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Celebrating Earth Week in Essen, Germany

Design • Sustainability
Green cast iron detailing, stained glass, and a fire escape on the front facade of a New York City apartment building.
Adam Kane Macchia

This Earth Day, we want to focus on the solutions that already exist in the built environment. In our practice, implementing Passive House principles into our projects not only reduces their carbon footprint, it also opens up a world of design possibilities. We are often asked how we successfully incorporate large expanses of glass and open spaces in townhouses. In many cases, Passive House principles were instrumental in making these features possible.

View of the kitchen from the staircase in a Manhattan apartment. At the top of the image, reclaimed railings protect a lofted bedroom area. The kitchen millwork is blue with white marble countertops, and the kitchen island is clad with reclaimed wood from the building's joists.
Historic elements, from a railing relocated from elsewhere in the building to joists reimagined as cladding on the island, can be found throughout the project.
Terracotta and brick front facade of an apartment building in Kips Bay, Manhattan.
Engine 16 is an adaptive reuse of a historic firehouse into a multi-use building with four residential units and a community facility. Alongside Passive House certification, some of the project's central goals were preserving the building's history, including the reuse of many of the building's original features.

Over the past three decades, the Passive House standard has demonstrated that ultra-low energy buildings can deliver exceptional comfort, resilience, and operational stability across climates and building types. Thousands of certified projects worldwide demonstrate the technical feasibility and long-term performance of Passive Houses.

But Passive House construction isn't just about reducing a building's energy demand. Rather, Passive House removes many of the constraints that come along with traditional construction methods. Over the past decade, Ingui Architecture has refined a design approach to Passive House that allows us to include previously difficult-to-include features, including

  • Glass walls without perimeter heat

  • Bedrooms on busy streets that are completely quiet

  • Double- and triple-height spaces that actually feel comfortable

  • Homes that stay calm, no matter what is happening outside

Looking up at a sculptural staircasae in a Manhattan apartment. The staircase is open and modern, and reclaimed tin ceilings can be viewed at the left of the image. A catwalk with wood paneling leads to the outdoor areas, and a modern ceiling fan sits at the ceiling atop the staircase.
In the owners' unit, a sculptural staircase connects all three levels of the triplex. Large expanses of glass allow light to pour down through the staircase to reach the core of the building.
In the kitchen, the original tin ceiling and skylight well bring a touch of historic charm and a bold design feature to the space. Large expanses of glass along the rear facade and the open riser, open stringer sculptural staircase provide plenty of natural light.

The key to design freedom in Passive House buildings is the envelope. A well-insulated, airtight, vapor-open building envelope and triple-paned glazing create a building that can maintain its internal temperature for longer than other buildings. In turn, a Passive House's thermal stability allows for much smaller, all-electric mechanical systems. Without having to incorporate radiators, large runs of ductwork, and other complex mechanicals, designers can truly craft the homes of their clients' dreams, that are as comfortable and quiet as they are beautiful.

Michael Ingui will be sharing Ingui Architecture's approach to Passive House and the NYSERDA Buildings of Excellence award winning project Engine 16 at the 28th International Passive House Conference in Essen, Germany this week.

Globally, the construction and operation of the built environment is responsible for 40% of energy-related carbon emissions. As we work to reduce this impact on a global level, it is important to also recognize the positive impact that better buildings have on the people who occupy them.

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