SINFONIA at the 23rd International Passive House Conference in Gaobeidian, China, 9 - 11 October 2019

This year’s International Passive House Conference is held outside of Europe for the first time. In Gaobeidian, a city about a hundred kilometres south of the capital, Beijing in China, the Passive House district Bahnstadt with over 20 high-rise buildings and many multi-family houses is currently under construction. This makes Gaobeidian the ideal venue for the 23rd Passive House Conference under the theme „Passive House – worldwide!“. The conference´s programme offers fascinating plenary speeches and lectures, exciting excursions, hands-on workshops, and, as always, an informative trade exhibition.

SINFONIA will be presented in three sessions about deep retrofits and Passive House districts on Wednesday and Thursday, 9 and 10 October 2019. Laszlo Lepp from Passive House Institute will present the outcomes and best practice examples from Innsbruck and Wolfgang Streicher from the University of Innsbruck will talk about the results of deep renovation of two Austrian schools. Jürgen Schnieders from Passive House Institute will point out the lessons learned from the implementation of the Passive House Standard in social housing in Mexico.

The other sessions will include lectures about ventilation systems for kitchens in Passive House buildings, evaluations of Passive House projects from a variety of countries like China, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates or results of three years worth of monitoring two multi-family Passive House buildings in Innsbruck, Austria, on their way to meeting the NZEB standard. International experts and distinguished keynote speakers like Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz and of course Wolfgang Feist will provide their views on the current status of climate protection worldwide in the opening plenary. They will also present the core findings of the upcoming IPCC report, why "we have to act now", and why the Passive House Standard plays a critical role in achieving our climate goals.

Friday after the conference, participants are invited to join the excursions visiting impressive Passive House projects in Gaobeidian and the surrounding area. One of the excursions will lead visitors through Gaobeidian’s Bahnstadt, currently the largest Passive House building development in the world. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to tour Passive House buildings in Beijing, Zhuozhou or Baoding region.

Numerous basic and advanced workshops on planning tools and a variety of topics including airtightness, calculation of thermal bridges, as well as ventilation systems and windows will be offered in the run up to the conference or right after the event. Additionally the two-day Train-the-Train­er workshop for organisers of courses for certifying Passive House planners and Passive House craftsmen offers valuable information.

In addition to the conference programme, there will also be a two-day trade exhibition. Manufacturers will present their products for energy-efficient construction and retrofitting. Many of these products are certified Passive House components.

This conference offers many opportunities to network with international energy efficiency stakeholders, especially at the Passive House Networking Party on Wednesday, 9 October, where participants can meet Passive House friends from all over the world.

Information and registration:

https://passivehouseconference.org/en/