Phius Communications Manager Max Lapthorne examines the urgent need for action when it comes to creating healthier buildings in the Southwest and beyond through the lens of the upcoming PhiusCon conference in Phoenix.
The superpower of our passive building community has always been our unification behind the shared mission to build better buildings. And our collective action toward that goal has led to tremendous progress. But there is much more to do — and that requires more action.
Inaction often appears to be the safe choice. Human instinct is to remain inert inside the safe bubbles of our everyday routines. But what happens when the threat of inaction becomes so overwhelming that even our most secure bubbles are at risk? We are about to find out.
A tremendous opportunity lies before us. The opportunity to create buildings prepared to handle the unprecedented climate-related demands that lay ahead while creating high-quality indoor environments is within reach — should we choose to act. But each day that passes with structures around the world being built that aren’t prepared for the next 10, 20 or 50 years, the risk of inaction increasingly becomes reality.
The good news is that we know what needs to be done and we know how to do it. We need to create efficient, climate-responsive, resilient buildings, and we are already doing it using Phius passive building principles. Our dedicated community of high-performance building professionals is full of people who have dedicated their professional practices to the idea that we need to act now to create better buildings. And while we have made transformative progress throughout the industry, and more than 11 million square feet of Phius projects have been Certified, the challenge of scaling remains.
Scaling passive building practices to reach our ultimate goal of Phius becoming the mainstream market standard is as complex a challenge as it is ambitious, and in order to achieve it, we need to 1) work together and 2) take action.
The great work of the passive building community may be spread across geographical regions, climate zones and industries, but everyone designing and constructing Phius buildings are part of the same solution — we’re building better, together.
As for taking action, our people aren’t the type to spurn an opportunity to make a difference in favor of sticking to their bubble. Our people are trailblazers, leading the charge toward a healthier built environment, and our collective action is what moves us forward.
Those two vital elements will coalesce in just a few weeks as the passive building community gathers in Phoenix for PhiusCon 2026, the centerpiece of our efforts to foster the Phius community and equip our people with the necessary tools, resources and inspiration to take action.
For longtime Phius stalwarts, PhiusCon is an annual gathering place to see old friends, share ideas and learn something new. But for those who are new to the high-performance building scene — we’ve dubbed them the Phius-curious — PhiusCon can represent that first step out of their bubble and into the unknown. We are here to assure those folks that they will be welcomed with open arms, and they won’t regret taking that step.
As we continue our mission to scale up throughout the United States and beyond, this year’s conference in Phoenix serves as a key catalyst in the region, and an unprecedented opportunity for local building practitioners to take action. Healthy, resilient housing is needed now more than ever, especially in the Southwest, and PhiusCon 2026 is a prime opportunity to make that happen. But it will take all of us to get where we want to go.
When it comes to taking action, like attending PhiusCon or certifying a project, people might ask themselves, “why should I do it now?” But the urgency and opportunity to be part of the solution are here, so the question that should be asked is, “If not now, when?”
