A new version of the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) energy modeling software that uses inches and pounds instead of metric values is now available.

The conversion is a joint project of the Passivhaus Institut in Germany and The Small Planet Workshop, a Tumwater, Washington, supplier of materials and training for high-performance buildings. It’s an updated version of an inch-pound version created in 2009.

According to The Small Planet Workshop, the conversion work was performed by Dylan Lamar, an architect at Green Hammer in Portland, Oregon. Lamar also worked on the earlier conversion.

Lamar and Albert Rooks, president of Small Planet, reached a deal on the conversion with Passivhaus Institut management last year, and work has been underway for the last six months.

This version of PHPP can import designs from SketchUp

The project also includes the development of plug-ins that allow the new version of the PHPP to work with the Passivhaus Institute’s new Design PH SketchUp 3D modeling tool. Rooks explained, “You can create a 3D SketchUp model and then import it into PHPP for a quick look at the values and loads. The idea behind this is to make it easier for the project designer to do some quick analysis at the initial project stage and offer quick feedback to the project client in both load values and visuals. Kind of ‘passive house on the fly.’ ”

The Small Planet Workshop says there were few changes from version 8.4 to 8.5. If you want more detail about changes in earlier versions, the company has prepared a summary of the differences between 2007 vs. 2012 versions. There’s also a summary of changes between 2012 and 2013 versions in the library section of the company’s website.

The Small Planet Workshop has created a new website devoted to the software. The software, called IP-PHPP 2013 V 8.5, is available for $315. It also can be purchased through 475 High Performance Building Supply.