Passive House: Planning and Design Seminar
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 – 11:45 am
Lunch (On your own): 11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Afternoon Session: 12:45 – 4:30 pm
Understanding the Energy Efficiency of Conventional Construction
Facts and figures on residential energy use
History of energy-conserving residential construction
Building code requirements
Energy conservation incentives
Development of PHIUS+ 2018 design standard
Passive House Standard: Purpose, Principles and Development
History of certifying agencies in US: PHI and PHIUS
Passive House Standard: voluntary performance-based building envelope energy standard
Energy calculations: how and when to perform them
Energy calculation tools: an introduction to tools and their functionality
Assembling a team to ensure quality and performance
Examining common design features of Passive Houses
Architectural Elements of Passive Houses
Siting, sizing and orientation
Super-insulated envelope with minimized thermal bridging
Efficient ventilation
Ultra-efficient lights, fixtures and appliances
Summer shading and cooling strategies
Winter solar gain and heat retention strategies
Integrating renewable energy technologies
Mechanical and Electrical Systems in Passive Houses
Optimizing heat gains
• Passive solar heat gains
• Indoor environmental heat gains
Heating and cooling loads
Space conditioning
Renewable energy system integration
Energy-efficient appliances
Evaluating Passive House Case Studies
Adapting Passive House for the Central Plains
Case studies: in the planning process, under construction and finished projects
Credits
Professional Engineers
6.5 PDHs
Architects
6.5 HSW PDHs/CE Hours
6.5 AIA Learning Units
Contractors
Non-Credit Continuing Ed.
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers 6.5 PDHs/continuing education hours to engineers and 6.5 HSW PDHs to architects in all states. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Kansas.
This seminar is approved by the American Institute of Architects for 6.5 Learning Units (Sponsor No. J885). Only full attendance can be reported to the AIA/CES.
HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for engineers in Florida, Indiana (License No. CE21700059), Maryland, New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00000700), New York (NYSED Sponsor No. 35), North Carolina, and North Dakota. HalfMoon Education is deemed an approved continuing education sponsor for New York architects.
This seminar provides a non-credit continuing education opportunity to contractors. It has not been approved by any state contractor licensing board for mandated continuing education credit.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
David Hawkins
Prairie Design BuildPrairie Design Build
David has been a passionate building scientist and project manager at Prairie Design Build for six years. He has an International Business degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, along with a master’s degree in Building Science from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. He has also been professionally trained by the Passive House Institute of the United States as a Certified Passive House Consultant, and Certified Passive House Builder. David has been working in the construction world for the past 12 years in a wide range of areas, including pre-construction planning and estimating, energy modeling and construction detailing, in the field installation of super-insulated envelope systems, heating/cooling and ventilation systems, project management and client relationship building. He is especially proud of constructing projects that are durable and comfortable, that will have a low environmental impact, and that will have a positive long-lasting impact on the building occupants’ health. David is excited that the building techniques used to achieve Passive House resiliency have become more cost-effective and believes that we will see greater market adoption moving forward.
Joe Nickels
THRIVE Building SolutionsTHRIVE Building Solutions
Joe is a Certified Passive House Consultant and General Manager of Thrive Building Solutions. THRIVE provides consulting and product services for high performance and Passive House buildings in Kansas City. He has spent the last 10 years focused on reducing the environmental impact of our built environment. He has a master’s degree in Environmental Planning from the University of Kansas.
David Schleicher
Prairie Design BuildPrairie Design Build
David is a third-generation builder, entrepreneur, construction and building science enthusiast. He believes that the construction industry is going through a revolution and is proud to be a part of it. He has built a team with expertise on several innovative designs, construction methods and products that clients will benefit from for generations to come. David’s team has built four Passive Houses and has two underway which will be certified with PHIUS. The team’s work has won several local awards, and the business has been recognized as top 25 under 25 employees in Kansas City. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant and a member of the HEMP mentoring program.