Fahy Commons Earns New Sustainability Certification
Muhlenberg’s Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation earns Phius Passive House CertificationBy: Carey Manzolillo Tuesday, March 18, 2025 11:46 AM
Muhlenberg College's newest academic building, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, has added Phius Passive House Certification to its expanding list of sustainability accolades. Muhlenberg College's newest academic building, the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, has added Phius Passive House Certification to its expanding list of sustainability accolades. The certification recognizes Fahy’s rigorous level of energy efficiency blended with comfortable indoor living spaces. Fahy is Pennsylvania’s first non-dormitory higher education Passive House and the state’s largest non-residential Passive House.
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In addition to the new Phius certification, Fahy Commons is LEED Platinum certified and the first project in the world to achieve Core Living Building Certification — a program administered by the International Living Future Institute. It has also been honored with three major sustainability and green-building awards.
Fahy Commons is now listed in the Phius Certified Projects Database — the most comprehensive database of passive projects in North America, alongside other projects that have had design and energy models vetted, and have been inspected on-site by certified quality assurance professionals. The rigorous Phius certification process ensures Fahy Commons has been designed and built to perform up to the targets determined by the climate-specific, cost-optimized Phius Standard.
“Achieving Phius Certification for a project is an accomplishment worth celebrating as it is representative of the hard work of the project team and shows that this project will be among the most efficient and comfortable buildings in the world,” says James Ortega, Phius project certification manager.
Phius is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting comfortable living for all and the well-being of the planet by driving down carbon emissions and working toward a net zero future. The organization works toward this goal by training and certifying professionals, maintaining the Phius climate-specific passive building standard, certifying and quality-assuring passive buildings, certifying high-performance building products, and conducting research to advance high-performance building.
“Fahy Commons demonstrates the innovative thinking that is driving Muhlenberg and our region into the future,” says President Kathleen Harring, Ph.D. “Its thoughtful, sustainable design reverberates in the advanced learning that is taking shape inside of its classrooms and innovation centers.”
About the Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation
Fahy Commons is a three-story building rooted in biophilic design, which brings visitors in touch with nature through both direct and indirect experiences. Made possible through a generous gift from Gerald P. Fahy ’79 and Cathleen A. Fahy, the building opened in 2023, featuring 20,000 square feet of student programming and academic space, including the Office of Community Engagement, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program's Makerspace, the Institute of Public Opinion, the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education, Religious and Spiritual Life, and new art studios and classroom spaces.
Visitors enter the building through a natively planted rain garden and once inside, enjoy sweeping views through the structure to a wooded hill sloping down to Cedar Beach Park and Lake Muhlenberg. At the entry vestibule, a sustainability dashboard displays real-time energy and solar information, as well as other information about the features of the building — from bee-friendly bricks to a meadow that helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“For students in sustainability studies, it has become a living laboratory for experiential learning as they monitor and assess the building's sustainable performance,” says Rich Niesenbaum, professor of biology and director of Muhlenberg’s sustainability studies program.
Fahy Commons fast facts:
- Phius Passive House Certification (the state’s largest non-residential Passive House)
- Core Living Building Certified (first in the world)
- LEED Platinum certified
- Verified energy use intensity of 8.9 kBTU per square foot
- Rooftop photovoltaic array, with infrastructure in place for future expansion on the ground
- Very tightly constructed building envelope effectively maintains Passive House standards by keeping the outdoor elements at bay
- High-efficiency HVAC system with continuous 100% fresh air ventilation provides comfortable and healthy interiors
- Verified 70% decrease in potable water use, including toilet flushing via a 10,000 gallon rainwater harvesting tank
- Restoration of a half-hectare carbon-sequestering meadow fosters soil health and biodiversity.
- Bird-safe glazing, designed in conjunction with Muhlenberg’s world-renowned ornithologist Daniel Klem, prevents window collisions
- Third-party diversity and inclusion assessment improves the social impact of the project
Fahy's rainwater harvesting system and cistern recycle water for gray water use. Native plantings, earthworks, and rain gardens curb stormwater and bolster natural beauty. Photo by Don Pearse/Muhlenberg College
Triple-glazed windows feature bird-friendly glass coating and the surrounding landscape offers a view of forest canopy and native meadows. Photo by Lisa Helfert/Muhlenberg College
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