#188 - Passive House Architect Laura Blau - Balancing Urgency with Hope and Action

Laura A. Blau, AIA, CPHC (Certified Passive House Consultant 2009), CPHB (Certified Passive House Builder 2012), is a principal of BluPath Design, (a woman-owned award-winning architecture and  Passive House Consulting firm) and expert witness. Laura's leadership includes being a founding member of the Green Building Jefferson University. In addition, she presents at international and regional conferences on sustainable design and construction. Her awards include the Groundbreaker Award 2019, PHIUS Merit Award 2019 both for the Italian Market Passive House, 2016 Sprout Competition for a 16-unit net-zero energy apt building design, 2010 Green Builder award for Best Life Cycle Addition, the 2007 IIDA Honorable Mention for Sustainability and Energy Efficiency, 2006 Commonwealth Design Award for Sustainable Design. She formerly worked at MGA Partner on the award-winning Byrne Federal Courthouse lobby. Laura was an award-winning fine artist before receiving her MArch from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. She co-authored Frazier Forman Peters: Westport's Legacy in Stone, 2012, and the Passive House Rowhouse Manual, 2021 for Green Building United. In this episode we talk about why we need to act now when it comes to building better homes, how to prevent scope creep, and what we can do to change the industry. For more from Laura: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-blau-15688a10/  https://passivehouseaccelerator.com/podcast/passive-house-podcast-ep-84-laura-blau-blupath-design  https://blupath.us/  https://architizer.com/firms/blupath-design/ https://www.allwecansave.earth/   2:00 Introduction into sustainability  6:30 Laura Background 9:50 Passive House 13:00 What's happening and how can we do better  22:30 Brussels example - originally poor energy policies 25:50 Cost Phobia 33:00 Goals and Values  40:30 All We Can Save