Dr. Wolfgang Feist is a professor and mathematical physicist who began his career in quantum mechanics and astronomy before becoming interested in energy efficiency in buildings and moving into engineering, which led him to the late Bo Adamson, a Swedish building scientist and professor at Lund University. Together, they co-originated and developed the Passivhaus standard in the late 1980s, with Dr. Feist going on to found the Passivhaus-Institut (PHI) in 1996, in Darmstadt, Germany.

In this episode, we talk about Dr. Feist's experience living in the world's first (and therefore longest-existing) certified Passivhaus, the changes in attitude and relevance he's seen over the years, the misconceptions that block people from embracing Passivhaus, what Passivhaus really is, and the best way he sees for the movement to continue to spread.

Connect with Dr. Feist and the Passive House Institute:

• Dr. Feist on LinkedIn => https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfgang-feist-5287951b/

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

• Passive House Institute on Bluesky => https://bsky.app/profile/ipha.bsky.social

• Passive House Institute website => https://passivehouse.com/en/home/

• Passipedia website =>https://passipedia.org/

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/