In our first ever episode of the building science podcast, Kristof & Michael introduce a wild product that could change how your home can passively handle heat loads. A phase change material (PCM) is a substance with a high heat of fusion which, melting and solidifying at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy. Heat is absorbed or released when the material changes from solid to liquid and vice versa; thus, PCMs are classified as latent heat storage (LHS) units.

Join us as we begin this wild adventure with very little knowledge of how to make a podcast. We hope it goes well and that you enjoy! 

In this episode, Kristof interviews world renowned lighting consultant Matthew Tanteri on the complexities of the windows in architecture. 

Matthew Tanteri runs Tanteri + Associates to provide architectural lighting design services to architects, designers, building owners and developers.  We work on light projects large and small that include retail, residential, commercial, institutional, landscape and much more.

For 25 years, their collaborations on lighting projects all over the world have been recognized by many of the lighting industry’s most distinguished awards.  With natural and electric light they seek to enhance and define the visual experience. They are constantly exploring new methods, materials, and applications in which to use light.

Join us for a wonderful conversation and enjoy!

We take the air conditioner for granted, but imagine what life would be like without it. 

Once considered a luxury, this invention is now an essential, allowing us to cool homes, businesses, hospitals, data centers, laboratories and other buildings vital to our economy and daily lives. In fact, air temperature is so important to us that 48 percent of all energy consumption in American homes is a result of cooling and heating, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Like most important breakthroughs, modern commercial and residential air conditioning technology is a result of a series of advancements by scientists and inventors who challenged themselves to come up with creative solutions to problems of the day.

How much do you really know about where air conditioning comes from? 

From Benjamin Franklin to the vast scientific HVAC advancements of the future - in this episode of The Building Science Podcast, we explore the rich and fascinating history of air conditioning and discover something fascinating about the difference between air and water.

"“Why do we heat and cool buildings with air? How did a thermodynamically and physiologically irrational medium of heat transfer - air - become the dominant method of heating and cooling buildings? 

Water is 832 times denser than air. Energy Density is directly related to the density of a material. Water can capture and channel far more energy per unit volume than air. Thermally active surfaces are built around this basic principle. 

The human body is a hydronic, thermally active surface system. Heat energy is transferred in and around a body through the hydronic circulatory system. The heart circulates heat through the blood back and forth between the core of the body to its skin, a thermally active surface. Its thermal system is decoupled from its ventilation system. 

Thermally active surfaces in buildings follow this logic, literally. This alters energy consumption and amends human comfort. Thermally active surfaces in buildings are not metaphors for the body and do not mimic a natural system. Rather, they share the same thermo-dynamical system. In this century, building science and systems will follow how the body actually functions. 

The human body uses radiant transfer to exchange most of its thermal energy. Buildings based on this logic will significantly amend current patterns of energy consumption and human comfort. 

Achieve greater human comfort with low air temperature heating and high air temperature cooling. Thermally active surfaces utilize low-supply temperature heating and high-supply temperature cooling to achieve human comfort. This can save an immense amount of energy in the next century of building. 

Cooling is a deceptive concept. If a building does not get hot, it does not need to be ‘cooled.’ Thermally active surfaces ‘cool’ by continuously removing heat energy. This is fundamentally different from air based approaches to cooling. If a surface is cooler than the bodies and objects in its space, it is removing heat from those objects and has the effect of cooling. There is no circumstance when the surface temperature should be near or at the dew point temperature to heat or ‘cool’ a space. As such, condensation is not an impediment to thermally active surfaces. 

De-fragment buildings and the building industry. Integrated practices must occur on societal levels in how teams and projects are structured as well as on material levels in the form of simplified, yet higher performing, building systems. 

Thermally active surfaces engender more deeply integrated design of material and energy systems for more robust buildings.

What would change if we heated and cooled buildings with water rather than air? 

Thermally active surfaces stand to advance architecture’s practices and performances: its techniques, technologies, professional and ecological sustainability, budgets, and formal possibilities.” 

-Kiel Moe, Thermally Active Surfaces In Architecture

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast we explore one of the world's most potent and revolutionary technologies - thermally active surfaces, or radiant heating and cooling. 

The PHIUS+ 2015 Passive Building Standard provides the climate-specific sweet spot where aggressive energy and carbon reduction overlap with cost effectiveness. It accounts for a full range of variables including climate zone, source energy, and costs. 

In cooperation with Building Science Corporation under a U.S. DOE Building America Grant, the PHIUS Technical Committee developed passive building standards that account for the broad range of climate conditions, market conditions, and other variables in North American climate zones. 

In this week's episode, we explore the above code practice of Passive House and its role in American architecture and building. 

Special thanks to the Austin PHAUS Chapter for their generous support of this episode.

In our very first short episode, the show's producer rambles while gives a brief overview of building science's role in societal change and how it could affect our lives.

What do you really know about your HVAC system? Well wonder no more. We've got you covered!

At Positive Energy, we design high performance HVAC systems. Just to be perfectly clear, we design systems that rely on Variable Capacity (VRF) HVAC equipment. 

Simply put, installers and mainstream MEP engineers launch into designs thinking about air handlers, plenums and ducts, while we start by thinking about your enclosure, your pulmonary system and health, and how your body perceives comfort. Having a carefully designed, high performance HVAC system is the most sensible way to deliver health and comfort in your home or building. Positive Energy has a team of passionate, creative, and thoughtful engineers and we love what we do. Learn more about our process, outlining the architectural and mechanical design processes to see where we’ll intersect along the way.

A quick reference mentioned in the podcast on humidity and asthma:

Join Kristof as he discusses the ins and outs of attic ventilation. If you find this topic helpful or interesting, take a moment to dive into the resources below! 

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/all-about-attic-venting

http://buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-102-understanding-attic-ventilation

http://builditgreendallas.org/sites/builditgreendallas.org/files/www/files/rr-9801_vented_sealed_attics.pdf

http://www.structuretech1.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Early-History-of-Attic-Ventilation.pdf

The building enclosure is a complex system that is configured differently for every project. In this 5 part series, we'll break down each control layer and hopefully demystify it! 

In part 2 of our 5 part series of Living Inside Anywhere, we explore the air control layer and what it means for your project.

In part 3 of our 5 part series, Living Inside Anywhere, we dive into the Air Control Layer of the building assembly. Although understanding the assembly as a fully integrated system is crucial, breaking things down can be useful. 

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, we dive into part 4 of 5 on the control layers that we use to separate ourselves from the external environment. This episode explores the vapor barrier and how it interacts with the other control layers.

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, we dive into part 5 of 5 on the control layers that we use to separate ourselves from the external environment. This episode explores the thermal barrier and how it interacts with the other control layers.

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, we interview the great Dr. Allison Bailes of Energy Vanguard Blog about all things HVAC. 

From Dr. Bailes world renowned blog, Energy Vanguard: 

Allison Bailes, III, Ph.D.

"It took me a while, but I've finally figured out how best to use my PhD in physics (University of Florida, 1998). I've always loved science, and I started off on the traditional academic path after graduate school, but that wasn't really enough for me. I loved teaching, but I needed to find a way to use my interest in energy and the environment as well as my love of buildings, especially houses.

A lot of little steps along the way brought me to where I am now:

Reading The Integral Urban House in the '80s

Buying the Real Goods compendium the Alternative Energy Sourcebook (now called the Solar Energy Sourcebook) in the early '90s

Subscribing to Home Power magazine in 1994

Building and using a solar cooker

Serving on the Gainesville Energy Advisory Committee while in grad school

Watching (and helping a little bit) my PhD thesis adviser build an off-the-grid solar house in Florida

What really started the ball rolling for my new career and the founding of Energy Vanguard, though, was when I built a house myself. In 2001, I bought a piece of land and spent the next two years building a green home that's beautiful, efficient, and comfortable. Having never built anything bigger than a bookcase prior to taking on this project, I had a steep learning curve in front of me—and I loved it!

After finishing the house in 2003, I became a home energy rater and left academia for my new career in the field of high performance homes. My first business was called ab3 energy, and I offered home energy ratings and building science consulting. When that turned out not to be enough to keep the business afloat, I started offering Manual J heating and cooling load calculations, and I even got into the contracting business. I did air-sealing, duct-sealing, insulation, and crawl space encapsulation to provide homeowners with a comprehensive package to improve their home's performance.

That business was going well when life threw some curve balls at me, so I ended up going to work for another home performance contractor (The Hoots Group) in Atlanta. I learned many new business and contracting skills, and then got the opportunity to work for one of the premier energy efficiency and green building organizations in the country—the Southface Energy Institute. At Southface, I started off as the regional manager for the EarthCraft House program and then also became the manager of Southface Energy Rated Homes, their HERS rating providership. Again, I learned a lot there that would have been much harder to learn on my own.

In 2008, I decided that I really wanted my own company again, so I left Southface and started Energy Vanguard. In some ways, this company is a continuation of ab3 energy, but it's also a lot more than that. Energy Vanguard is more about teaching and less about fixing, although we do offer HVAC design services. It's focused more on the big picture—creating markets, spreading the word (such as for Energy Efficient Mortgages), expanding networks—and less on individual components. I see this company as being on the forefront of change—the vanguard—in the way we see and use energy in our homes.

It's been a bit of a winding path, but I'm doing what I love now and feel that I've finally figured out how to combine my interests, skills, experience, and education in a way that lets me serve clients to the best of my ability. The fact that Energy Vanguard is growing in a down economy is testament that I've made good choices. It's also evidence that you can succeed in this field as well. There's plenty of room for growth here.

