Why Now is the Time to Bring PhiusCon South

The leading passive building conference in North America is headed to Texas this fall, as PhiusCon 2023 is slated for Nov. 7-10 in Houston.

Hosting our flagship annual conference in Houston is an important step as we continue efforts to expand passive building in hot and humid climates. Despite the challenges posed, the Phius methodology has proven to be effective in these climates. And given the grid instability and recent extreme weather events in Texas, the reliability and grid-friendliness of Phius buildings are an ideal remedy.

This has already proven to be the case for the owner of a Phius home in Austin, whose home lost power for three days during a brutal 2021 cold spell, but maintained livable interior temperatures, barely dipping below 50°F on the third day (while a neighbors home plummeted to 36°F on the first day of the outage). They later added a backup battery as an added measure to protect against future outages.

This is just one example of why Phius buildings make sense in Texas, and why now is the time for us to expand our footprint in the South. Reliability and grid security are of the utmost concern in the region, and Phius buildings offer proven solutions on both fronts. Hence our unofficial conference slogan: Houston, we have solutions! 

The location is a departure from the usual passive building hotbeds chosen as PhiusCon host cities, but we believe this is a critical point in time to provide an entryway into the Phius community for practitioners, developers and policymakers in the region. Despite the overarching political landscape, there is a clear need for reliable, grid-friendly housing in the region and a passionate base of professionals. Our goal is to equip these practitioners with the tools they need to create healthier, more reliable buildings.

These efforts are already underway as our Phius Alliance Chapters in Austin and Houston continue gaining popularity and spearheading events such as the Humid Climate Conference. Houston is one of our most engaged chapters, as they are playing a key role in this year’s conference planning and have a number of projects in the pipeline including the groundbreaking Fly Flat project. 

Hosting PhiusCon in the backyard of these chapters will allow local professionals who are looking for a like-minded community to connect with one another. There are plenty of these professionals in the region, and our aim is to facilitate those connections at this year’s conference and introduce them to their local Phius Alliance chapter that can support them going forward.

The need for reliable, efficient buildings has never been greater in Texas and beyond. We plan to tap into the emerging Southern market by providing an entryway into the Phius community for local practitioners, developers and policymakers. We hope you’ll join us as we continue the journey to support comfortable living for all and the well being of the planet.