Award-winning projects demonstrate how passive building is scaling across affordable housing, multifamily, commercial, industrial, and community-serving spaces
CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, Phius, the leading nonprofit organization delivering the industry standard for climate-specific and net-zero passive building, announced the winners of its 2026 Passive Projects Design Competition. The competition recognizes leading examples of Phius Certified passive buildings from across the world. Phius announced the winners during PhiusCon 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona.
This year's winning projects reflect the evolution of passive building from an idea to an ecosystem, with designers and developers applying high-performance strategies to increasingly large and complex buildings. From affordable and multifamily housing to senior living, commercial facilities and industrial spaces, this year's winners demonstrate that passive building can be applied at scale while supporting energy efficiency, occupant health, resilience and long-term affordability.
The juried competition recognizes fully certified passive building projects across a range of building types and climate zones. Unlike other passive building standards, Phius standards provide a climate-specific, cost-optimized path to high-performance, zero-carbon-ready buildings, accounting for the unique conditions of each project's location.
Entries were evaluated based on performance as it relates to the Phius Certified standard, difficulty level and climate/site challenges, cost-effectiveness, design, craftsmanship, and health, including the use of non-toxic materials.
This year's winners were recognized across the following categories:
- Regional Recognition: Fountaingrove Residence | Santa Rosa, California
- Industrial Recognition: GO Logic Shop and Office | Belfast, Maine
- International Recognition: Habitation Léon-Deschamps | Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Single-Family Winner: New Hope Passive House | New Hope, Pennsylvania
- High-Rise Multifamily Winner: 2147 Washington Street | Roxbury, Massachusetts
- Low-Rise Multifamily Winner: Leland House | Waltham, Massachusetts
- Affordable Housing Winner: The Faircliff | Washington, D.C.
- Commercial/Institutional Winner: Ryerson Woods Education Center | Deerfield, Illinois
- Source Zero Winner: MiNet0-1 | Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Retrofit Winner: 369 Warren St | Brooklyn, New York
- Best Project by a Young Professional: Beach Green Dunes III | Far Rockaway, New York
- Best Overall Project: The Faircliff | Washington, D.C.
Among this year's standout projects are several that demonstrate the growing sector of passive building beyond the single-family residential market.
The Faircliff in Washington, D.C., recognized as both the Affordable Housing winner and Best Overall Project, demonstrates how high-performance building strategies can be integrated into affordable housing.
GO Logic's Shop and Office in Belfast, Maine, recognized for Industrial Excellence, illustrates the application of passive building principles to industrial and commercial spaces. The project shows how high-performance strategies can extend into the workplaces and production environments that make up a significant portion of the built environment.
Other winners further demonstrate the range of applications for passive building, including Ryerson Woods Education Center, a commercial/institutional project serving the Lake County Forest Preserves District in Illinois; 2147 Washington Street, a high-rise multifamily project in Roxbury, Massachusetts; and Leland House, a low-rise multifamily project in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The competition also recognizes projects addressing housing needs across different scales and communities. In addition to The Faircliff and Leland House, Beach Green Dunes III in Far Rockaway, New York, received the award for Best Project by a Young Professional.
"This year's projects show how far passive building has come," said Katrin Klingenberg, Founder and Co-Executive Director of Phius. "We're seeing teams apply Phius principles to larger buildings, affordable housing, multifamily communities, industrial spaces and other projects where energy performance, resilience, occupant health and long-term operating costs have an enormous impact. These projects demonstrate that high-performance buildings can be both ambitious in their design and responsive to the needs of the people and communities they serve."
Winners were selected by a panel of jurors assembled by Phius and the Phius Alliance. Jurors evaluated projects based on their professional experience and expertise in passive building, including Phius Certification, experience completing Phius Certified projects, and professional licensure.
Images of all winning projects are available HERE. Visitwww.Phius.org for more information about Phius and the Passive Projects Design Competition.
About Phius
Phius is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to decarbonizing the built environment by making high-performance passive building the mainstream market standard. We train and certify professionals, maintain and update the Phius climate-specific passive building standard, certify and quality-assure passive buildings, certify high-performance building products, and conduct research to advance high-performance building.
Media Contact
Jennifer Karkar Ritchie, Phius, 1 206-344-3444, [email protected], www.phius.org
SOURCE Phius
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