Please let me know how Energy Vanguard can help you, whether it's with training, as your HERS rating provider, or with some other building science related need you have."

-- Allison A. Bailes III, PhD

Join The Building Science Podcast on a California adventure to learn about radiant heating and cooling panels made by Messana.

Messana is a small company based in Italy and California with big ideas. They are passionate advocates of RADIANT COOLING, committed to change the way spaces are conditioned to improve the thermal comfort of their occupants, all while lowering the carbon footprint.

We were lucky enough to mix things up and change our episode format with some live interviews with the Messana team! 

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, Kristof interviews Adam Reiser of Shelter Builders. We'll explore why construction practices aren't considered a public health issue and hear from Adam's personal story with a house that caused serious health issues.

In 2013, Adam and his family found out that their beloved house was filled with a dangerous toxin that was making them sick. After deciding to tear it down, they were unable to find a builder to help them rebuild a healthier, safer home – so they did it themselves. Today, their house is the Shelter model home – and one of the healthiest houses anywhere in America.

Adam has spent his entire professional life as a champion for health and health education. He has spent the last six years working with the Engine 2 program and Whole Foods Market, developing healthy eating education curriculum, programs and events. He is the founder of FoodCoaching, a national training program for people helping others make healthier diet & lifestyle choices. He is the co-founder of Jack & Adam’s Bicycles in Austin, one of the leading cycling and triathlon lifestyle stores in the country.

Married with two children, Adam is a graduate of Rice University, where he was a captain of the Track & Field Team. He also has a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, and gave up a perfectly good career as a Assistant District Attorney in Houston in order to help people find and sustain their health. He is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Texas School of Public Health.

In this episode, Kristof interviews Keith Simon and John Posenecker of Building Exterior Solutions on how we can do better work in the construction and design industry.

Keith A. Simon is a Registered Architect, Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC), and Legacy LEED AP with over 10 years’ experience in architectural design and building enclosure consultation. Mr. Simon is a Senior Architect at Building Exterior Solutions, Inc. and adjunct faculty at the University of Texas School of Architecture (UTSoA) in Austin. His consulting experience includes investigation, analysis, repair design, construction administration, testing, and peer review of design phase documentation. Mr. Simon was the founder of the Austin Building Enclosure Council (BEC: Austin) and currently serves as a board member for both
BEC: Austin as well as the Austin Passive House Alliance US (PHAUS). Mr. Simon is also a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Society of Building Science Educators (SBSE), and the Texas Society of Architects (TSA) Codes and Standards Committee. Mr. Simon was awarded the 2012 Emerging Professional Honor Award by the Austin AIA.

John Posenecker is also an incredibly talented and accomplished engineer, but we couldn't find his professional biographical information. We'll update once he sends it.

In this brief episode, Kristof runs down the basics of the vapor compression cycle existent in many HVAC technologies with which we're familiar. And the episode takes place in a van. So prepare yourself for the soothing background hum of the open road while Kristof records his thoughts with a mobile microphone. 

This episode will focus on the practical and philosophical motivations to shift the industry focus to a more comprehensive building process that integrate teams, systems, and deliver better results. We will attempt to provide clarity for creative and logical solutions that can enable architects and builders to make this kind of philosophical shift toward a more outcome based future. Join us as Kristof interviews Corey Squire from Lake|Flato Architects for a great conversation! 

COREY SQUIRE, 

LEED AP O+M
Sustainability Coordinator  
Corey works with all Lake|Flato teams to establish sustainability goals, analyze designs with simulation software, and collects post-occupancy performance data. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University. In 2012, Squire was awarded the Eskew+Dumez+Ripple Research Fellowship to study building post-occupancy energy performance and sustainable design processes.

In this episode, Kristof interviews TreeHouse CEO Jason Ballard on his path into creating a more sustainable building supply retail space. 

Growing up in a small town in Southeast Texas, our co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard developed a personal connection with the pine forest, coastal prairie, and “big thicket.” In exploring nature, he learned the intricate ways in which humans and the planet rely on each other. At the same time, nearby petrochemical refineries clearly demonstrated the degradation that people can bring to the environment and their own health.

Jason studied ecology and biology to understand the underlying causes of environmental and human health issues. He learned that our impact on the natural world and our own lives are immediately affected by our approach to one of our most basic needs, shelter.

While working in green building along the front range of Colorado, Jason sprouted the idea for TreeHouse. He wanted to build a place that enabled and empowered people to reimagine their homes toward a true north of sustainability, beauty, and health.

In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, Kristof explores all the great mysteries of water (especially the water you don't see).

The Commonly Known Stages of Water

Pure water is tasteless, odorless, and colorless. Water can occur in three states: solid (ice), liquid, or gas (vapor).

Solid water—ice is frozen water. When water freezes, its molecules move farther apart, making ice less dense than water. This means that ice will be lighter than the same volume of water, and so ice will float in water. Water freezes at 0° Celsius, 32° Fahrenheit.

Liquid water is wet and fluid. This is the form of water with which we are most familiar. We use liquid water in many ways, including washing and drinking.

Water as a gas—vapor is always present in the air around us. You cannot see it. When you boil water, the water changes from a liquid to a gas or water vapor. As some of the water vapor cools, we see it as a small cloud called steam. This cloud of steam is a miniversion of the clouds we see in the sky. At sea level, steam is formed at 100° Celsius, 212° Fahrenheit.

The water vapor attaches to small bits of dust in the air. It forms raindrops in warm temperatures. In cold temperatures, it freezes and forms snow or hail.

But what about this mysterious fourth state? Tune in to find out! 

Also, be sure to check out this psychrometric app to run your own humidity experiments.

This introduction marks the beginning of a series on Indoor Environmental Quality. It's one of the most important topics we can discuss because we're exploring intersections of the inextricably linked fields of health and building sciences. We will discuss the constituent parts of IEQ in detail in hopes that you come away more informed to make better decisions for your clients.

In the continuation of our Indoor Environmental Quality series, Kristof interviews Robert Bean in a 2 part series on thermal comfort. Robert Bean is an industry leading thinker and engineer. We think you're going to love this interview.  

Robert Bean is president of Indoor Climate Consultants Inc. and director of www.healthyheating.com. He is a Registered Engineering Technologist in Building Construction and a Professional Licensee in Mechanical Engineering and provides services related to the design of buildings and indoor environmental quality systems. He serves on numerous advisory boards and technical committees including ASHRAE 6.1, 6.5, 7.4, SSPC 55 and the new ASHRAE Presidential Residential Building Committee.

Big thanks to Risinger & Co. for sponsoring this episode! 

In the continuation of our Indoor Environmental Quality series, Kristof interviews Robert Bean in a 2 part series on thermal comfort. Robert Bean is an industry leading thinker and engineer. We think you're going to love this interview. This episode is sponsored by Ultra-Aire Whole House Ventilating Dehumidifiers

In this special Halloween short episode, we explore a frightening tale of invisible specters in an otherwise beautifully designed home... all because nobody wanted to look at the mechanical design. 

In today's episode, we are joined by Keith Simon of BES/Terracon and Dr. Allison Bailes of Energy Vanguard to discuss moisture issues associated with the use of spray foam insulation in attic assemblies. There's a little bit of background information on Joe Lstiburek's article called "Ping Pong Water & The Chemical Engineer" that you'll want to check out if you're trying to better understand where this conversation is coming from, as well as a few other Energy Vanguard articles to help wrap your head around it.

We also mention some cool RHT sensors in the show, which you can check out here. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for updates on The Humid Climate Conference 2017 in the new year. Big thanks to Ultra Aire Whole House Dehumidifiers for sponsoring this great conversation.

In this first of a two part series on VRF, The Building Science Podcast brings you a compelling argument for why VRF technology matters and will follow up with an episode about how to consider and utilize VRF technology on your projects. Thanks to the generous support of Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating, we're proud to bring you this latest installment of The Building Science Podcast focused on VRF technology and why it's important.

In the continuation of our Indoor Environmental Quality series, Kristof discusses Indoor Light Quality with Keith Simon and Matthew Tanteri. This episode is sponsored by Risinger & Co. 

Keith and Matt are so appreciated for being such rock stars and for appearing on the podcast more than once. We couldn't do it without your expansive minds! 

Join Kristof in a wide-ranging discussion of building science topics with consultant John Semmelhack of Think Little. 

John Semmelhack is the owner of Think Little. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, a member of the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) Technical Committee, and is a PHIUS Trainer for the Certified Passive House Consultant and PHIUS+ Rater training programs. He sits on the boards of the Passive House Alliance U.S. (PHAUS) and the Passive House Alliance U.S. – Capital Chapter.

John is also a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater, a Technical Advisor to builders in the EarthCraft House Virginia green building program, and a BPI-certified Building Analyst. He is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business (no, not that “LEED”) at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

In this episode, Kristof interviews Sean and Ian Harris, the owners of a duct sealing company called Aeroseal of Austin in Austin, TX. You'll hear discussion on why duct sealing is such a crucial component of healthy delivered air and energy performance of mechanical systems.

Sean Harris has been developing his interest in residential home construction since participating in a remodel project, certified by Austin Energy’s Green Building Program in 2005. With a degree in business administration, Sean combines his interest in green building and knowledge of business systems. Sean oversees the operations of Positive Energy and including product development, quality control, staffing, and marketing/sales. He is also a certified RESNET energy rater and conducts home performance inspections, energy code tests, ECADS, and HERS ratings.

