SDHDA Offering Professional Development Trainings to Individuals Interested in the Passive House Standard

WASHINGTON, DC – (RealEstateRama) — South Dakota Housing Development Authority, in conjunction with the Governor’s Office, will be undertaking a pilot project to build a Certified Passive House affordable multifamily project in South Dakota. The information gathered in this pilot project will be shared to help the design and development community in South Dakota better understand the Passive House standard. There will be an increasing focus on this certification in the future funding of affordable housing.

As part of the initiative, it is important to have a professional community that is familiar with and capable of designing and building projects to achieve Passive House Certification. To encourage that professional development, we are offering two trainings – a Passive House Certified Builders Training and a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) certification.

To encourage construction professionals, we will be offering a free workshop tailored to builders. The Passive House Certified Builders Training will be held on April 27 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Ramada Hotel in Sioux Falls. This workshop is an opportunity to prepare construction professionals to meet the passive house challenge. It will explain the basics of Passive House design principles specific to Commercial Buildings. It will then go into the details of how Multifamily buildings can be built at market rate while achieving Passive House standards. Integrated Project Management will be discussed, as will details, equipment, controls and areas for capturing money typically left on the table in conventional design-bid-build project delivery situations. The training will be taught by Adam Cohen of the Passive House Institute US. You can view the event flyer by clicking here or register for the event by visiting https://freepassivehousebuildertraining.eventbrite.com.

To encourage design professionals, we are offering grants to a limited number of professionals interested in achieving their Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) certification. Certified Passive House Consultants must complete eight, three-hour interactive sessions online and five days of in-class training and in-class testing. After successful completion of a written test, applicants must submit a design that meets the criteria for Passive House Certification. The grant would include tuition for the program and reimbursement of travel expenses to attend the in-class portion of the training. The class is eligible for AIA continuing education credits. More information is available at http://www.phius.org/get-professional-training/certified-passive-house-consultant-cphc-training/program-overview. Time is relatively short as the on-line portions starts towards the end of March. Professionals interested in this opportunity can contact Mike Harsma, Director of Single Family Development, at 605.773.5236 or .