Ask the Experts: Longtime Phius Practitioners Share Tips on Navigating Project Certification

John Loercher | Northeast Projects LLC

Get familiar with the certification guidebook – everything is there. All of the basic information needed about paperwork, timeline, WUFI modeling and even some very specific protocols are outlined clearly in the guidebook. When working on your first WUFI model, have your guidebook by your side and don't forget to turn on your tool tips (options> usability> tool tips) which provides a window with input-specific notes on most information cells in the WUFI model.

Jordan Goldman | ZeroEnergy Design

Give yourself plenty of time for the review process. Even if you're very comfortable with WUFI Passive and certification requirements, there are a lot of nuanced items regarding the modeling and certification process that you only learn by going through it. Also, it's always helpful to give yourself as much of a buffer under the certification thresholds as you can. It's much more common for Phius feedback to result in higher numbers than lower numbers.

Dan Luddy | PAE Consulting Engineers

Expect several rounds of review on your first project and factor that into the timeframe for approval. Submit for your first round of review by the end of DD, even if not all the final equipment selections are available, since a lot of the first round comments will address overall passive strategies.

Jeff Geisinger | Utile Design

Holding a “quick review” consultation with Phius to review my initial energy model was extremely helpful in clarifying any misunderstandings in the modeling process.

Maciej Konieczny | New Ecology Inc.

There is a wide variety of professionals that includes architects with 30 years of experience and mechanical engineers newly out of school. In either case, this is an exciting time when one truly begins to understand the implications of the certification program requirements throughout the many building systems. It will be a learning process for you and likely for the entire team so embrace the concept that you will not know the solution right away; the guidebook is your very good friend so utilize it as much as possible. Use the available resources: Phius, online forums, conferences, etc. It’s a very steep learning curve.

Ken Neuhauser & Team | Building Evolution Corporation

• Make a checklist. Be prepared to modify the checklist as you go. In time, it will become a valuable tool to help guide your process as well as to help others work with you.
• Get involved with the design team early. Coach toward enclosure assemblies that work, and away from ones that don’t. The best thermal bridges are ones that don’t exist.

Thomas Boeman | Boeman Design

1. I would recommend suggesting to the client that they obtain a Phius feasibility study. This creates a good first pass at the WUFI energy model and helps you understand how Phius will look at the project.
2. Consult the Phius Certification Guidebook regularly, use it as intended – as your map to certification. 
3. Visit Phius' calculator and modeling protocols sections of their resource page and look at what's up there. The biggest surprise my first time through is the number of excel spreadsheets that needed to be completed just to calculate a few WUFI Inputs. 
4. Don't be afraid to ask Phius questions when you're not sure about how something should be modeled (after trying No. 2 and 3 above). Phius wants you to succeed.

John Loercher | Northeast Projects LLC

Stay organized. Track decisions and the evolution of the project using a spreadsheet or archived versions of your energy model. Be aware of significant project milestones and how they overlap with Phius reviews.

Jordan Goldman | ZeroEnergy Design

Make sure your details and specs are fully buttoned up. I try to minimize the number of rounds of review and the best way to do that is have all of your ducks in a row. Doing a little more work (that ultimately needs to be done) before submitting for review will save time in the long run.

Dan Luddy | PAE Consulting Engineers

BE VERY ORGANIZED. Keep track of information already submitted, where it’s located, and track any updated documentation. Phius asks for a lot and it’s easy for things to get lost in the Dropbox folder directory. Also, the more information that can be placed directly on the drawings, the easier it will be for the WUFI modeler and reviewer to see it (as opposed to burying things in the specs or supplemental docs).

Jeff Geisinger | Utile Design

• Setting up WUFI geometry takes a lot of time. We found that limiting model geometry creation (anything larger than quick edits within WUFI, that require re-importing geometry) to two “milestones” works best: once at feasibility stage, and once for design review submissions. We create the feasibility model around schematic design when the massing and window-wall ratio has settled, and we use it through the design phases (updating WUFI settings as needed) until the project is ready for design review. At that point, we will re-import the geometry to capture changes that have occurred over the design process. 
• It’s critical to coordinate with the MEP engineer as early as possible, so your WUFI model takes into account major performance factors such as ventilation rates at early stages. 
• THERM models also take a lot of time. It is most efficient to make sure the design team has finalized thermal bridge related details before modeling in THERM. Even better, work with the design team to mitigate bridging so that modeling is not required (recognizing that in some cases, such as foundations for large buildings, some THERM modeling is unavoidable, and sometimes you need to test and evaluate options in that tool).

