Nearly everyone made significant contributions to the discussion, but we’d like to recognize thirty students who put in the extraordinary effort to finish the final project. This the first graduating class, and they deserve public recognition for what they’ve accomplished:

Bob Lemaire

David Holmstrom

Rob Lewis

Brenden Maloof

Gerry Smith

Al Prendergast

Neil Randol

Rich Kinkel

Michele Sopher

Tobias Richon

Al Heath

Ben Hemberger

Erin Crafts

Nick Corsetti

Mary Rogero

Chris Lee

Evan Hardcastle

Jesse Smith

Chris Redmond

Clare Dow-Ramirez

David Sayers

Peter Brooks

Newell Pledger-Shinn

Brian Wohlleb

Tim McCarthy

Rheannon DeMond

Matt Coffey

Greg Milne

Ruben Valenzuela

Some of these graduates will be showing their work at the BE Conference in March. If you have a few extra minutes while you’re walking the show, take a minute to check out their work and congratulate them on what they’ve accomplished. These are the are some of the up-and-coming professionals who can help lead the conversation in years to come.

“Rather than a snack, I want to provide the entire meal.”

Those were Marc’s words when we first met to outline his ‘Zero Net Energy Homes’ course for the Building Energy Masters Series.  I’ve watched him invest a tremendous amount of time and thought into the course since that initial meeting – now that I see all the content, I can confidently say that he’s achieved his goal.  He’s created an incredibly detailed learning path for people who really want to do this work.  It leverages a ton of existing content, and Marc’s video presentations take it to the next level and tie everything together.

Click this link to download our working syllabus for the class starting October 1st.  The formatting is unpolished, but it will give you a sense for the flow and depth of the offering.

I thought it would be useful to see what the entire meal looks like, just in case you’re hungry.

• “The course load averaged 5 hours per week.  There was a lot of variability in my schedule so I was glad the format was so flexible.”
• “I learned a ton, but also have new-found respect for how much there is to know to do Passive House the right way.  I can definitely apply what I learned to my job.”
• “Great instructors – I felt lucky to have their attention for such a sustained period.”
• Biggest opportunity for improvement: “…deeper and more frequent interaction between the students and the instructors.”

So – a pretty good start, we think.  This summer we’re working on integrating a discussion wall into the course page to promote more interaction within the course, and we’re also going to roll out progress trackers so the instructors can see who’s engaged and who’s not.

A revised and improved version of the Passive House Training will be available this fall, along with two new Building Energy Masters Series Offerings:

1. Zero Net Energy Homes with Marc Rosenbaum.
2. Innovation Workshop: Developing & Implementing Nature-Inspired Ideas with Randall Anway.

In parallel, we’re developing a certificate program to for the Building Energy Masters Series – our goal is to build a sustainable program that facilitates the dissemination of deep expertise.  We’ll continue to keep the community informed, and always welcome volunteers or feedback.   If this sounds interesting for any reason, let Mary or Travis know how you’d like to get involved.