Hook and Ladder

Built to PHIUS Standards

This two-building 117,422-square-foot development consists of 118 affordable apartments, one of which is Minnesota’s first multifamily housing built to stringent PHIUS certification standards. Building 1 meets Enterprise Green Communities standards and Building 2 achieved Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) Certification in 2021. Both buildings incorporate practices that go beyond general notions about sustainability. Using the passive house methodology has a dramatic, discernible effect on energy use and resident comfort. The impact on energy is so substantial the passive building is projected to use less energy to heat and cool rooms than it will to heat domestic hot water.

The buildings provide a comfortable and high-quality living environment that goes far beyond what affordable housing typically provides. The project includes a maker space, fitness center, community room, outdoor courtyard with playground, bike storage, a dog run, gardening plots, and a butterfly-friendly landscape featuring native plants and rain gardens.