Case Study: Phius

How do you move a brand into the mainstream?

The Challenge

Phius (rhymes with “Prius”) is a nonprofit focused on decarbonizing the world by certifying professionals, projects and products using their high-performance passive building standard. To reach the mainstream market, Phius needed to clarify their positioning, build trust with industry professionals and educate the public about their broader sustainability movement and how it contributes to healthy living.

Markets & Services

Discovery research

Stake a claim

Passive house (passive building) is the leading standard in creating energy-efficient buildings that reduce their ecological footprint. Phius was struggling to distinguish themselves from the competition, since most of their certifications and products included “passive house” generically, rather than “Phius” in the names. Through audience research with architects, builders and engineers, it became clear we needed to shift the brand and messaging to drive awareness around passive building—while establishing Phius as the preeminent passive building leader that’s certified 90%+ of projects in North America.

Brand architecture

Phius takes center stage

To build recognition and set Phius apart, we first centered our brand engagement around repositioning their core business offerings. In collaboration with the Phius team, we worked to rethink their suite of professional and product certifications, restructure chapter and international partner offerings and rename the annual conference. Narrowing in on their brand archetype, we also transformed the Passive House Institute U.S. acronym (PHIUS) to Phius, an organizational name that’s more approachable and better embodies the brand.

Visual brand & messaging

Evolve the science wonk

The brand architecture set the tone for reimagining Phius’ visuals and messaging. Phius’ personality conveyed science nerd but needed to shift to more accessible, cutting edge and creative. Our creative team overhauled the visual identity—including a new logo, certification marks and other key assets—to help bring the new, approachable brand personality to life.

To better articulate and codify Phius’ value proposition, we extended the brand through a complementary message guide that focused on connecting Phius with broader audiences for wider adoption, whether among building owners, the zero-energy community or policymakers.

Non-profit web design

The new brand in action

With a new brand in place, it was time to tackle the website redesign. First, we clarified the paths to action. This made it easier to understand the certification process, guide experts to data and resources, and build a connection with the general public and policymakers about the importance of decarbonization. At the same time, we created content that made the case for why Phius is the no-brainer, cost-effective solution for resilient, comfortable, healthy buildings. By marrying the message with a dramatically modernized look and feel, the website now feels as forward-thinking as their building standards.

Centralized databases

Data that supports the mission

The redesign gave us the opportunity to consolidate data and resources, elevating how Phius serves their community. The Policy Database expands their reach by helping people easily discover passive incentives near them. The Resource Library makes their tools searchable in a single location. And the Events Database combines events from Phius and other passive players, enabling their community to continue to learn, grow, and connect.

Custom development & integration

Build the professional community

To further build community among industry professionals, share building performance accolades and drive awareness, Phius charged us with translating their huge CRM dataset that houses all certified projects, certified professionals and certified products into easily accessible and searchable site content. As we continue our partnership, we’re working with Phius to bring new certified product types online to help architects, builders and engineers on passive projects.