How good should the building envelope be? How much energy should a building use? Finding answers require putting the building in context with the complex, interconnected, global networks of materials and resource flows in which they exist. Join Kristof for a wide ranging and slightly geeky discussion w Dr William Braham on systems ecology, exergy, emergy, and why a climax forest is a model for power and efficiency. 

Dr. William W. Braham FAIA is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Chair from 2008 to 2011 and is currently Director of the Master of Environmental Building Design and Director of the TC Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies. He received an engineering degree from Princeton University and an M. Arch. and Ph.D. Arch. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 1988. At Penn, he teaches graduate courses on ecology, technology, and design. At the Chan Center, his most recent projects have been the Sustainability Plan, Carbon Footprint, and Carbon Reduction Action Plan for the University of Pennsylvania.

See more of Dr. Braham's work on his website.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Stephen Colley on earthen construction. 

Stephen currently practices architecture and runs his own architecture firm and is a long-time practitioner of green design and sustainable living. From 2010-2012 he served as the Program Manager in Green Initiatives for Palo Alto College in San Antonio developing training courses related to sustainable design and construction.

Stephen also participated in the Alamo Colleges Chancellor’s Council on Sustainability helping to write a new more sustainable policy for the Alamo College District.  The new policy was approved by the Board of Alamo Colleges in August of 2012. In his previous position as the Green Building Coordinator for Build San Antonio Green, he developed the criteria for San Antonio’s residential green building program, Build San Antonio Green, recognized by the National Association of Homebuilders as the Green Building Program of the year in 2009, and served on the Mayor’s (San Antonio, Texas) task force on Sustainable Policy as the City charted a significant shift away from conventional building, development, and transportation policy. Stephen was chosen by the National Association of Home Builders as one of the original stakeholders to write the Green Policy for the organization as basis for their nation-wide residential green building program, National Green Building Standard™.

In 2005, he co-authored the Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting for the Texas Water Development Board (3rd edition). The Manual is widely distributed and used as a reference for potable and non-potable rainwater harvesting system publications. He is also the former Chair of the San Antonio Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, a LEED® Accredited Professional, and President of Earthen Construction Initiative, a non-profit organization to advance and promote earthen construction. 

Join Kristof for a thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Zoltan Nagy on intelligent environments and how building science principles are guiding predictive analytics to shape the future of building and home operations. As more intelligent buildings emerge, occupant-centric solutions to IAQ issues, mechanical issues, and energy issues can be addressed. 

The Intelligent Environments Laboratory (IEL), led by Prof. Zoltán Nagy, is an interdisciplinary research group within the Building Energy & Environments (BEE) Program of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) in the Cockrell School of Engineering of the University of Texas at Austin.

The aim of their research is to rethink the built environment and define Smart Buildings and Cities as spaces that adapt to their occupants and reduce their energy consumption.

Noise can  have an adverse impact on people in offices, classrooms, hospitals and other commercial buildings (European Agency for Safety & Health at Work, 2005), interfering with their daily activities at work or school and at home. People’s performance levels and ability to concentrate can be negatively affected by noise and it can make it harder for them to share knowledge with one another.Join Kristof in this continuation of our IEQ series as he discusses acoustics and sound quality across the architectural spectrum with Keith Simon and John Poesnecker. 

Be sure to check out this wonderful TED Talk by David Byrne on sound and architecture.

It's time to find the reset button. Time to re-examine our view of what we know about delivering conditioned space to our clients, to ourselves. The upside potential in buildings is staggering. From some vantage points, it's astounding and inexplicable why the very places we live continue to be held in a laggard state of performance relative to what's possible. Our industry transition is held captive to an outdated vision. Without a proper vision, our mission, strategy and tactics are ineffective. 

We are all front line advocates, operating within our spheres of influence. What creates effectiveness is knowing why we are engaged in a particular next action and how that relates to moving the industry and the market forward. Why comes first, then what. Many of us can't effectively advocate for best practices in homes/buildings- not because we don't know what to do. Rather it's because we don't know why we need to do what we want to do. If we don't know why then we can't effectively advocate for change with our project teams and the pent-up transition will continue to move forward at a languished pace; albeit inexorably. In this episode Kristof shares some ideas to help us find our reset buttons, or at least pose the idea that hitting reset is worthwhile. 

Special Edition - Just Released. Listen and learn why you don't want to miss this event! Coming up next Friday 10/13/2017 here in Austin. 

Join Kristof Irwin and guest experts Matt Carlton and Brian Roeder for lively discussion on the surprisingly rich topic of stucco cladding systems. You'll never look at a stucco wall the same way again.

Special thanks to UltraAire for their generous support.

Symposium Details 

Hosted by: AIA BEC: Austin & RCI, Central Texas
Date & Time: Friday, October 13th, 8:30am-5:30am, registration opens at 8:00am
Location: JJ Pickle Research Center, Commons Conference Center, 10100 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX 78758
Price: Early Bird (unitl 9/15) $150/person, General Admittance (9/16-10/12) $190/person, Day Of (10/13) $225
CEUs: 6.5 LU AIA HSW Credits

Update:

Apologies for the inconvenience with the last audio file - it appeared to be fine on our side, but was corrupted in the upload process. We appreciate all the feedback and are so thrilled you couldn't wait to hear more! As requested, a new file has been uploaded on a solid connection. Please let us know if you're experiencing any issues and enjoy the episode! 

___________________________________________________________________

Positive Energy has built its success around deeply understanding enclosures and how they interact with mechanical systems. We intimately know the HVAC equipment out there. And it hasn’t been easy to get architects, builders, and installers to adopt a new and “unknown” technology. But that’s exactly what we endeavor to do with each project. And you’ve probably guessed by now that we’re talking about VRF here. 

It’s a big deal. It’s the way our industry is headed. And it’s worth understanding and using on your projects. 

In this second of the two part series on VRF, The Building Science Podcast brings you a whole host of information on VRF systems to help you better know, understand, and implement this technology in your projects with a great conversation between our host Kristof and guest John Chavez. Thanks to the generous support of Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating, we're proud to bring you this latest installment of The Building Science Podcast focused on VRF technology and how to bring it to your projects.

Live from the Texas Society of Architects 2017 Expo and Convention, we're proud to bring you a series of episodes exploring "the multiple dimensions of beauty" through interviews with some phenomenal architects, builders, and consultants. 

This episode features an interview with Darrell McMaster, a builder from Boerne, TX who runs a company called Sustainable Homes of Texas. 

Darrel has been building homes for over 40 years. He comes from a family of builders, with three generations still active in the home building industry. He is a Master Builder, proud of his craft, and forward thinking in his application of systems and processes.

Darrel says, “the theory is simple if you have to frame on top of the concrete you set up, or build the cabinets that are attached to the wall that you framed you are going to do it right the first time”. 

He's experienced in production, multi-family and custom home building and endeavoring to show that sustainable homes are not only affordable but possible, not only in custom homes but in production homes, as well as multi-family communities.

Special thanks to Bautex Systems for their generous support of our live recorded episodes at the 2017 TxA Expo & Convention. Be sure to stop by their website, learn about their innovative product, and say hello for us.

Pour yourself a hot drink, grab a blanket and sit near the crackling logs for this holiday special episode. We're looking back at the last 3 years and looking ahead to our 4th season of the show. Be sure to check out our end of year survey and submit your ideas for episodes in season 4!

Thank you so much for listening to our show for the last 3 years. We plan on delivering more great episodes in 2018 and hope you'll join us for the ride! 

Live from the Texas Society of Architects 2017 Expo and Convention, we're proud to bring you a series of episodes exploring "the multiple dimensions of beauty" through interviews with some phenomenal architects, builders, and consultants. 

This episode features an interview with Kristen & Michael Padavic of PSW Real Estate. 

PSW Real Estate

PSW Real Estate, LLC is a Texas real estate developer that designs and builds communities of high-quality green homes in urban areas. PSW creates homes that offer proximity to work, school and other important resources while implementing energy efficient construction methods and materials. These key elements promote urban density and conservation, reduce waste, and engender social connectivity.

Michael Padavic

Michael joined PSW in late 2011 to develop and lead the newly created design and planning group within the office as part of an initiative to move the architectural development of PSW Homes in house, an aim for greater efficiency and unified vision.

After achieving a Master in Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Michael honed his skills working for several small to mid-size firms in Chicago, managing a variety of projects from high-rise residential towers and high-end renovations to school restoration and public libraries. He currently holds architectural licenses in both Illinois and Texas.

Specialties: Single family, multi-family and commercial architecture; Sustainable design; Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Kristen Padavic

Kristen moved her family (with Michael, above) to Austin, Texas to join PSW, and Austin-headquartered urban infill home builder after working in Chicago, IL for nearly a decade.  Over the past several years, her architectural team has grown to nearly ten employees, as the PSW team has grown into multiple markets in Texas and Seattle. The team is comprised of a variety of disciplines, including architecture, civil engineering, construction and sales, that all bring unique expertise to the process of designing urban infill communities.

Special thanks to Bautex Systems for their generous support of our live recorded episodes at the 2017 TxA Expo & Convention. Be sure to stop by their website, learn about their innovative product, and say hello for us.

Live from the Texas Society of Architects 2017 Expo and Convention, we're proud to bring you a series of episodes exploring "the multiple dimensions of beauty" through interviews with some phenomenal architects, builders, and consultants. 

