Designing for Resilience: Inside Portland’s Passive House
On August 13, On Purpose Oregon brought our community together at Birdsmouth Design-Build’s SE Portland Passive House for Raising the Bar: Building Resilience. Attendees got an inside look at the systems and design strategies behind a high-performance, climate-resilient home and explored how thoughtful building can contribute to healthier people, stronger communities, and a more sustainable future.
The evening featured Marianna Grossman of Minerva Ventures and Josh Salinger of Birdsmouth Design-Build, an OPO member. Marianna shared her vision for creating a Center for Resilience, using the Passive House as a model that can be shared, replicated, and built upon in other communities. Her focus on abundance and intentional design demonstrated how resilience can be something we actively create rather than simply prepare for.
Josh shared the expertise and thoughtful process behind bringing that vision to life. Attendees learned how Birdsmouth considers everything from building materials and energy use to climate conditions, water, indoor health, and the broader environmental impact of the project.
After the conversation, attendees stepped into the active construction site to explore the project firsthand. They examined materials, walked through the blueprints, asked questions, and connected with others interested in building a more resilient future.
The evening offered a tangible example of what can happen when vision, expertise, and purpose come together—and a reminder that resilience isn't just something we prepare for. It's something we can intentionally design, build, share, and replicate.
Thank you to Marianna, Josh, and the Birdsmouth team for sharing your knowledge and opening the project to our community, and to everyone who joined us and contributed to the conversation.
We look forward to continuing to create opportunities for our community to learn from one another, see purpose-driven work in action, and build what's next together.
Our next Raising the Bar event is September 14, featuring Tessa Bridge, author of Do Your Part: Bold Sustainable Leadership for Social Impact Leaders in a Time of Polycrisis. This interactive session will explore how our values, sense of self, and beliefs about performance shape our leadership. Join us to explore what it means to lead boldly without sacrificing yourself along the way.
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