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California Moves Toward Passive House Compliance with AB 368

California Moves Toward Passive House Compliance with AB 368

by Enrico Bonilauri - June 2, 2025
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California AB 368 Passive House Compliance Could Transform Building Efficiency Standards On May 30, the passing of California AB368 Bill marks a significant milestone for the adoption of Passive House in the State, and across the Country. In a major……

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Get Ready: Summer Building Science Presentations Are Here!

Get Ready: Summer Building Science Presentations Are Here!

by Enrico Bonilauri - May 23, 2025
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Emu’s Summer Presentations Calendar Join us this Summer for a great series of free in-depth webinars and in-person social events. Deepen your knowledge of building science and Passive House and building science, and network with other professionals across the U.S.……

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Big Win for Passive House: Washington State Passes HB 1183

Big Win for Passive House: Washington State Passes HB 1183

by Enrico Bonilauri - April 17, 2025
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HB 1183: A Key Step for Passive House in Washington Washington State has recently passed HB 1183, a landmark bill aimed at supporting Passive House construction. This bill addresses major challenges in building energy-efficient homes by reducing barriers in local……

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Xcel Now Reimburses 90% Of Emu’s Passive House Training

Xcel Now Reimburses 90% Of Emu’s Passive House Training

by Enrico Bonilauri - April 4, 2025
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Xcel Energy Now Reimburses 90% of Training Fees for Emu’s Passive House Boot Camp Construction professionals in Colorado now have an incredible opportunity to advance their skills, thanks to Xcel Energy’s reimbursement program. Xcel is offering to cover 90% of……

Emu News
Trump Executive Order Triggers Unintended Passive House Mandate

Trump Executive Order Triggers Unintended Passive House Mandate

by Enrico Bonilauri - April 1, 2025
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Little-Known Policy Set to Make Passive House Standard Mandatory Nationwide WASHINGTON — A Trump-era executive order on energy policy has unexpectedly set the stage for a sweeping transformation of U.S. building regulations. Due to an overlooked legislative trigger, the Passive……

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Which is worse, metal through-wall flashing or a big ‘ole insulation gap?

Which is worse, metal through-wall flashing or a big ‘ole insulation gap?

by Enrico Bonilauri - May 25, 2023
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“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This holds true for building science details as well. As best-practice research from Passive construction standards is making its way into mainstream building codes, there are some simple (yet elusive) mentality shifts……

Building Science
Thermal bridging of I-Joist vs Larsen Truss

Thermal bridging of I-Joist vs Larsen Truss

by Enrico Bonilauri - June 10, 2021
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I-Joist vs Larsen Truss: Does it make a difference for exterior high R-Value insulating? Many high-performance buildings, when addressing the issue of super-insulation, will opt for traditional 2×6 stud framing with an added layer of exterior insulation to help reach……

Building Science
Construction Moisture Management: Catch Up or Lawyer Up

Construction Moisture Management: Catch Up or Lawyer Up

by Enrico Bonilauri - April 18, 2019
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Moisture in buildings has become increasingly worrisome for construction professionals in recent years. American buildings are subject to a wide variety of defects related to water in its different forms – liquid, vapor and sometimes snow and ice. These range……

Building Science
PHPP 9: a misunderstanding?

PHPP 9: a misunderstanding?

by Enrico Bonilauri - January 11, 2016
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At the 2015 International Passive House Conference in Leipzig, Germany, the Passivhaus Institut presented version 9 of PHPP, which includes many new features to design passive buildings. Many articles have been written about the new primary energy method and the…

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DesignPH: the SketchUp plug-in to design Passive Houses in 3D

DesignPH: the SketchUp plug-in to design Passive Houses in 3D

by Enrico Bonilauri - October 5, 2015
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We finally had the chance to test DesignPH, the SketchUp plug-in that allows you to carry out the preliminary design of passive buildings in 3D. Once the model is created, you can export the data to PHPP (the energy balance…

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