Passive House for Public Facilities & Non-Residential Buildings
Passive House for Public Facilities & Non-Residential Buildings

Residential building sector has embraced passive construction, but non-residential buildings including publicly funded projects have been slower adopters in the United States. In fact, 94% (by area - iCFA) of certified Passive House (Phius) projects are residential. Perhaps this is because +/-22% of energy consumption in the US is related to the residential sector, but we can’t forget that +/-18% of energy consumption is attributed to non-residential buildings.
Additionally, while bidding requirements related public construction pose unique challenges to these practices, Massachusetts’ commitment to a decarbonized construction landscape necessitates new, innovative approaches to sustainable design.
In this session, the Commonwealth of MA’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, stewards of MA’s state-owned buildings and infrastructure, along with New Ecology Inc. and edmStudio Architecture, will walk through the Commonwealth’s first state-owned Passive House certified and newest LEED Zero Energy maintenance building, located in Northborough, MA, diving further than ever before into high(est) performance building construction. When it comes to Passive House approaches in non-residential buildings and on complex publicly bid projects, the Commonwealth is leading the way with the support of experts in the industry.
Join us to walk through the collaborative process and policy drivers that led to greenlighting this ambitious project. How did this project come about? What were the major challenges? How will the State use this project to inform future non-residential projects?
We’ll also discuss design decisions, construction challenges, the Phius verification process, and how the Commonwealth plans for this project to serve as a precedent for future buildings that prioritize passive building construction and decarbonization.