ResArch Practice: High-Performance Homebuilders

*This event will be occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

Aiming for Near-Zero Carbon Homes

ResArch Practice, presented by the AIANY Custom Residential Architects Network (CRAN), is a series of conversations between designers, contractors, and verifiers who have pursued or achieved LEED and Passive House certification for homes.

Please join us to hear four interviews between high-performance homebuilders and the residential design consultants they worked with to create near-zero carbon homes. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and benefits of near-zero carbon and low-impact construction and participate in a live roundtable discussion between the moderator, panelists, and audience. 

High-performance certification, such as LEED for Homes and Passive House, ensures the topmost quality and building energy performance for both new construction and retrofits.This webinar demystifies the process of certification by sharing the experiences of designers and homebuilders pursuing high-performance certification for residential architecture commissions in and around New York City.

Zack Semke, Director of Passive House Accelerator, the nation’s leading on-line platform for Passive House and zero-carbon building techniques, will moderate this program and will also provide a high-level overview of the state of green residential construction, touching upon the latest materials, methods, and means to make zero-carbon homes accessible for every homebuyer.

The four pre-recorded interviews—Baxt Inqui Architects interviewing Andrew Fishman of SMR Craftworks; Mowery Marsh Architects interviewing Jason Endres of Endres Home Builders; Buck Moorehead Architect interviewing Kevin Dunathan of Aspen & Ash Development; and Michelle Tinner, president of the Hudson Valley Passive House Alliance, interviewing vice-president James Moriaty of Sustainable Comfort—will review single-family and low-rise residential projects in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts that aimed to achieve near-zero carbon standards. The interviewer and interviewee will review the projects they worked on together, sharing their experiences and answering questions from the moderator, such as: Are the materials specified for near-zero carbon construction projects readily available? Do high-performance residential designs require frequent on-site meetings and extensive handholding of subcontractors, vendors, and building department officials to succeed? Does the extra effort that goes into high-performance construction standards translate to any unexpected benefits or setbacks to the homebuilder with regard to callbacks, managing homeowner expectations, or attracting new clients?

Moderator:
Zack Semke, Director and Curator of Programming, PH Accelerator

Panelists:
Miguel Ingui, Partner, Baxt Ingui Architects
Jennifer Mowery Marsh, AIA, LEED, Partner, Mowery Marsh Architects
Brian Marsh, AIA, LEED, Partner, Mowery Marsh Architects
James Moriarty, Vice President, Sustainable Comfort, Inc
Michelle Tinner, Senior Project Manager, Sustainable Comfort, Inc

About the speakers

Zack Semke is a Seattle-based author and researcher dedicated to accelerating the clean energy transition through zero carbon building design. Semke is the director and curator of programming at the PH Accelerator, an online platform for sharing innovation and thought leadership in Passive House design and construction. 

Miguel Ingui is a partner at Baxt Ingui Architects, an award-winning New York City based firm and leader in design and sustainability for over 40 years. Over the last 7 years Michael has been the architect for over a dozen Passive House certified historic masonry retrofit projects in New York City. Ingui is founder of the Passive House Accelerator.

Jennifer and Brian Marsh are partners at the residential architecture practice of Mowery Marsh Architects based out of Hoboken, NJ. Their work ranges from gut renovation of brownstones & detached residences to newly constructed single-family residential builds throughout the Northeast. Most of their current and recent work follows Passive House standards. 

Buck Moorhead is Principal of Buck Moorhead Architect (BMA), a New York City based full-service architectural firm focused on high-performance design. BMA strives for zero-carbon in its practice, specializing in Passive House new construction and retrofit work on Long Island and in the Upper Delaware and Catskill regions of New York State. 

James Moriarty is a Vice President and Michelle Tinner is a Senior Project Manager at Sustainable Comfort, Inc., a consulting, development, and property management firm with offices in Worcester, MA and Syracuse, NY. Together they work as energy consultants, raters, and verifiers of high-performance energy-efficient multifamily housing, working in programs such as Passive House, Energy Star, Enterprise Green Communities and LEED for Homes.