Passive House is a set of performance-based building certification standards that focus on the significant reduction of energy demand while ensuring a healthy and comfortable building. Construction management firm Dellbrook|JKS’ PHIUS Certified Passive House Builder and Designer Training Plan has helped to increase knowledge companywide for all employees.
Program Details
All Dellbrook|JKS employees can start with self-paced online workshops through the company’s learning management system’s Passive House LearnList for foundational learning on:
- Passive Building Science
- Building Enclosures and Material Selection
- Mechanical Systems & Heat Pumps
- Project Management and Cost Estimating for Passive House
- Lessons Learned
Then those who want or need to continue on to PHIUS Professional Certification are enrolled in the two-week PHIUS certification training. The program consists of self-paced modules completed over one to two weeks for a total of eight hours of learning on building science, Passive Building principles, and PHIUS Certification. Weeks 3-4 consist of eight three-hour instructor-led live sessions (24 hours total) for a deep dive on high performance enclosures, envelope field considerations, high-performance mechanical systems, cost optimization, and project management. The employees then must submit a written exam and achieve a score of 75 percent to become a PHIUS Certified Builder or Designer.
Dellbrook|JKS also offers monthly Lunch and Learns on Passive House construction principles and trade-specific Passive House training in areas such as testing processes, midpoint testing, blower door testing, and heating systems. The firm provides and tracks opportunities (including bringing employees to the annual PassiveHouse Symposium) for the continuing education credits employees need to maintain their credential every three years.
Results
Forty-eight Dellbrook|JKS employees are CPH-B Certified today. In addition to fostering Quality Control and Quality Assurance and building performance improvements on current Passive House projects and generating shareable lessons learned, the certifications have resulted in five additional project opportunities for the firm.