Maciej Konieczny | New Ecology Inc.

There are two areas that will require most of your focus: 1. Organization and 2. Sustainability leader during design and construction.

• It’s important to organize the various certifications that are part of Phius: ES, IAP, ZERH, and WaterSense and to maintain good records of what has been communicated and what items in your reviews are outstanding. Review a completed DD drawings set comprehensively and report your findings on a spreadsheet. Add one column for responses from the team and track progress.
• During pre-certification, it’s important to be part of the team early (understood that this is not always possible!) when major decisions have not been made. Once design is in progress, ensure there are multiple integrated design meetings that include the entire design team including the contractor if possible – avoid “compartmentalization” of the design team. Talking through the requirements often is important, especially on smaller projects or with a team that’s new to passive house. Request several meetings just to review envelope details and at least two meetings to discuss HVAC.
• If this is your first project, I suggest a feasibility study and early outreach to Phius
• During construction, request that your scope include trades training and periodic visits to the site. The scariest phrase to a passive house project is: “I’ve done this for 30 years” – accept the challenge and remember that the trades probably do know more than you – so it’s more about engaging them in an updated approach to construction using their existing skills than training them on new concepts. Free standing mock ups are your FRIENDS!

Ken Neuhauser & Team | Building Evolution Corporation

Keep files organized! Structure project files according to how Phius sets up the project folder in Dropbox. Have a good file naming convention so you can have confidence about such things as “which is the most recent WUFI file.”

Thomas Boeman | Boeman Design

This is an ongoing effort and biggest challenge. Most of my CPHC work is consulting for other architects. It's important to develop workflows that allow you to redo model geometry and prepare the various takeoffs and exhibits you have to do based on the architect's work product. Be prepared to redo the geometry of a project multiple times if you're working with an architect while the design is still moving.

John Loercher | Northeast Projects LLC

Expedited project certification (for +50% certification fee) is living the life of luxury.

Jordan Goldman | ZeroEnergy Design

Spring for the expedited review fee :)

Dan Luddy | PAE Consulting Engineers

Use color coding to track responses in the comment form. I use different colors for “Need to address,” “Requested more info,” “completed” etc.

Jeff Geisinger | Utile Design

• Checklists have been useful for us. We’ve created one for the model set up process, to make sure geometry has been set up correctly (i.e. wall surfaces are “broken up” where we know there’s a change in materials used for the thermal envelope). We’ve also set up a checklist for tracking documentation during the design stages, following the Phius Certification Guidebook protocols (iCFA and Thermal Boundary sheets, details, etc) 
• Keeping a database of performance attributes for assemblies (i.e windows) has helped facilitate decision making and project discussions. 
• We recommend standardizing passive house related drawings in Revit, such as iCFA sheets, and how the thermal and air control layers are represented in wall sections and details.
• When it comes time to submit for design review, we found that using a “kanban board” (a board with sticky-notes organized by “to do,” “in progress,” and “done”) to manage all of the various WUFI model and documentation tasks has helped to stay organized and on track.

Maciej Konieczny | New Ecology Inc.

At our firm, we use the project manager, modeler, and Verifier workflow with each component represented by a dedicated person. This allows each to become an expert. I suppose the critical milestones include kick off meeting with the design team, comprehensive review of a DD set, submittals to Phius, construction kick off, contractor training, and close interaction with the verifier.

Ken Neuhauser & Team | Building Evolution Corporation

For the first couple of passive house projects, we made a list of what we would need to collect for each round of review and which project team member was responsible for providing the documentation/input. We then shared this list with the project team as an online spreadsheet to both communicate the process and track progress.

