Interview with Maya Ezzeddine of New York Passive House
With the serge of popularity of Passive House building in the New York metropolitan area, I wanted to reach out to the group partly responsible for creating its awareness. The New York City chapter of the Passive House Network is called New York Passive House (NYPH). Maya Ezzeddine is the manager of the organization and she works under the leadership of the chapter president Ken Levenson. Maya invited me to the New York Passive House’s office in Brooklyn for this interview.
NG: What is New York Passive House (NYPH)?
ME: NYPH is a non-profit local trade organization. We promote the Passive House standard in the metro area. Our goal is to build awareness about the Passive House standard. Passive House is one of the most effective ways of reducing carbon emissions. In New York City approximately 75% of carbon emissions comes from our buildings. Passive House design can reduce energy demand by as much as 90% in a building. So that makes renewable energy like solar power more accessible with only 10% of energy needed. This is important in New York City as the Mayor is promoting the 80 by 50 initiative to reduce emissions by 80% by the year 2050. The Mayor is aware of and supports Passive House strategies as one of the significant ways to achieve this goal.
NG: What is the makeup of NYPH membership?
ME: The membership of NYPH is divided between professionals, manufactures and suppliers. Professionals include architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, owners and enthusiasts. The manufacturers and suppliers are categorized by industry. These are mechanical, windows and doors, envelope, shading and training.
NG: Does NYPH offer training and education?
ME: We offer some basic courses such as Passive House 101 which is a one hour introduction into the basics and occasionally software training. Passive House Academy a separate organization, which also works out of this office, offers in depth training and education. They provide courses for tradespeople, designers and consultants. There is a 1-day primer class, which provides an overview into the world of Passive House construction and design.
NG: NYPH is hosting the 2016 North American Passive House in New York City this June. What are the details?
ME: The North American Passive House Network (NAPHN) is the umbrella entity of all the local chapters like NYPH. There is an annual conference that changes location each year and this year it will be right here in New York City. Normally we hold our annual conference separate form the national conference, but since it’s here, we have combined the two.
The conference will be a 2-day event being held on June 13th and 14th at the Metropolitan Pavilion on 125 West 18th Street in Manhattan. There will be lectures, talks, panel discussions, case studies, all about new ideas and 
technologies in our industry. At the neile time there will be a trade show in the exhibit hall with manufacturers and suppliers to the Passive House building market.
This is a time for Passive House professionals to get together and share. The conference draws visitors not only from this continent but also from Europe, South America and even China.
With the sudden growth of Passive House in New York City, it is a perfect place to hold this conference. We are very excited about it and can’t wait for the world to see what NYPH is all about.
To learn more about NYPH go to: http://nypassivehouse.org/
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