This year’s 10th Annual Forum was a great reminder of the progress made in Maine to decarbonize our built environment. Ten years ago, our members were learning from each other and our friends across the oceans how to design and construct energy-efficient spaces. Single-family homes were the platform for passive house builders to gain experience in 2013. Now 50 percent of all our affordable housing projects are built to passive house standards.
At the forum, we met our community of prefab panel makers who are in the early stages of ramping up to full production capacity, which could lead to modular passive house kits for quick construction. We heard about the potential of wide-scale retrofits to existing buildings as the industry’s skills and systems develop to meet market needs. Every year, we showcase new ventilation and fenestration options, and another batch of trained builders and designers. Imagine what will be happening at our 20th Annual Forum!
