Phius Professional Training Curriculum Revamp Nears Completion

With the high-performance building industry constantly evolving, it is important that the content of our Phius professional certification courses evolves along with it. 

That is why the Phius Curriculum Development Team – Lisa White, Sarah Klinetob Lowe, John Loercher, Ryan Abendroth, Michael Franco, Lindsay Ahmed, Natalie Wilson and Meredith Tribble – and collaborating partners have been hard at work this year revamping the curriculum for our Phius Certified Consultant (CPHC®), Phius Certified Builder (CPHB) and Phius Certified Verifier training courses.

Overall Curriculum Development

The three common features across all of our curriculum updates are:

1. Hybrid approach for each core credential — Students will receive online self-paced content to complete ahead of the instructor-led content for each core credential. This hybrid approach ensures students can learn relevant passive building fundamentals on their own time and gain the most out of their instructor-led time.
2. New platform for online self-paced content — Articulate 360 will assist students in setting a solid foundation in passive building fundamentals primarily through text and images. Switching to this new platform enables Phius staff to more easily update content, especially when new Phius standards (e.g. Phius 2027) are released. This new platform also meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 accessibility standards, allowing our trainings to be accessible for all.
3. Greater alignment of training with core duties — In addition to providing general passive building knowledge, students will receive more skills-focused content aligned with the job tasks of each core credential.

CPHC Updates

The Phius Certified Consultant (CPHC) curriculum is being fully revamped by Phius’ internal  Curriculum Development Team. Key features include:

• Significant updates to the online self-paced content — In addition to utilizing the new Articulate 360 platform, the online self-paced content is enhanced with the following elements while still maintaining a single-family core focus:
  • Multifamily content (significant)
  • Non-residential content (some)
  • Case studies (single-family, multifamily, and non-residential)
  • Climate-specific design (best practices)
  • Instructional design (best practices for adult learners)
  • Accessibility best practices (WCAG 2.2 compliance, captions, etc.)
• Significant updates to the instructor-led content — The instructor-led content has been updated to shift focus toward teaching Phius’ design and certification processes, primarily through the addition of new in-class group and individual activities, while still including instruction on WUFI Passive.
• New WUFI Passive self-paced videos — Students will complete 1-2 hours of self-paced WUFI Passive videos ahead of the instructor-led content to learn fundamental WUFI Passive skills.
• Updates to the Exams — The online exam will be updated to align with the Phius 2024 standard and the new online self-paced content. The design exam prompts will be updated to align with the Phius 2024 standard and to provide greater guidance to avoid common grading issues. All other exam administrative details will stay the same. 

This new curriculum will be available for CPHC cohorts in April 2026 and beyond. 

• All newly registered CPHC trainees will be automatically registered for and tested on the new CPHC curriculum.
• All currently registered CPHC trainees will receive access to the new content. They may opt in to be tested on the new CPHC curriculum, or decide to stay on the legacy training path and be tested on the legacy CPHC curriculum.

CPHB Updates

We’ve also launched a brand new Phius Certified Builder (CPHB) curriculum in collaboration with Alex Boetzel and Earth Advantage. Key features include:

• New target audience & core focus — The new CPHB curriculum is intended for construction managers and project managers working on single-family and/or multifamily/commercial buildings, and focuses on quality management through a Plan→Execute→Verify framework.
• All new online self-paced content — CPHB students now receive 12-15 hours of passive building fundamentals that are tailored to the needs of builders.
• All new instructor-led content — This fully revamped three-day, instructor-led portion features numerous interactive group activities to address quality management for enclosures and mechanical systems.
• Updates to the exams — The online exam is updated to align with the new online self-paced content, and the open-ended exam has been revamped to align with the instructor-led content. All other exam administrative details have stayed the same. 

This new curriculum is now available for all newly and currently registered trainees and has been available since October 2025.

Verifier Updates

We’ve also launched a brand new Phius Certified Verifier curriculum in collaboration with Natasha Brooks and Building Efficiency Resources (BER). Key features include:

• All new online self-paced content — Verifier students now receive 12-15 hours of relevant passive building fundamentals training ahead of the instructor-led content.
• Updated instructor-led content — The updated instructor-led content features numerous interactive group activities and has been updated to align with the Phius 2024 standard.
• Updated online exam — The online exam has been updated to align with the new online self-paced content and the Phius 2024 standard. All other exam administrative details have stayed the same.  

This new curriculum is now available for all newly and currently registered trainees and has been available since February 2026.

Looking Ahead

We are constantly assessing our training offerings to make sure we’re properly supporting the growing passive building community, so keep an eye out in 2026 and 2027 for several specialty trainings on topics such as METr, feasibility studies, prescriptive path and project certification!