Thomas Boeman | Boeman Design

I'm trying to limit the number of applications that I need to be proficient at and purchase. But it's difficult. I use each of the following applications for preparing design certification documents:

• Revit for interacting with the Architect's model and preparing my own takeoff drawings
• WUFI for the energy Model
• Excel for all the workbooks
• THERM for analysing thermal bridges
• Autocad for drawing up the THERM underlays.
• Sketchup for modeling geometry for import into WUFI

AutoCAD, Revit and Excel were already in my skill set, but I had to add WUFI, THERM and Sketchup. To manage the steep learning curve on your first project, consider starting with a Phius feasibility study and it may be possible to avoid importing new geometry. You may be able to make any necessary model changes in the WUFI modeler. You'll quickly learn how tedious this is, but it may be OK on the first project if the design is pretty stable. 

Also consider having Phius do any THERM analysis on your first project. You can add these to your toolset the next time around. 

For later projects, I've found it best to create my own Sketchup models rather than asking the architect for them because of the protocol's specific requirements about how things are represented and the level of detail (or lack of detail) required for the WUFI Model. You'll likely have to get into the Sketchup model anyway to tag items for export to WUFI using the WUFI plugin.

I've also found it most effective to assemble my own cut sheets for mechanical equipment and appliances from the product codes provided by the architect and engineer. Otherwise the cut sheets provided tend not to include the technical information you need for certification, and there could be a lot of back and forth trying to get what you need. I Just go straight to the Energy Star Certified product page or the AHRI products directory for mechanical equipment. These are the best sources for technical information that is needed for the WUFI model.

John Loercher | Northeast Projects LLC

Do not forget to check the moisture control guidelines (appendix B certification guidebook) for all of your assemblies above ground.

Jordan Goldman | ZeroEnergy Design

Don't allow the design team to move too far ahead of the certification process. If you need to make significant changes as a result of Phius feedback (such as thicker walls) you really want that to happen before the design has moved too far along.

Dan Luddy | PAE Consulting Engineers

Don’t wait until the end of CDs for your first submission. Get early feedback to understand the priorities of the certification team. There may be surprises that you were not expecting.

Jeff Geisinger | Utile Design

After Round 1, it’s possible there will be changes to the WUFI model, settings, documentation, etc. It’s important not to forget to document any of these updates in the Feedback Form.

Maciej Konieczny | New Ecology Inc.

In my experience, for the project to be successful, you have to be an active project manager. The biggest challenge is to be proactive at keeping the design/construction team focused on passive house. Remember that while that’s your entire focus, architects, engineers, GCs, and trades have many other priorities pulling them in different directions, so staying on the team is important. If the decision to move forward with passive house is deeply rooted with the owner, financing, zoning, etc, it’s a little less difficult, however if this is a project team that has a long-term relationship, and this is the first “toe dipping” into passive house, maybe even while keeping the options open and concurrently designing a conventional building because of cost fears, you will have your work cut out.

Ken Neuhauser & Team | Building Evolution Corporation

Don’t worry about having every detail and piece of documentation finalized before making that first submission! Get the process started as early as you can so the Phius team has an opportunity to give input before too many decisions are set in stone (or concrete).

Thomas Boeman | Boeman Design

Don't leave modeling the DHW system (or any other system for that matter) to the end. Develop the energy model uniformly across all assemblies and systems.

John Loercher | Northeast Projects LLC

WUFI can be an incredible design tool that provides real-time feedback on important design decisions if integrated into the project delivery properly. Having a WUFI modeler in-house can be the difference between certification that feels like a breeze and a frustrating project.

Dan Luddy | PAE Consulting Engineers

If you don’t agree with a comment or are not sure how to proceed, please do send an email to the certification team for clarification in the interim. Getting some additional guidance is much better than guessing at what they want.

Maciej Konieczny | New Ecology Inc.

In the end, how one manages a successful Phius project comes down to knowledge of the requirements, experience implementing various solutions, and personal preference. In other words, I don’t believe there is a “best” way to design and construct a passive building, but I am certain that everyone has to be onboard to be successful.

Ken Neuhauser & Team | Building Evolution Corporation

• Document your process.
• For MEP, prioritize high efficiency recovery ventilation. Ventilation tends to “make or break” models.
• Steer the design team towards Phius or PHI certified windows. If you can’t get that, pay close attention to how they’re gasketed. Enclosure air infiltration can be addressed in the field, but more difficult when it’s air leakage through the window.
• Especially in cases of large buildings with repetitive assemblies, always advocate for mockups!   

Thomas Boeman | Boeman Design

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