Passive house standards apply to this multi-family project, and 2015 Architecture Honor Award winner, in Uptown. PROJECT: Uptown Lofts on Fifth CLIENT: ACTION-Housing, Inc. ARCHITECTURE FIRM: FortyEighty Architecture ENGINEERS: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc.; Keystone Structural Solutions; Iams Consulting, LLC CONTRACTORS: Mosites Construction Company PHOTOGRAPHER: FortyEighty Architecture Passive House Western Pennsylvania (PHWPA) received a $25,000 grant from the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF). The contribution will be used to secure space in Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the North American Passive House Network Conference on October 17-22, 2018. Passive House applies a set of design principles used to attain a quantifiable and rigorous level of energy efficiency. As a result, Passive House buildings offer tremendous...

At the end of each year, members of the AEC community gather together to celebrate at AIA Pittsburgh’s President’s Holiday Party. This year, the party was held at our new office. Early in the evening we conducted our Annual Meeting. Four AIA members were voted on to be part of the AIA Pittsburgh Board of Directors – Joe Chaffin, AIA; Quintin Kittle, AIA; Laura Nettleton, AIA; Bea Spolidoro, AIA – as well as one Associate AIA Board representative – Brian Gaudio, Assoc. AIA. Next, the membership voted on the proposed by-law changes. The newly-voted-on bylaws now reads: 6.51 The Board of Directors must meet in regular or special meetings in order to transact business. Meeting in person is expected, however in special circumstances...

Reposted in its entirety from Ray Bowman’s blog RMB-Design: Architecture Made Accessible. As I mentioned last year, I’m doing more and more with the American Institute of Architects (the AIA), both locally, regionally and nationally. It’s part of the reason that I don’t blog about things until months after I do them anymore. One important role of the AIA is to advocate for all architects and support legislation that is supportive for the profession. That’s why the organization moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C. from New York City 50 years ago, to have a louder voice in influencing national legislation. But all politics is local, which is why regional and local chapters of the AIA organize their own lobbying days. Pennsylvania’s...