Passive House Accelerator—Why Passive House? Health, Comfort, Resilience, Performance – GreenBuildingAdvisor

By Michael Ingui | November 28, 2025

It’s a frigid November morning in New York City, during an early-season polar vortex event sweeping down the Atlantic coast. The outside air temperature is a chilly 38°F. at 7:30 a.m., it is still dark, with no solar heat streaming through the glass. Inside my Passive House townhouse in Brooklyn, however, the temperature sits comfortably at 68°F.

The part that still feels magical, even after nearly a decade in the home, is that our thermostats are off. We haven’t had to turn on the heat, despite the low exterior temperature. If the weather persists, the interior temperature will rise on its own to about 70°F during the day, and drift back to 67°F or 68°F overnight. Later this weekend, we will likely turn on the thermostats, set them to 68°F, then forget about them for the rest of winter. That is resilience by design.

Our beloved but aging dog, Gigi, protects us against the squirrels and insists on going outside dozens of times throughout the day, via our Zola sliding doors. Both on the garden and parlor floors, the lift-and-slides sit atop structural-grade foam to remove the thermal bridge. On the remaining three sides, a plywood surround with insulation between the door jamb and the brick creates a thermal break. Two of the panes have laminated glass, which also adds extra security and performance. We have used both a company-provided screen and a roller screen in lift-and-slide installations, and both work quite well.

The façade also has a 30-in. overhang, which provides…