This episode features an interview with Peter Pfeiffer of Barley Pfeiffer Architecture. 

Peter L Pfeiffer, FAIA

Peter Pfeiffer wears many hats.  He is a LEED accredited professional Architect,  a licensed Interior Designer,  Building Scientist and Property Developer & Manager, who has spent the past 36 years designing and developing pragmatic high performance buildings and homes.

 EEBA, the national Energy Efficient Building Association, awarded Mr. Pfeiffer the Conference Chair’s Award in 1994 for his career accomplishments pioneering environmentally sensitive architecture.   In 2004 he was one of the first architects in America to be named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for his life-long commitment to "mainstreaming green building in North America”.  He is a founding principal of Barley | Pfeiffer Architecture, a firm recognized nationally for its pioneering use of environmentally responsive design and construction techniques.  Their work has been published both in the United States and abroad in such diverse venues as the Washington Post, The New York Times,  Fine Homebuilding,   Better Homes & Gardens magazine and on-line where they have been awarded “Best Of Houzz” in the Design and Service categories for two consecutive years.  He has been a guest on National Public Radio, the HG-TV network, as well as on The Discovery Channel and This Old House.

The National Association of Home Builders honored him as the “National Green Advocate of the Year” in 2003 for his life-long achievements in “mainstreaming” green building.  Peter has been an active charter member of the NAHB Green Building Subcommittee since its inception in 1999 and has been active in the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes program.  In 2006 Residential Architect cited him as one of the 10 most influential residential architects of past decade.  Recently Peter was nominated for the prestigious Hanley Award for his meaningful efforts to advance green building in America. 

Live from the Texas Society of Architects 2017 Expo and Convention, we're proud to bring you a series of episodes exploring "the multiple dimensions of beauty" through interviews with some phenomenal architects, builders, and consultants. 

This episode features an interview with Dr. Jules Elkins of The University Of Texas at Austin and The East Wall Consulting. 

Dr. Jules Elkins

Dr. Elkins’s research and teaching is in environmental health, and healthy indoor environments. She is particularly interested in low-dose chemical exposures, especially during the period from preconception to early childhood. Her interests focus on how exposures can be practically and cost-effectively reduced or prevented based on evidence-based models of what interventions measurably work. Specific projects and work includes exposures in schools from poorly ventilated classrooms, exposures from proximity to highly trafficked roadways, and maternal and child exposures from the food they eat. Dr. Elkins is particularly interested in the concept of the Healthy City. Given that we increasingly live in an urbanized world, how can we design away our environmental health problems, and what are the evidence-based outcomes from such design, considering both health and economic metrics? Dr. Elkins also speaks and consults on constructing healthy buildings. This includes choosing healthy materials, optimizing healthy design, and evidence-based outcomes of exposures in indoor environments. This work ranges from green buildings to building for clients with chemical sensitivities.

Big thanks to the Texas Society of Architects and our sponsor Bautex.

Live from the Texas Society of Architects 2017 Expo and Convention, we're proud to bring you a series of episodes exploring "the multiple dimensions of beauty" through interviews with some phenomenal architects, builders, and consultants. 

In this episode we interview water engineering expert, Gary Klein of Gary Klein & Associates.

Gary Klein

Gary Klein, President of Gary Klein & Associates has been intimately involved in energy efficiency and renewable energy since 1974. One fifth of his career was spent in the Kingdom of Lesotho, the rest in the United States. Mr. Klein has a passion for hot water: getting into it, getting out of it and efficiently delivering it to meet customers' needs. 

After serving 19 years with the California Energy Commission, he has provided consulting on sustainability since 2008. Mr. Klein received a BA from Cornell University in 1975 with an Independent Major in Technology and Society with an emphasis on energy conservation and renewable energy.

Special thanks to Bautex Systems for their generous support of our live recorded episodes at the 2017 TxA Expo & Convention. Be sure to stop by their website, learn about their innovative product, and say hello for us.

In our first episode of season 4, Kristof interviews James Geppner of Erase40 and Big Yellow Cab on the topic of behavioral change and market transformation. Building Science stands poised to change the way we deliver conditioned space to society. There are many angles by which we can dissect exactly how to do that. In this episode, we're going to explore how YOU can change the market.

James Geppner

James has advised and developed initiatives for nonprofits, new ventures and mature companies in infrastructure, technology, media, education, health and housing. Following his years in Project Finance, where he evaluated companies and studied markets, he has applied social science (and competitive theory) to a range of issues in order to see what’s shaping a market, a cause or a behavior.

He founded Big Yellow Cab in order to apply social science research and the procedures of behavior change to important social and environmental issues. He has advised nonprofits, new ventures and global companies. Most recently he did an extensive analysis of the market for passive buildings and the decision-making process of buyers, funders and end users in order to find clues as to how to increase the size of the market and how to reduce the barriers to widespread adoption of passive technology. He founded Erase40 in order to develop market based initiatives that drive up demand for passive buildings and in order to serve as a decision lab for different players in the building ecosystem. He is a graduate of NYU and of SGIB’s investment banking program. 

Links

Erase40
Big Yellow Cab
Freakanomics Radio Episode (Mentioned) 

Yes. We're going to have a chat about humidity. If you live in a heating dominated, dry climate you might be thinking "what good is this for me to hear?" and I wouldn't blame you. But frankly, the more we know about humidity, the better we can understand how things work without it too. So dig in and think about how moisture affects the things we design and build. In this episode of The Building Science Podcast, we’ll explore the potential upside and downside of designing and building in humid climates.

If you're serious about building high performance homes in humid climates, you don't want to miss this year's Humid Climate Conference in Austin. Tickets are on sale now and we at The Building Science Podcast are thrilled to sponsor this year's conference. Don't miss it! The Humid Climate Conference is organized entirely by volunteers from the PHAUS (Passive House) Chapter in Austin with support from the national organization, PHIUS. 

What Is A Climate Zone?

“One of the fundamental principles of building science is that buildings must be suited to their climate. When they're not, problems can ensue. Maybe it's just that they're not as efficient as they should be. Maybe it's worse. Put plastic between the drywall and framing of your exterior walls in Ottawa, and it can help control vapor drive from the interior air and its associated moisture problems (rare in all but except in extremely cold climates). Put that plastic in the same place in Georgia, and you're going to rot the walls.

The first thing to know about climate zones is that we divide them up based on two parameters: temperature and moisture. The map at the top of this article, from Building Science Corporation, is one that seems to be in a lot of the curricula for home energy rater and other energy auditor classes. The fancy word for this type of division is hygrothermal, and Building Science Corp. has a nice interactive map of hygrothermal regions.

The map above divides all of North America into broad regions based on temperature and then humidity. The International Code Council has a more fine-grained approach to climate zones,† as shown below in the map of the US from the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Each zone has a number, starting with 1 for the hottest US climate, the southernmost tip of Florida, and going up to 8, the coldest parts in Alaska.”

-Dr. Allison Bailes, III

For more images mentioned in the episode, check out the show’s webpage.

Concrete is everywhere. We all see it every day but what do we really know about concrete? This seemingly simple material is any but simple. Listen and learn about the past, present and future of this evolving technology. Prepare to have your mind blown in this episode of the show as we explore the incredible history and composition of concrete with Matt Carlton and Lee Lawrence of WJE. You'll never see concrete the same way again.

Notes From The Episode

Rheology

(/riːˈɒlədʒi/; from Greek ῥέω rhéō, "flow" and -λoγία, -logia, "study of") is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a liquid state, but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an applied force. It is a branch of physics which deals with the deformation and flow of materials, both solids and liquids.

Flying buttress

(arc-boutant, arch buttress) a specific form of buttress composed of an arched structure that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall outwards, which are forces that arise from vaulted ceilings of stone and from wind-loading on roofs.

The defining, functional characteristic of a flying buttress is that it is not in contact with the wall it supports, like a traditional buttress, and so transmits the lateral forces across the span of intervening space between the wall and the pier. To provide lateral support, flying-buttress systems are composed of two parts: (i) a massive pier, a vertical block of masonry situated away from the building wall, and (ii) an arch that bridges the span between the pier and the wall — either a segmental arch or a quadrant arch — the flyer of the flying buttress.

The Pantheon (Was Built Out Of Concrete)

The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet (43 m).

Portland Cement

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the mid 19th century, and usually originates from limestone. It is a fine powder, produced by heating limestone and clay minerals in a kiln to form clinker, grinding the clinker, and adding 2 to 3 percent of gypsum.[clarification needed] Several types of Portland cement are available. The most common, called ordinary Portland cement (OPC), is grey in colour, but white Portland cement is also available. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone which was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. It was named by Joseph Aspdin who obtained a patent for it in 1824. However, his son William Aspdin is regarded as the inventor of "modern" Portland cement due to his developments in the 1840s.[1]

Concrete Petrography

Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The classification of rocks is based on the information acquired during the petrographic analysis. Petrographic descriptions start with the field notes at the outcrop and include macroscopic description of hand specimens. However, the most important tool for the petrographer is the petrographic microscope. The detailed analysis of minerals by optical mineralogy in thin section and the micro-texture and structure are critical to understanding the origin of the rock. Electron microprobe analysis of individual grains as well as whole rock chemical analysis by atomic absorption, X-ray fluorescence, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are used in a modern petrographic lab. Individual mineral grains from a rock sample may also be analyzed by X-ray diffraction when optical means are insufficient. Analysis of microscopic fluid inclusions within mineral grains with a heating stage on a petrographic microscope provides clues to the temperature and pressure conditions existent during the mineral formation.

