Sol design + consulting's design work, including the Iowa City Nest Passive House, was featured in a recent SketchUp blog post "Sol design + consulting: balancing sustainability and aesthetics," https://blog.sketchup.com/home/sol-design-consulting-balancing-sustainability-and-aesthetics
This "hard hat" construction tour was organized by AIA Cincinnati. We toured two under-construction townhomes that are pursuing LEED Platinum and Passive House certifications. Find out more about the event here: https://aiacincinnati.org/programs/events/100724-spring-green-townhome-passive-house-tour. Learn more about the project here: https://solconsults.com/projects/spring-green-townhomes
Carl presented "Live Well, Live Sustainably: The Passive House Promise" at the Dayton Regional Green Sustainability Luncheon. The presentation focused on the health, comfort, durability, and quality-of-life benefits of Passive House certification.
The Myers-Heckman residence is featured as the first case study in the AIA's Guide to Building Reuse for Climate Action. The Guide is aimed to help architects mitigate and adapt to climate change when renovating existing buildings. The Myers-Heckman residence is a LEED Platinum retrofit and addition to an 1870s townhome by Sol design + consulting that shows that high-performance is achievable even in the context of a protected historic builidng. See the Guide here: https://www.aia.org/resource-center/guide-building-reuse-climate-action
Carl presents alongside Sanyog Rathod at the Design Columbus conference in a session titled: "Implementing Passive House Principles in Three Homes: Historic Retrofit and New Construction." The presentation looks at how passive design can be implemented in multiple contexts, including in existing buildings and those with historic designations. Learn more here: https://designcolumbus.org/
The Iowa City Nest is featured in the Green Building & Design Magazine article "Meet the 2023 Phius Design Competition Winners." Read the article here.
The Iowa City Nest won the 2023 Phius Passive Projects Design Competition in the Single-Family category. The Phius Design Competition seeks to recognize the best passive projects in North America and beyond. Read more here.
The Moothart Residence earned an Honorable Mention Award for Building Architecture: Small Scale at the 2023 Cincinnati Design Awards. The home, a 2382 sq. ft. brick structure built in 1895, underwent a “deep energy retrofit,” which reduced energy use by 86% and earned the home LEED Platinum Certification. Read more here.
The Moothart Residence has won the 2023 Leadership Award in the Homes category from the ENC chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The home, a 2382 sq. ft. brick structure built in 1895, underwent a “deep energy retrofit,” which reduced energy use by 86% and earned the home LEED Platinum Certification. Read more here.
Sanyog Rathod and Carl Sterner discuss strategies for designing cost-effective passive house projects, using two homes in Iowa as case studies. The presentation covers architectural strategies like building form, façade design, interior layout and finishes, as well as cost-effective envelope assemblies and mechanical systems. Available here: https://www.phius.org/design-strategies-cost-effective-passive-house
Carl appeared in Episode 8 of The Connected Construction Show, where he discusses the critical role architects have to play in creating a sustainable world. You can listen on any podcast app, or watch the show online here: https://construction.trimble.com/en/connected-construction-show-podcast
The LEED Platinum Myers-Heckman Residence by Sol Design + Consulting was featured in the September issue of Architect Magazine. The article is available online here: https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/myers-heckman-residence_o
Carl will be presenting on "Energy Analysis in Early Design." This presentation will go over specific examples of how to use energy modeling and other types of performance analysis to drive decision-making in early design. Learn more and register here: https://www.aiaohio.org/aia-ohio-technology-summit/
The LEED Platinum Myers-Heckman Residence by Sol Design + Consulting won the U.S. Green Building Council's 2022 International LEED Homes Award for Outstanding Single-Family Project. Learn more here.
Carl is leading a panel discussion on "Starting Your 2030 Journey"Â at the Cincinnati 2030 District Summit. Learn more here: https://www.2030districts.org/cincinnati/events/2022-cincinnati-2030-district-summit
Carl is presenting alongside Mark Landis on the method they developed for simulating shading from deciduous trees using WUFI Passive -- an important advance for Passive House design. The presentation provides step-by-step instructions for those wishing to replicate the process.
The Myers-Heckman residence, by Sol design + consulting, won the USGBC Ohio LEED Homes Award for Green Building of the Year in the Homes category. The renovation and contemporary addition to an 1870 townhouse brings the home to the highest standards of sustainabillity. Read more here.
Carl is presenting alongside Sanyog Rathod on "Optimizing Watergy" at the Passive House conference in New York. The presentations reviews our analysis of water heating in super-efficient houses. More info. on the conference is available here.
The Iowa Nest Residence is the subject of a SketchUp blog post entitled "Tips for Designing a Net-Zero Energy Home." The piece discussed the design process and lessons learned from the project. Read the article here.
Carl is presenting alongside Sanyog Rathod on "Net Zero Solutions for a Regenerative Urban Core." The session explores solutions to energy efficiency, water use, carbon sequestration, and habitat restoration that are applicable in dense urban contexts. You can access the presentation online here.
Carl is featured by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Cincinnati chapter's May 2021 Citizen Architect Profile, available here.
"Modern Metropolis: Preparing Today's Cities for Tomorrow's Challenges," the story behind the creation of the Cincinnati 2030 District, aired Thursday, March 25, 2021 on WCPO 9 News. You can watch the full documentary here.
I will be presenting at the DAAPx Sypmposium on Experiential Design. My presentation, "Summer House, Winter House: Designing for Thermal Delight in Architecture" explores the concept of thermal delight as manifest in the design of the Iowa Nest Residence. You can see a recording of the presentation here.
I will be presenting as part of an AIA Philly COTE webinar on "Environmental Design Tools: What, Why, and How Much?" I'll give a brief overview of Sefaira, the early-stage performance analysis tool I helped create. You can find a recording of the full webinar on AIA Philly COTE's Vimeo page.
I will be presenting in two sessions at the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit: "A Regenerative Historic Urban Core" on Thursday, August 6, and "The Next Frontier: Urban Carbon Capture and Storage" on Friday, August 7, where I will be discussing the potential for buildings to sequester carbon as part of a panel discussion.
The Sikes Residence, a project I worked on at Sol Design + Consulting, has won the 2020 LEED Home Award for Outstanding Single-Family House. You can find out more about the house here.
The Iowa Nest Residence has won the ICF Builder Award for Small Single-Family Residence.