Tessa Bradley is the principal architect and CEO of the Artisans Group Architecture and Planning Company, a woman-owned, woman-led firm based in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Tessa was in the second round of PHIUS trainings, and Artisan's Group did the second certified Passive House in Washington State ... so they've been in this space for almost as long as anyone in the US.

In this episode, we discuss the difficulties of talking about passivhaus and high-performance building in a way that's not so terribly unsexy, the value of having a place to show clients—whether it's a past client's home, an office or an apartment they can spend time in—and the importance of knowing when going for certification will be beneficial for all involved.

Connect with Tessa and Artisan's Group:

• Tessa on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-bradley-96b49112/

• Artisan's Group on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-artisans-group-inc./

• Artisan's Group on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/artisansgroup/

• Artisan's Group website => https://artisansgroup.com/portfolio

Trey Farmer is a Principal and Partner, as well as the Chief Sustainability Officer, at Forge Craft Architecture and Design, based in Austin, Texas. His Passive House journey began in Grad School, where he got his CPHC as part of the program. He is one of the team of friends who bring the Humid Climate Conference to life, looking forward to the sixth installment this coming Spring (2026).

In this episode, we talk about the nuances of applying the Passivhaus standard to hot, humid climates, cooling vs. dehumidification, the many motivations of the clients he's worked with on passive house projects, and the real sense of camaraderie and friendship that exists within the passive house community.

Connect with Trey and Forge Craft Architecture + Design:

• Trey on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/trey-farmer/

• Forge Craft on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/forge-craft-architecture-design/

• Forge Craft on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/forgexcraft/

• Forge Craft Healthy Homies on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/forgecrafthealthyhomies/

• Forge Craft website => https://forgexcraft.com/

• Humid Climate Conference website => https://humidclimateconference.org/

• Reimagine Buildings Collective (where Trey and I met) => https://collective.reimaginebuildings.com/

Michael Quast is the CEO of Passive House Canada. With a career that spans marketing, PR, executive management, and communications, including being executive producer for the successful HGTV renovation show, Holmes on Homes, and then later CEO for The Holmes Group, Michael feels that his role at Passive House Canada is something of a unicorn job, perfectly blending his personal passion with his professional abilities.

In this episode, we talk about Michael's experience building the first straw bale house in his town (Oakville, ON), 20 years ago, the importance of supporting and including anyone interested in getting into the field of better-performing homes, not letting dogmatic viewpoints exclude people, and his optimism for the future of the Passive House industry.

Connect with Michael and Passive House Canada:

• Michael on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeloquast/

• Passive House Canada on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/passive-house-canada/

• Passive House Canada on Bluesky => https://bsky.app/profile/passivehousecan.bsky.social

• Passive House Canada website => https://www.passivehousecanada.com/

Jeremy Clarke is the founder and CEO of Simple Life Homes and Simple Life Building Systems, based out of Bowmanville, Ontario. They combine the principles of passive house design with off-site (prefabricated) and carbon-conscious construction to produce sustainable, healthy home packages.

In this episode, we talk about Passive Houses, Pretty Good Houses, the challenges of being a "building enclosure technical integrator," the importance of gathering your team together in the pre-construction phase (especially if you want to leverage pre-fab), and which CCDC contract is ideal for making sure that gathering happens.

Connect with Jeremy and Simple Life Homes:

• Jeremy on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-clarke-0ab21113/

• Simple Life Building Systems on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/simple-life-homes/

• Simple Life Homes on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/simple.life.homes/

• Simple Life Homes website => https://simplelifehomes.ca/

Jacob Deva Racusin is the lead researcher at Builders for Climate Action and the co-founder of New Frameworks. Jacob comfortably bridges the gap between seemingly (though not, in fact) disparate worlds, valuing both the intuitive comfort of building with the natural materials our ancestors have used for millennia and the cutting edge of building and climate science.

In this episode, we discuss communication, empathy, straw, carbon emission calculations, and how knowledge sharing between large- and small-scale projects is a two-way street.

Connect with Jacob, New Frameworks, and Builders for Climate Action:

• Jacob on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-deva-racusin-7a41603/

• New Frameworks website => https://www.newframeworks.com/

• Builders for Climate Action website => https://www.buildersforclimateaction.org/

• BEAM Estimator Tool => https://www.buildersforclimateaction.org/beam-estimator.html

• Bio-Based Materials Collective => https://biobasedcollective.org/

Beth Eckenrode is the co-founder of AUROS Group, "where building science meets data science." Beth co-founded the AUROS Group with Craig Stevenson in 2017 to provide building owners with more confidence in their sustainable building investments. Together with academic sustainability expert Robert Sroufe, they co-authored the book, "The Power of Existing Buildings--Save Money, Improve Health and Reduce Environmental Impacts" (Island Press, 2019).

In this episode, we discuss the power of Passive House to help you uncover and reach a building's optimum performance potential, and how neglecting to do so can mean leaving significant amounts of money on the table for large building owners who are doing renovations.

Connect with Beth and AUROS Group:

• Beth on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/betheckenrode/

• AUROS Group on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/auros-group/

• Beth's co-written book, The Power of Existing Buildings => https://islandpress.org/books/power-existing-buildings

• AUROS Group's website => https://www.aurosgroup.com/

Enrico Bonilauri is an architect, trainer, passive house certifier, and the CEO of Emu Passive. Started as an architectural practice in Italy in 2009, they soon discovered passive house as the building science handrail they needed to guide their design decisions. In 2016, they decided to get into education to promote passive house ideas and methodologies, and help people become better at their profession. Emu Passive's mission is to bring the most advanced building science to mainstream construction, and they've set themselves the challenge of training 5,000 builders by 2030.

Connect with Enrico and Emu Passive:

• Enrico on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/enricobonilauri/

• Emu Passive on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/company/emu-building-science/

• Emu Passive on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/emubldgscience/

• Emu Passive on YouTube => https://www.youtube.com/@emupassive

• Emu Passive website => https://emupassive.com/

Shefali Sanghvi is the Director of Sustainability at Dattner Architects, a mission-driven, women-owned design firm based in New York City and focused on civic spaces and the urban experience. One of the things she loves about being a director of sustainability in an architecture firm with multiple studios is the opportunity to leverage what she learns from the passive house and affordable housing sides into other typologies in the office. We talk about the connection between sustainability and affordability, debunk the myth that affordable has to mean low quality, and highlight how the drive for electrification is making Passivhaus an easier sell.

Connect with Shefali and Dattner Architects:

• Shefali on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/shefali-sanghvi-aia-leed-ap-bd-c-env-sp-fitwel-amb-7397425/

• Shefali on Instagram => https://www.instagram.com/shefali_sustainability/

• 425 Grand Concourse (Shefali's intro to PH) => https://www.dattner.com/projects/view/425-grand-concourse/

• Via Verde (Shefali's intro to Dattner) => https://www.dattner.com/projects/view/via-verde-the-green-way/

• Vital Brookdale (Shefali's first PH project) => https://www.dattner.com/projects/view/vital-brookdale/

• Dattner website => https://www.dattner.com/