Event - Not Your Father’s Concrete!: A breakfast seminar and networking opportunity

Join WJE for a presentation and discussion of the perils of ready-mix concrete and the state of practice. We will also discuss self-consolidating concrete, the advantages and disadvantages as well as new-age additives and what works best when.

This program will qualify for AIA/AICP Continuing Education Credits.

RSVP NOW!

Special thanks to The Humid Climate Conference for their generous support.

In this episode, Kristof interviews Kiel Moe of Harvard's GSD about the energy flows and multiple re-thinkings necessary to change the future of construction and design. You may remember reading about Kiel's inspiration to us at Positive Energy in our blog post about the thermally active surface system we installed in our office, compliments of the fine and wonderful people at Messana and SpacePak. This episode is definitely headier than most of ours, so buckle in and be ready to hit pause, rewind, and take notes if you need. We couldn't be more thrilled that he stopped by the office to chat. 

Kiel Moe

Kiel is a registered architect and has taught architecture and energy at University of Illinois at Chicago, Syracuse University and Northeastern University. He holds positions as Associate Professor of Architecture & Energy and Co-Director of Master of Design Studies program in Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Moe received the B.Arch from the University of Cincinnati, M.Arch from University of Virginia, and a Master in Design and Environmental Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Design Advanced Studies Program. 

Professor Moe's research and pedagogy focuses on an agenda (theories, techniques, and technologies) for energy that is at once more ecologically and architecturally ambitous: Maximum Power Design. A such, he focuses on both buildings as manifestations of large scale energy systems as well as overlooked and discrete thermal parameters in buildings that yet have great impact on the power of a building.

Ideas To Unpack

Material Ecology: coined by Neri Oxman (Architect, Designer, Inventor), focuses on and considers computation, fabrication, and the material itself as inseparable dimensions of design. In this approach, products and buildings are biologically informed and digitally engineered by, with and for, Nature.

Energetics Of Urbanization:  deals with the relationship between energy flows, urbanization, and how they relate to economic practices and theories. Learn more about Neil Brenner and his work here.

Pedagogy: how we relate to, study, and implement teaching.

Planetary Urbanization: thinking about how we urbanize at a planetary level, how that affects resource and energy flows, and how life on the planet is shaped by it. 

Howard Odum: a brilliant ecologist who had a profound impact on the economic theories of energy flow. He coined the term and developed the theory of emergy, which deals with the embodied energy of any given object or structure.

Epistemology: how do we know what we know? Pretty much. 

Political Economy: the study of production and trade and their relations with law, custom and government as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth.

Adrian Bejan:  a brilliant mechanical engineer who first stated the notion of Constructal Law, which is the law of physics that accounts for the phenomenon of evolution (configuration, form, design) throughout nature, inanimate flow systems and animate systems together.

"For a finite-size system to persist in time (to live), it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through it."
-Adrian Bejan, The Constructal Law

The constructal law places the concepts of life, evolution, design and performance in physics, which is in the broadest scientific arena. The constructal law is the law of physics of life and evolution. 

Forest Ecology: how do you get the wood that you use? 

Big thanks to the Humid Climate Conference for their generous support of our podcast and to Brittney Spears for the music that's stayed with us all these years.

If you think you don’t need to worry about water heating, think again! In this episode, Kristof interviews John Miles of Sanden Hot Water Heaters live on the AHR Expo floor in Chicago about the future of water heating. Learn why this technology can make a massive impact on the housing and energy sectors. 

When most people think of a quality water heater (which rarely happens) they think of gas tankless or electric resistive tanked systems. But that's nowhere near the full story. Water heaters are the second highest energy users in most homes and most home owners have never been presented with a good accounting of the available options. 

Heat pump water based water heating is here to stay and split system water heaters are the next step forward in the evolutionary up-cycle. Add to the equation an incredible refrigerant, CO2, and you've got yourself a high performing, low exergy, and low Global Warming Potential (GWP) water heating unit that could actually change energy consumption at the grid level.

Here's the breakdown (these are generalized for simplicity):

-Gas Tankless Systems - 90% Efficiency

-Electric Resistive Tanked Systems - 95% Efficiency

-Conventional Non-Split Heat Pump - 250% Efficient

-Split System CO2 Based Heat Pump - 520% Efficient

Big thanks to Sanden for supporting the show and for talking with us at AHR and to The Humid Climate Conference for their continued and generous support of our show. 

It's normal these days to pay attention to what we eat. But what about the steady diet of air we breathe and soak ourselves in? The impact of homes on health somehow manages to stay below the radar. Even our language is a bit evasive. Why do we say "sick building syndrome"? The buildings aren't sick, the people are. 

This episode is a step toward helping this important topic get some long-overdue and much-needed attention. Join us for an interview with Bill Hayward and Carl Grimes that took place at the 2018 IAQA Conference in Chicago, IL. as we discuss the Hayward Healthy Home Score. We hope you enjoy, take the quiz yourself, and share with your friends and families. 

Learn More About The Hayward Score with this great, informative video.

Bill Hayward

Bill is the founder of Hayward Score as well as the CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer of Hayward, a 95-year-old California lumber and building material supplier. Since 2008, when he, his wife, and their newborn daughter became sick in their “dream home,” Bill has been focused on combining building science and medical science into a compelling strategy to transform home construction so that homes will no longer degrade human health. 

In addition to his work on Hayward Score, he has also recently assumed the role of Chief Innovations Officer of H3, a subsidiary focused on cutting-edge products that transform the indoor environment.

LMB Journal, the leading magazine for the lumber/building material distribution channel, named him Entrepreneur of the Year (2015). In addition, he was named “20 Most Influential Leaders in the Industry” and Hayward was named “Dealer of the Year” for their work in driving sustainability in the industry. On the non-profit side, Bill is currently Chairman Emeritus of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and previously served as Chairman for the 5 years. He received his BS from UCLA and graduated from the Stanford Executive Program.

Carl Grimes

Carl joined the Hayward Score team in 2013 and brings more than 30 years of professional expertise to identifying and addressing the most critical issues to transform homes to healthy environments that fit individual needs. In addition, he has personally experienced living in unhealthy homes and has a deep understanding of the uncertainty, exhaustion, and skepticism inherent in the struggle that many face – that his home was not a safe and secure “castle,” but was instead contributing to his declining health and sense of well‐being.

He is nationally recognized as a professionally accredited Healthy Home Specialist (HHS) and a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC). 

Since 1987, he has worked nationally as a private consultant guiding people who suffer from unhealthy houses. He has developed action plans and verification methods designed to eliminate health issues in homes. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the national Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) in 2002, and recently served as their President. Carl is now the Vice President of Practice for the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. Carl has served on, created, and chaired a variety of committees writing industry consensus standards. He has collaborated with leading experts and researchers, analyzing the best approaches for restoring the indoor environment. He has chaired a committee that developed the course, Healthy Home Assessment: Principles and Practice, which is the follow‐on to the Essential Healthy Home Practitioner course by the National Center for Healthy Housing (www.nchh.org).  He is also the author of “Starting Points for a Healthy Habitat,” based on his and his client’s experiences of living in unhealthy homes and speaks both nationally and internationally on topics related to indoor air quality.

More Info

See this powerful video about Bill’s wife’s own story and journey of discovering the impact of indoor air quality on her life and the life of her family. 

Check out the Breezometer app for outdoor air quality monitoring.  Fun fact, the Foobot outdoor air reference is fueled by the Breezometer data feed. 

Also be sure to check out Jessica Green’s fascinating Ted Talk on the Indoor Microbiome. She talks about the simple (or complex) fact that our bodies and homes are covered in microbes -- some good for us, some bad for us. As we learn more about the germs and microbes who share our living spaces, TED Fellow Jessica Green asks: Can we design buildings that encourage happy, healthy microbial environments?

For an expanded discussion, check out the Ted Blog. 

What do you really know about construction trades and their role in projects? Are their voices heard in the design process? Join us as Miguel interviews Kimberly Lewellyn live from the annual ASHRAE Conference and AHR Expo in Chicago for a wide ranging discussion on re-framing our perceptions of construction trades. 

For decades, the housing industry in the United States has become increasingly first cost oriented while energy codes simultaneously become more demanding. The implications of this dynamic have played out across design organizations and construction firms, but nowhere has it been felt more poignantly than by sub-contracted trade crews. Often these laborers are considered low-skill, interchangeable, and are thus exploited. And due to this unnecessarily assigned status, they are rarely involved in early design conversations to contribute their wealth of knowledge of construction realities. 

This dynamic can change with willing participants, but it takes more than just thought-experiments. We have to put into action new ways of thinking about contractural relationships, economic value, and design processes and collaboration. That's what this episode is all about. We'll explore a few simple ways to change the conversation and hopefully our minds about how trades are involved in our project teams.

Kimberly Llewellyn was a Building Science consultant for the Positive Energy team for many years and is now both a Performance Construction Manager at Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating and a PHIUS Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC). Between her formal post-grad education in environmental engineering at Columbia University, Kimberly has an intimate understanding of how the HVAC industry relates to well designed and delivered homes and continues to advocate for better practices and collaboration in her work with Mitsubishi. 

Big thanks to The Humid Climate Conference for their generous and continued support of this show.

