Passive House Acceleration

Katrin Klingenberg designed and built the very first home in the United States built to the passive building energy standard. Her experience led her to co-found e-cological Construction Laboratory (e-colab) with builder Mike Kernagis in 2003 as a non-profit affordable housing developer in Urbana, Illinois to further investigate the feasibility of applying passive building principles in the United States. As interest in passive building grew in North America, Klingenberg and Kernagis oversaw the expansion of e-colab into Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) in 2007. PHIUS is now the leading passive building standard setting, research and information provider, training, and certification institute in North America. Klingenberg has since designed and consulted on numerous passive building projects across North America’s varied climate zones. In her role as Executive Director of PHIUS she directs the technical and research programs of the organization. In addition to her executive role, she is also the lead instructor and director of curriculum development for the PHIUS Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC®) Training program. Klingenberg earned the German equivalent of a B.S. in Architecture at the Technische Universität in Berlin, Germany, earned an M.S. in Architecture from Ball State University, and is a licensed architect in Germany.

Born and raised in Boston, Joseph DiGangi is a 2nd generation, Boston based, real estate developer who began his career in the industry in 1999 while attending Northeastern University. Throughout his twenty year career, Joe has been involved in nearly every aspect of the industry from owning a real estate brokerage company in Boston that specialized in student apartment leasing and condominium sales to owning and overseeing a property management company. Prior to making the transition from brokerage to development in 2013, Joe specialized in the acquisition & disposition of multifamily and commercial assets throughout greater Boston. From 2013 to 2018, Joe was a managing partner and cofounder of Urban Core Development. In 2019 he parted ways in order to create D² Development for which he is the Principal. Throughout his development career, Joe has completed nearly two dozen projects with a combined market value of over $125,000,000.00. Outside of the office, Joe enjoys spending his time with his amazing young daughter Sophia and traveling abroad. Joe has been a resident of the South End for four years.

Matt Grosshandler, Bald Hill Builders' VP of Operations, has more than 28 years of residential and commercial building experience. Matt is responsible for providing senior-level management and oversight to all Bald Hill Builders' projects, aligning project operations with company goals. Matt is a past President and Executive Board Member of the Friends of Hebrew Senior Life, where he is a Trustee and serves on the Real Estate Task Force. Through his work with Hebrew SeniorLife, Matt has actively been involved with the development of several Affordable Housing projects, currently the St. Therese Residences in Everett, MA. As a leader in adopting new building solutions, Matt was invited to participate in a study with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Department of Housing to consider modular construction as a more widely accepted practice. Under Matt's tutelage, BHB was recognized as one of "Boston’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" in 2021, as well as "Boston Business Journals Largest Women-Owned Business" in 2021. Matt has earned both a Bachelor of Science in Building Sciences and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He is a LEED Accredited Professional as well as a Certified Passive House Builder and OSHA 10 trainer. In addition, Matt was named one of New England's Top Young Professionals by Engineering News-Record.

Andrew, a certified passive-house consultant, champions SGA’s sustainable building practice within the firm and within the industry at large. Recognizing that buildings are responsible for 40 percent of carbon emissions in the U.S., he continually strives to integrate high design and high performance into their development. Since he joined SGA in 2017, Andrew has applied the latest techniques in energy efficiency to projects in the higher education, commercial, and life sciences markets. He also speaks about sustainability at prominent industry events, such as the North American Passive House conference, Passive House Massachusetts, and ABX. At SGA, Andrew is involved in every stage of projects, including design, detailing, construction documentation, and construction administration. He is a frequent presence in the field, where he ensures the accurate delivery of design intent. In addition, he is active in SGA’s business development efforts, working in conjunction with the firm’s marketing team.

Michelle Apigian AIA, AICP, LEED AP, CPHC Associate Principal is an architect, planner and urban designer who combines optimism and pragmatism to design sustainable environments that strengthen communities and celebrate the uniqueness of place. She has worked on a broad array of project types and scales, from large, multi-phase master plans and design and construction of new multifamily developments to strategic infill, adaptive reuse and modernization projects. Her work includes the first Passive House certified multifamily project in Massachusetts, with many more in design and construction, as well as numerous LEED certified projects. Michelle received a B.A. from Dartmouth and an M.Arch and Master of City Planning from MIT. She serves on the Board of several organizations, including Somerville Community Coalition and Passive House Massachusetts. She is also a member of DOER’s Zero Energy Advisory Committee and a frequent speaker on topics including Building Reuse and Passive House design.