The annual conference of the Passive House Institute U.S. is scheduled to take place this year in Chicago and will feature educational sessions on topics ranging from affordable multifamily buildings and modeling software to rammed earth construction and foam-free wall assemblies.

Workshops will be led by Joseph Lstiburek of the Building Science Corp.; water expert Gary Klein; Maine architect Chris Briley, co-host of Green Building Advisor’s Green Architect’s Lounge; Thorsten Chlupp, a building science consultant in Alaska; Graham Wright, who leads research and development for PHIUS; building scientist William Rose; and a number of others.

Four separate tracks of workshops are scheduled on both September 11 and 12. PHIUS also will announce winners of its juried design competition at the conference (the deadline for entry expires August 25).

Pre-conference activities include PHIUS+ rater training on September 9 and 10.

Katie Swenson, vice president of National Design Initiatives for Enterprise Community Partners, is scheduled to give the keynote speech when the conference opens on September 11. The following day, the lead speaker will be Dr. Hartwig Kuenzel, developer of the WUFI modeling software. Sam Raskin, chief architect of the Building Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy, will wrap things up with closing remarks on September 12.

Registration and pricing information is available at the PHIUS conference website.