Put on your microbiology hats, folks. This episode of The Building Science podcast will dive into the great unseen world of microorganisms all around us inside our buildings down to the level of the ecosystems that grow on our HVAC coils. We're truly at a time when the health sciences and the building sciences are becoming more closely related than ever before and the future is a weird, wonderful world of intersectional and interdisciplinary scientific inquiry. Join us as Kristof interviews, Graeme Marsh about the weirdness of biofilms that you can't even see right before your very eyes. 

Graeme Marsh is the Managing Director of Z Bioscience and has somewhat of a polymathic career path. He spent 20 years working for global investment banks in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK, going on to found Future Business Concepts, Inc. in 1998; helping companies with Business Development, Product and Sales Strategy, Financing and Re-Structuring.  

The initial focus was on the Internet. His firm was involved in the creation of the JV between Melbourne IT and NeuStar that successfully established the .biz generic Top Level Domain. More recently Graeme assisted a client in the million dollar plus sale of its IP / Patent portfolio, and is currently assisting with a "Next Generation" data encryption firm, and a new Project Management system provider that goes beyond the Agile approach.

He has also worked with firms in the Oil & Gas sector, focusing on environmental projects including air and water remediation, as well as New Materials, especially in the concrete space, Manufacturing Technologies, and Corrosion Prevention.

His firm expanded its work with clients that focus on Environmental related areas, including companies that have a range of revolutionary Certified Green cleaning products (many of which are also Organic) that are having a profound impact on the bottom line in multiple industries, including HVAC applications (improved system energy performance and IAQ), Agriculture (Poultry, Hogs & Dairy), and All Purpose Cleaning (Assisted Living, Schools, Healthcare, General Janitorial and Retail).

From 2002 to 2006 Graeme was on the Board of The Japan Pragmatist Fund, a Japanese hedge fund specializing in small to medium capitalized companies. It closed in Dec 2006 and all investors received their initial capital back plus above market returns. Graeme is also serving on the Board of number of other ventures.
 

Z BioScience

Email Graeme

Special thanks to The Humid Climate Conference for their generous and continued support for the show. If you haven't got tickets for this May's conference, they're nearly sold out! 

The original episode was meant to feature both Graeme Marsh, who we heard on the last episode, as well as Greg Long. None of us could have prepared for the fact that in the middle of the episode, Greg's ceiling had water pouring out of it. It was unexpected, to say the least!

Fortunately for us, we got to catch up with Greg for a more in depth discussion. So what do dirty socks have to do with the lungs of our homes and buildings? Listen to this episode to learn more about smelly biofilms, probiotic cleaners and the tip of the thermodynamic spear - the all-powerful, but often-ignored HVAC coil.

The heat exchanger coil in our HVAC system is where the magic of heat transfer happens - this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to "conditioning" air. If the word "coil" is not connecting to a mental image, you can think of the radiator in your car. Just as in a car, when it's working you don't give your radiator much thought - we often ignore our HVAC coils, and at our peril. All of the indoor air we heat and cool flows through our HVAC coil. Unfortunately sometimes our magic, all-powerful coils are coated with a smelly, gelatinous, living glop in the form of an unwanted biofilm.

Listen to this episode to learn more about the under-reported reality of biofilms in HVAC equipment and what to do about them to keep your coil and conditioned air clean and odor-free.

Earl Gregory (Greg) Long, CIEC, ASCS

Mr. Long is president of IAQ Consulting Services Inc. in Belton, TX (not far from the Positive Energy and Building Science Podcast headquarters). IAQ Consulting Services Inc,  is a consulting firm that offers estimating, project management, specification writing, investigations services and project oversight specializing in HVAC system restoration and cleaning, coil cleaning, structure restoration and dehumidification, and content restoration, with focus on restorative processes over replacement when applicable.

Areas of additional experience include rust eradication and prevention within HVAC systems, fiberglass insulation removal and replacement with closed cell insulation within HVAC systems,drain pan restoration, water and air leakage and odor control. It is Mr. Long’s belief that there is apractical and logical solution for most building related projects and indoor air issues and it has always been his goal to find the most reasonable solution for the situation at hand.

Among his credentials are: 

Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) by American Council for Accredited Certification

Certified Mold Remediator (CMR) by American Council for Accredited Certification

Air System Cleaning Specialist (ASCS) by National Air Duct Cleaners Association

Certified IAQ Technician (CIAQT) by Texas Tech University

Certified Mold Investigator Professional (CMIP) by Texas Tech University

Certified De-flooding Specialist by Cleaning De-flooding Restoration Network Trained and practiced in Commercial Kitchen exhaust system cleaning

It gets better. This guy's everywhere! 

Board of Directors of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) – 6 years

President of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) – 2 terms

Standards writing committee, National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) – past 23 years

Inducted into the first class of the Hall of Fame for the National Air Duct Cleaners Association

Chairman, Indoor Air Quality Advisory Council, Texas Tech University – 2 years

Standards writing committee Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) – 1 year

Board of Directors of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) – 6 years in past Board of Directors of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) – currently

Board Officer of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) – 2 years

Chairman of the finance committee of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) – past 5 years

We're impressed by the list. 

Construction is a serious and unforgiving business. The best minds in the business are masters of seeing connections and systems thinking. If you are really trying to make a difference in this industry the good news is that there’s a lot of work to do and questions to answer.

-How do you successfully organize and deliver high quality construction on time and within budget?

-How do you handle communication flow? 

-How much do you rely on external consultants for expertise? 

-How do you set and manage expectations with your client? 

In this episode, Kristof interviews Trevor Brown, the Quality Control Manager of JE Dunn Construction to discuss war stories and the inside baseball of commercial construction.

Strap in, y'all - this is one is... technical. Capturing particles, even and especially the ones too small for you to see, are where the rubber meets the road for IAQ. This all-important task is the role of the often-overlooked air filter. Today we talk about one of the most important building science topics that many folks don't know enough about - air filtration. Who knew there was so many important considerations for this often overlooked and ignored component of our industry.

John Bloemer

John is Director of Engineering for Aprilaire. Aprilaire is the leader in Residential IAQ products offering solutions that create a Healthy Home. Aprilaire designs, engineers and manufactures products that control aspects of IAQ – temperature, humidity, fresh air and air purity.

John graduated with a BSME from the University of Akron. His 34-year carrier has been focused on product development and he has worked for Scott & Fetzer and Kohler before finding his home at Aprilaire 19 years ago.

Through his carrier, he has been awarded over 15 US and foreign patents. He sits on many committees in ASHRAE and AHRI and is actively involved in the Building Science community. With Aprilaire, John is responsible for leading a team of highly talented engineers and experts in IAQ product design and testing at the main office Madison, WI.

He promotes healthy buildings as a system where all products work together to ensure the highest level of air quality possible while maintaining ease of use, energy efficiency and of course, the health and comfort of the occupants.

When we think about building science, we're thinking about systems and the unseen forces that contribute to the success or failure of a building. Some of the largest and most complicated systems and unseen forces in the AEC industry are the contracts that make or break a project. Join Kristof as he interviews construction attorney, Joe Basham, on all things funky and legal in the AEC industry.

Joe Basham

Joe Basham grew up in Monahans, a small town in West Texas, where he worked in the oil fields in 115 degree weather. He then traveled nearly 500 miles to Texas A&M University, where he graduated, cum laude, with a degree in Construction Science from the College of Architecture and dunked his ring in Shiner Bock.

He worked as runner for a big law firm in Austin, and then moved to the high plains where attended Texas Tech School of Law. He graduated in 2002, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, and was the Technology Editor of the Texas Tech Law Review.

After law school, Joe joined Allensworth & Porter as an associate, was made a partner in 2007. He has been listed in Texas Super Lawyers from 2005 – 2018, and Best Lawyers 2014 – 2015, and Legal 500. He is now the managing partner at Austin-based construction law firm, Allensworth & Porter, and partners with clients from all facets of the construction industry, including owners, contractors, architects, and engineers to consult on contract negotiations, dispute management and resolution, and litigation and arbitration. Joe focuses on building long-term, strategic relationships with clients who care about working with a lawyer who knows the law, their business, and their industry.

Joe is a member of the Rotary Club of Austin, and is on the board of the Austin Chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC). He served on the Rollingwood City Council for 5 years, and was president of the Rollingwood Community Economic Development Corporation. He is married to Karla, and they have two boys, Joe (9) and John (7).

Joe can be contacted at (512) 708-1250 and at jrb@aaplaw.com.

Big thanks to Aprilaire for their continued and generous support of the podcast! 

The Building Science Podcast got a couple of Press Passes and went to New York City last week for the AIA Conference on Architecture, 2018. What an incredible conference it was! We had the opportunity to connect with so many thoughtful and visionary architects who want to build a better, healthier future. We're psyched.

One of the most thoughtful conversations we had was with Corey Squire and Tate Walker about the new Committee On The Environment's new Toolkit. It's a resource-rich document that helps firms and projects of any kind measure their progress against benchmarks of sustainability without restrictive prescription pathways, while keeping outcomes at the central focus.

COREY SQUIRE

LEED AP O+M
Sustainability Process Manager, Lake|Flato Architects

Corey works with all Lake|Flato teams to establish sustainability goals, analyze designs with simulation software, and collects post-occupancy performance data. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University. In 2012, Squire was awarded the Eskew+Dumez+Ripple Research Fellowship to study building post-occupancy energy performance and sustainable design processes.

