This fall I was able to attend PhiusCon 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a whirlwind of incredible presentations, networking, and community building within the climate resilience design practice. I have many take aways, memories, and insights, including a little bit of walking down memory lane in Milwaukee. Let’s dive in!

As soon as I heard PhiusCon 2025 was going to be held in Milwaukee, I put it on the calendar. Milwaukee is where I went to college, graduating from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I also played on the women’s basketball team and am a proud Panther! I grew up about 4 hours north, so getting to come “home” to Wisconsin for this conference was very special. What’s better than beer, brats, and passive buildings?

Design Awards Presentation to the Mount Vernon Library Commons for Public Space Excellence

Day One included the Design Awards Breakfast, where Phius founder Katrin Klingenberg made great opening comments (in her historic jean jacket) and the Mount Vernon Library Commons was honored, followed by a great 4 hour workshop on Phius Feasibility Studies. Days Two and Three were packed with sessions on Post-Occupancy Evaluations, Phius REVIVE projects like the Mid-Century Modern Ranch Retrofit in Chicago and two 130 year-old student housing buildings at Harvard, the incredible projects and policies in Massachusetts leading the passive building way, and so many others.

Ola Jarvegren, our mechanical engineer from FSi and I were thrilled to present “In Hot Pursuit of the Cold Facts,“ an overview of the passive house strategies and mechanical systems. We had great questions from the audience and lots of interest in this being one of a few publicly bid Phius certified commercial buildings in the nation. We hope is just the start of many more to come.

The closing keynote by Steven Hennigan was by far the most inspiring presentation of the week. Focused on the way in which we talk about “paybacks”, Steven provided a different perspective from his viewpoint as a financial expert and developer. He stressed the following:

Utility costs are not linear and not simple
Projected utility bills should be forecasted using better historical data and trending graphs
Ask the Owner if they are willing to invest the amount of money the project will spend in energy over its lifetime at construction if it never has a utility bill
We can affect the rate of “decay” for facilities based on how well we build them
Ask the right questions of the right people when budget and cash flow are barriers to smart design

And, of course, being in Milwaukee gave me the opportunity to visit some of my favorite places and enjoy a bit of nostalgia. Thank you Phius for an amazing conference. Looking forward to next year!

PhiusCon ‘25

Touring the Library Commons