniques and materials that allowed the home to nearly hit net zero! Tour guests experienced the beauty (thank you Michelle Banks of Spiral Design Studios), functionality, and durability of this enduring home. Read on about this home on our Portfolio page.
The conversations that happened on both sites were the best part! Passive house methods and principles aren’t resPHIUServed for specialty projects or only high-end homes. Better air sealing, smarter ventilation, and more thoughtful material choices are a smart place to start. We’ve got crew certified by PHIUS (Passive House Institute US) to build better and the experience to make it happen! We’re grateful to Passive House Northwest for organizing this tour and to everyone who made the trip. We hope you left inspired! We sure did.
And, if you’re wondering, what the heck is a Passive House…read our white paper HERE.