Passive House and the Grid: Accelerating Building Interconnection and Reducing Grid Costs

⚡⚡ This is a hybrid in-person and virtual event ⚡⚡

Passive House is undersold when presented strictly as a worthwhile operational cost-reduction strategy for a single building. Although valid, this narrow focus overlooks important grid and interconnection benefits that can accelerate housing supply and lower costs for all utility ratepayers. Because new construction faces a lengthy and expensive grid interconnection process under business-as-usual (BAU) codes, Passive House offers a critical alternative. By crushing thermal peaks, these standards can greatly reduce interconnection times and costs—meaning more housing, built sooner.

Additionally, zooming out to the utility scale reveals that widespread Passive House adoption helps avoid the expensive electric grid upgrades that would otherwise be required.

Join us to explore how prioritizing these high-performance standards can accelerate housing construction for developers and secure long-term savings for all ratepayers.

The presentation will be led by Paul Ormond, a building decarbonization, renewables, and code expert at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER).

Learning Objectives:

1. Define peak electrical loads and analyze how these periods of peak demand drive utility infrastructure and escalate operational costs for the grid.
2. Contrast the traditional, localized benefits of Passive House design (e.g., thermal comfort, building energy bills) with its broader macro-level value proposition at the utility scale.
3. Evaluate how widespread adoption of passive building standards can mitigate grid stress to avert expensive infrastructure upgrades and secure long-term ratepayer savings.
4. Identify methods for utilizing building decarbonization and Passive House principles as strategic regional resource management tools to support overall energy reliability.

👉 Continuing Ed: 1 credit each Phius and AIA HSW; 2 credits PHI 

📍 For in-person attendees, join us before the presentation for a happy hour from 5:30-6:00 PM Eastern

🎤 For virtual attendees, the presentation starts at 6:00 PM Eastern

🍷🧀 Refreshments provided

This event is made possible by the Sponsors of Mass Save: