This week host of the Passive House Podcast Zack Semke interviews Tessa Bradley (previously Smith), a pioneer of Passive House in the Pacific Northwest. In her 20s Tessa became co-owner of the Artisans Group, at the time a design-build firm, now a design-only firm. Artisans Group quickly became a leading designer and builder of beautiful, modernist, yet financially accessible Passive House homes in the Northwest, winning many design awards in the process. Tessa has won multiple Best Project by a Young Professional Under 35 awards from PHIUS.  

Beyond being a talented designer, Tessa is a great communicator about Passive House with clients and non-designers. Her entrepreneurial nature and hard work have paid off, with Artisans Group enjoying an expansive portfolio of work. Tessa talks with Zack about the presentation by Katrin Klingenberg at a Seattle library that launched Tessa into Passive House, her early days in Passive House design, and her sales pitch to clients (it’s just a good building wrapped in a big wooly sweater). Tessa also dives into her firm’s forays into prefab.  

Visit the Accelerator's Week in Preview article for links to the events that Zack mentions near the end of the show. 

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