Tate Walker

AIA, LEEP AP BD+C, Sustainability Director, OPN Architects

As an architect focused on energy and sustainability in the built environment, he steers OPN’s sustainability initiatives, focusing on energy research, technology evaluation, and high performance design. He regularly writes and presents on issues relating to energy, technology, building science, and promoting environmental awareness through design. His experience includes integrating teams, design charrettes, building systems, and sustainability initiatives on capital projects.

Tate has worked nationally for clients such as Northwestern University, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Iowa State University. He served the United States Green Building Council in various capacities since 2008 and has been a leader within the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance since 2005, including serving as the organization’s vice president in 2009.

At OPN, Tate led the adoption and administration of the 2030 Challenge to transition to net zero energy buildings. He also is chair of the firm’s annual Green Day event and an internal sustainability committee.

He is currently leading the sustainable design for the new Advanced Teaching and Research Building for the Biosciences at Iowa State University, which is targeting LEED Gold. The 115,000 square foot, $52 million project will be an anchor building on campus, incorporating innovative site, water, advanced materials and daylighting components to support a unique, sustainable experience for its users.

About The Committee On The Environment

COTE Mission

The Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate—to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public—design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. COTE serves as the community and voice on behalf of AIA architects regarding sustainable design and building science and performance.

COTE reflects the profession’s commitment to provide healthy and safe environments for people and is dedicated to preserving the earth’s capability of sustaining a shared high quality of life. The committee’s mission is to lead and coordinate the profession’s involvement in environmental and energy-related issues and to promote the role of the architect as a leader in preserving and protecting the planet and its living systems.

COTE provides the AIA with knowledge about environmental issues and advises the Institute on environmental policy matters affecting the practice of architecture. The committee supports cooperation with educators and institutions of learning, manufacturers, government agencies, environmental organizations, and industry groups in advancing environmentally sound design processes and standards as well as environmentally innovative materials and integrated systems.

COTE Goals

-To advance the importance of sustainable design to our fellow architects, within the Institute, and to the broader public.

-To educate architects about the environmental and energy-related impacts of design decisions & about how to incorporate sustainable design into daily practice.

-To define and promote the cutting edge of sustainable design for our profession.

-To foster leadership among architects in all facets of environmental decision making.

-To recognize environmental leadership of architects in practice, education, industry, and government.

-To influence the direction of architectural education to place more emphasis on ecological literacy , sustainable design and building science

-To maintain, refine, and strengthen alliances with professional and trade associations and other leaders in environmentally responsible design to coordinate our sustainable agendas to make our message stronger.

-To maintain, refine, and strengthen alliances with other AIA Knowledge Communities and committees, and serve as a resource to Institute initiatives and projects that promote sustainability in the built environment.

-To green AIA convention venues and meetings.

-To communicate the AIA’s environmental and energy-related concerns to the public and private sectors and influence the decisions of the public, professionals, clients, and public officials on the impact of their environmental and energy-related decisions.

-To educate architects on regulatory, performance, technical and building science issues and how those issues influence architecture. Educate the architectural profession on programming, designing, and managing building performance.

-To investigate and disseminate information regarding building performance best practices, criteria, measurement methods, planning tools, occupant-comfort, heat/air/moisture interfaces between the interior and exterior of buildings.

-To promote a more integrated practice in order to achieve environmentally and economically efficient buildings. One of the tools we will plan to promote to achieve this integration is Building Information Technology (BIM).

COTE Toolkit 

Please check out this resource rich document. It's absolutely incredible and this is only Version 1! More great improvements to come. If you're not an AIA member and can't access it, write us and we'll see what we can do about getting you a copy. The more people who can work with the tools provide here, the better outcomes our projects will be. podcast@positiveenergy.pro

"Why We Let Ourselves Do Mediocre Work"

Great article from Building Green Magazinethat dispels the myth of the "unicorn client" that will come around and make all your wildest dreams come true to design and build sustainably.

The Shape Of Green

Does going green change the face of design or only its content? The first book to outline principles for the aesthetics of sustainable design, The Shape of Green argues that beauty is inherent to sustainability, for how things look and feel is as important as how they’re made.

In addition to examining what makes something attractive or emotionally pleasing, Hosey connects these questions with practical design challenges. Can the shape of a car make it more aerodynamic and more attractive at the same time? Could buildings be constructed of porous materials that simultaneously clean the air and soothe the skin? Can cities become verdant, productive landscapes instead of wastelands of concrete?

Drawing from a wealth of scientific research, Hosey demonstrates that form and image can enhance conservation, comfort, and community at every scale of design, from products to buildings to cities. Fully embracing the principles of ecology could revolutionize every aspect of design, in substance and in style. Aesthetic attraction isn’t a superficial concern — it’s an environmental imperative. Beauty could save the planet.

The Last Auto Mechanic

Great blog post by Tom Price (renewable energy entrepreneur. A-EV cheerleader. Founder Black Rock Solar. Recovering journalist, middling mountain biker. Formerly of Capitol Hill, SLC, & BRC) about the ways America’s transportation economy and landscape is about to be utterly transformed into a world beyond driving. Or drivers. Or even car mechanics. Enjoy the ride.

Game of Thrones

New Yorker article about the intricate design of seating on commercial flights and the impacts it has on travelers.

Habits of High Performing Firms

AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) released a report called “The Habits of High-Performance Firms” which follows up on the previous “Lessons from the Leading Edge," which is a comprehensive study of two decades of AIA COTE Top Ten Award winners. Launched in 1997, the annual awards are the profession’s longest-running and “best known recognition program for sustainable design excellence,” according to the AIA.

Biophilic Design 

Biophilic Design is an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work, and learn. We need nature in a deep and fundamental fashion, but we have often designed our cities and suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from nature. The recent trend in green architecture has decreased the environmental impact of the built environment, but it has accomplished little in the way of reconnecting us to the natural world, the missing piece in the puzzle of sustainable development. Come on a journey from our evolutionary past and the origins of architecture to the world’s most celebrated buildings in a search for the architecture of life. Together, we will encounter buildings that connect people and nature - hospitals where patients heal faster, schools where children’s test scores are higher, offices where workers are more productive, and communities where people know more of their neighbors and families thrive. Biophilic Design points the way toward creating healthy and productive habitats for modern humans.

Architecture 2030

Edward Mazria, FAIA, Hon. FRAIC
Founder and CEO

Edward Mazria is an internationally recognized architect, author, researcher, and educator. Over the past decade, his seminal research into the sustainability, resilience, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions of the built environment has redefined the role of architecture, planning, design, and building, in reshaping our world. He is the founder of Architecture 2030, a think tank developing real-world solutions for 21st century problems, and host of the AIA+2030 Professional Education Series and 2030 Districts movement in North American cities.

Mazria issued the 2030 Challenge and introduced the 2030 Palette, a revolutionary new platform that puts the principles behind low-carbon/zero carbon and resilient built environments at the fingertips of architects, planners, and designers worldwide. In 2014 he presented the Roadmap to Zero Emissions at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change calling for zero emissions in the built environment by 2050, and drafted the 2050 Imperative, endorsed by professional organizations representing over 1.3 million architects in 124 countries worldwide. In 2015 he launched the China Accord, which has been adopted by key international firms pledging to plan, design and build to carbon neutral standards in China; and delivered the opening presentation at the UNFCCC COP21 “Buildings Day” titled The 2 Degree Path for the Building Sector.

Recently, he developed Achieving Zero, a framework of incremental actions that cities and governments can put in place to ensure carbon neutral built environments by mid-century, and the Zero Cities Project (with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, Urban Sustainability Directors Network, New Buildings Institute, and Resource Media) to implement the framework.

Mazria speaks nationally and internationally on the subject of architecture, design, energy, economics, and climate change and has taught at several universities, including the University of New Mexico, University of Oregon, UCLA, and the University of Colorado-Denver.

Mr. Mazria’s awards include AIA Design Awards, American Planning Association Award, Department of Energy Awards, American Solar Energy Society Pioneer Award, Equinox Award, National Conservation Achievement Award, Mumford Award from Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, inaugural Hanley Award, Distinguished Career Award from Pratt Institute, Zia Award from the University of New Mexico, Game Changers Award from Metropolis Magazine, 2011 Purpose Prize, and the 2015 Kemper Award from the American Institute of Architects. He is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council, Honorary Fellow of the RAIC, and received an Honorary Doctor of Architecture degree from Illinois Institute of Technology.

COTE Toolkit Contributors

Tate Walker, AIA, Project Co-Lead OPN Architects, Madison, Wisconsin, COTE Advisory Group
Corey Squire, AIA, Project Co-Lead Lake|Flato Architects, San Antonio, Texas, COTE Advisory Group
Anne Hicks Harney, FAIA, Long Green Specs, Baltimore, Maryland
Betsy del Monte, FAIA, Cameron MacAllister Group, Dallas, Texas
David Hincher, AIA, Kieran Timberlake, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Gunnar Hubbard, FAIA, Thornton Tomasetti, Portland, Maine, COTE Advisory Group
Helena Zambrano, AIA, Overland Partners, San Antonio, Texas
Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, Cameron MacAllister Group, St. Louis, Missouri, COTE Advisory Group
Stephanie Horowitz, AIA, ZeroEnergy Design, Boston, Massachusetts, COTE Advisory Group
Stephen Endy, AIA, Mahlum, Portland, Oregon
Vikram Sami, AIA, Olson Kundig, Seattle, Washington, COTE Advisory Group
Z Smith, FAIA, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, New Orleans, Louisana

Through the years, we've been asked a lot about natural building materials and how they relate to building science. And frankly, it's a nuanced conversation that requires a lot of unpacking preconceived notions about what constitutes a good product (from the perspective of liability, ecology, availability, serviceability, durability, etc.). In this episode of the podcast, we interview Brad King of Earthbound Builders in Austin, TX. They're endeavoring to make natural building materials part of the main stream building processes rather than a custom, "hippie" solution. Check it out, think on it, and let us know your thoughts.

