Experts in Sustainable Design to name winners in fire-resilient Passive House design competition for Los Angeles Rebuilds
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As the entry period for the California Rebuilds Design Competition comes to a close, The Passive House Network (PHN) and Passive House California (PHCA) have announced the members of the jury who will be evaluating each submission.
The 10 jurors bring not only a wide range of experience and perspectives, but also a shared commitment to supporting exceptional design and performance, including the challenge of creating resilient communities.
For some jurors, the work of highlighting the necessity of resilient buildings is personal. "Losing my own home in the Palisades Fire was a devastating experience, yet it awakened a purpose that reaches beyond personal recovery: the call to help rebuild a stronger, more resilient community for LA," juror Chinmaya Misra said. "As we steadily–and inevitably–venture into uncharted territories of climate change, the unpredictability of global weather patterns challenges the conventions of traditional design. Our response can no longer remain outdated; instead, we must embrace innovation and resilience as the foundation of future homebuilding."
The jury will evaluate submissions based on adherence to the Passive House standard, consideration of affordability, buildability, age-in-place design, and stylistic expression across four design categories: Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, Mid-Century Modern, and Contemporary. Awards will be given for each design category. All qualifying designs will be collected and distributed in a catalog to inform and inspire rebuilding efforts.
"The jurors have a great variety of expertise," said Ken Levenson, Executive Director of PHN. "So we expect the winning submissions to challenge the status quo and demonstrate that high-performance should be fundamental performance, and can be accessible to all homeowners."
The jury includes:
- Dragoș Arnăutu, Passive House Building Certifier, Passive House Institute, Germany
- Heidi Erm, Associate Director, Industry and Workforce, Building Decarbonization Coalition, Minnesota
- Greg D. Fisher, Principal, Greg D. Fisher Architect, Colorado
- Lisa Gralnek, US Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability & Impact, iF Design, New York
- Avideh Haghighi, Creator of ZEROHOUZ, Los Angeles
- Megumi Hironaka, Associate Principal, HED, Los Angeles
- Chinmaya Misra, Founder of CHINCHIN Design, Co-Principal CHA:COL, Los Angeles
- Cyril Petit, CEO, CPHBA LLC, Los Angeles
- DeShawn Samad, Founding Member, Altadena Recovery Team, Los Angeles
- Eddy Voltaire, Sustainability Consultant, Design Construction & Sustainability Inc., New York
See further biographical information here.
The winners will be announced on November 4th, on the eve of Greenbuild, in the AIA Los Angeles Center for Communities. All are welcome to attend, celebrate, and learn more about how Passive House can boost fire resilience for vulnerable communities.
For more information on The Passive House Network, visit https://passivehousenetwork.org/ or email [email protected].
About PHN:
The Passive House Network (PHN) is a 501(c)3 that provides Passive House high-performance building education and resources to professionals across the U.S. that transform how they think and work with buildings. PHN provides professionals a complete skill set to reliably produce new and renovated buildings that use dramatically less energy for effective and affordable climate action.
About Passive House:
Passive House is an international building standard and methodology, applicable to buildings of all kinds, from office buildings to hospitals, new-build and renovations, that results in a dramatic drop in operational energy use, and more comfortable and healthy occupants, meant to aggressively mitigate our climate crisis while providing resilient adaptation.
The Passive House Standard was developed by the Passive House Institute (PHI), an independent scientific research organization located in Darmstadt, Germany, and includes specific requirements for energy use and comfort of occupants. The Passive House Standard is being successfully applied to thousands of buildings and millions of square feet around the world, from Boston to Beijing.
The Passive House methodology starts with reducing cooling, dehumidification, and heating loads by focusing, not on gadgets and active technology, but instead on fully integrated durable passive building components, such as proper continuous thermal-bridge-free insulation, continuous airtightness, high-performance windows and doors, and ventilation that includes a high-efficiency heat/energy recovery core, carefully calculated, and all integrated with the entire architectural process of design and construction.http://www.passivehouse.comhttp://www.passipedia.org
Media Contact
Kim Ravold, The Passive House Network, 1 6094101308, [email protected], https://passivehousenetwork.org/
SOURCE The Passive House Network
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