Brad King & Earthbound Builders

Brad King is a builder and specialist in natural building products, including clay plaster finishes. His expertise is robust and he is a great resource for natural building questions and projects.

Brad's company, Earthbound Builders, is a worker-owned collective of builders based in Austin, Texas. They focus on providing high quality, environmentally responsible construction services. Using natural building methods, local materials, and sustainable design principles, they create spaces that are healthier to live in, more beautiful to look at, and better performing than conventional alternatives. Earthbound Builders is committed to collaboration and quality.

Resources

-Dr. Dirt

As mentioned in the episode, read more about Dr. Clay Robinson, PhD and his work with soil science education in the United States. The resources are primarily designed for kids K-12, but the research in the soil science world has profound impacts not only on buildings, but on agriculture and larger sustainability issues.

-American Clay

From the American Clay website:

"American Clay plasters are a natural way to finish any interior. Non-toxic and made in the U.S.A., our plasters are a healthy alternative to paint, wallpaper, cement, acrylic and gypsum plasters. American Clay offers eight plaster finishes, hundreds of colors, unlimited textures, and a depth not found in other finishes."

-Clay Sand Straw

www.claysandstraw.com provides design, consultation, education and construction for straw bale, cob, adobe and timber frame buildings. Please reach out to them for natural building related questions and projects.

-Ann Sussman

Ann Sussman is interested in how buildings influence our behavior. Her book, Cognitive Architecture, written with Justin B. Hollander, reveals the unconscious tendencies at work when we navigate the world around us. These ‘hidden’ predispositions reflect our long evolutionary trip per recent research in psychology and neuroscience, and can help explain why we favor certain urban conditions and building configurations and shun others. Understanding ourselves better, Sussman believes, can lead us to build more humanely and ultimately, more successfully for people.

-New York Times Article On Cob Houses

From the article:

LAGO VISTA, Tex. — As a senior systems analyst at the University of Texas, Austin, Gary Zuker lives in a high-tech world all week. But when the weekend arrives, Mr. Zuker retreats to a home that’s about as low-tech as possible. His getaway is a 900-square-foot cottage that he built himself out of straw and clay. To come upon it, tucked away on two acres in the wooded Hill Country outside Austin, is to find a storybook dwelling that could be Geppetto’s workshop or a Hobbit house...

The perspectives of each team member in construction matter a lot - especially when we're striving to integrate our processes and delivery efforts. One voice that's often missing from the conversation is the voice of the HVAC contractor. So we decided to give a little love to our HVAC contractor compadres and interviewed two of the best in Central Texas. Explore the inner workings of two excellent HVAC contractor's challenges, joys, business realities, and aspirations for the future of the industry. Kristof interviews Patrick Wilks of Wilks Heating & Air in San Antonio, TX and Nacho Moreno of New Results in Austin, TX. The conversation is broad ranging and insightful.

Patrick Wilks

Patrick grew up carrying his father’s tools and learning to serve customers honestly, with the utmost integrity. In 2005 Patrick graduated from Texas A&M University and came home to help in the family business. While honing his skills in air conditioning repair, Patrick has helped grow the business based on the same values his father instilled in him as a young boy. Patrick married his wife, Alicia, in 2010 and has three children, Raeleigh, Mckinley and Luke. As President, he manages the day to day activities at Wilks Air Conditioning & Heating and is dedicated to continuing the tradition of quality service and a strong sense of family.

Nacho Moreno

Ignacio Moreno grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, moved to Austin in 1996 and now considers himself an Austinite. He got his start in the HVAC business as a part time job while going to college and eventually it became his lifelong career. Nacho, as he is know to all his friends and customers, founded New Results Hvac in 2002 and is directly involved in every job from planning to commissioning. Staying on top of new technology, Treating his customers like family, being honest and constantly pushing his crews to provide the best quality are his top priorities.

He is married to his wife Claudia and has 3 boys one of which has started working for him and is quickly learning the trade. Whenever he is not working or building his shipping container house he enjoys learning to use new software suites like Revit which he used to design his house. Having a fascination for technology his hobbies include tinkering in his shop fabricating CNC equipment, home automation gadgets with arduino and raspberry pi boards and occasionally crews a sail boat in Lake Travis regattas.

Kristof is away in Europe visiting his family so today you get me - your ever faithful producer Miguel. I’ve got a treat for you today - a surprise, bonus if you will, short episode of the podcast. It’s summer and it’s been a long hot summer here in Austin so we wanted to do something new and fun with a bonus episode so here it is.

Today, my friends, we’re doing a CROSSOVER EPISODE.

The Building Science Podcast proudly presents a crossover episode with The Build Show. If you haven’t heard of The Build Show yet, now you have. Matt Risinger of Risinger & Co. has a widely popular YouTube channel that you should check out after you hear this episode. It’s dedicated to building science, fine craftsmanship, and exploring the products and techniques available to builders today. Matt is a great human being, a good friend, a long time colleague, and a really excellent host. He’s got a great team of people including his other host, Jordan Smith and his producer extraordinaire Joey Puterbaugh.

This episode is the audio from a video episode of The Build Show called How to Design and Install a Good HVAC System for the South. It was released this summer after Matt, alongside the Journal Of Light Construction’s Senior Editor, Ted Cushman, interviewed Kristof.

We got so much great feedback from listeners who loved the last crossover episode. So much so that we figured why not do it again? This week we're proud to present to you one of our favorite building-centric shows, The Edifice Complex. Hosted by our colleague Robert Bean (who has been on our show before) and our new friend Adam Muggleton, we're thrilled to bring you an episode of their show in which they interviewed our beloved Building Science Podcast host, Kristof.

In this episode, topics discussed are as follows:

1. How energy is a technology, not just a fuel,

2. Air filters can be a poignant moment in life!

3. How “health is the new green”

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder how you got to where you are now and so much more. Give their show a listen and share this episode with a friend.

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The Edifice Complex

The Edifice Complex Podcast with Adam Muggleton and Robert Bean is a show dedicated to helping you keep up with who in the world of property design and development is innovating and doing great work, perspective on the adjacent possible, and challenges to the status quo.

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Robert Bean

Robert Bean is a Registered Engineering Technologist (R.E.T.) in building construction (ASET) and a Professional Licensee (P.L.(Eng.) in Mechanical Engineering (APEGA). A design practitioner, author, and educator with over 35 years’ experience.

Robert is president of Indoor Climate Consultants Inc. and director of www.healthyheating.com an on-line resource serving as a technical interpreter and consolidator of academic research within building and health sciences.

Robert is a past two-term ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and has received numerous industry awards for his contributions including the ASHRAE’s Lou Flagg Award and ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award. He serves on several technical committees related to physiology and the human environment, eXergy and sustainability; and radiant based HVAC Systems. Robert is also the author of numerous industry programs addressing indoor environmental quality and building systems.

Robert works at the intersection of business, buildings, science, demographics, industrial design and product ergonomics.

Adam Muggleton

Adam has been immersed in property and construction for 37 years. Having worked in 20 countries and held leadership positions at several firms, Adam has a unique skill set derived from experience in property development, design team management, project management, and building commissioning.

Adam is passionate about promoting the concept of Commissioning Management as an effective project management tool, to hand over buildings that actually work. He devises and delivers successful project, leadership and testing strategies that achieve optimum outcomes for those involved and affected.

As an industry leader, Adam served on the CIBSE Commissioning Code “A” committee for the 1996 code re-write and the UK BSRIA steering group for Application Guide 16/2002 Variable Flow Water Systems. Adam also served as an international board member for the USA Building Commissioning Association.

Adam’s focus is on property development as a:

• Property Industry Blogger, Podcaster, and Philosopher
• Chartered Project Management Surveyor (RICS)
• Qualified Building Commissioning Professional

Philosophically, the question is this, “why are zero defect, high-performance buildings not normally delivered?”

Health is the new green - this message is seemingly everywhere these days. It's clear that a shift is underway in the way we think about our homes and buildings. A quality building does more than just use energy efficiently, it needs to provide for the occupants. This means recognizing that our clients will spend their time immersed in the air we create for them and that indoor air is a dominant exposure. Now is the time to get clear on how our homes and buildings relate to health, comfort and well-being and, more importantly, what to do about it. 

There are myriad known and emerging contaminants that negatively impact occupants. This episode will break this complex and daunting topic down into 5 clear and actionable principles. 

The 5 Principles Of A Healthy Home: 

(1) Start with a good enclosure

(2) Minimize indoor emissions

(3) Keep it dry

(4) Effectively capture particles

(5) Ventilate

This episode will cover each step to make it clear why it matters and, more importantly, how to incorporate the benefits of this succinct  approach into design and delivery decisions. Once understood, these 5 concepts will help design and construction teams make decisions all along the project lifecycle. 

This week’s episode features an interview with Corbett Lunsford on the HOMEChem experiments that were being conducted alongside the filming of a brand new, building science focused show called Home Diagnosis TV (be on the lookout for that). Of course, we're really excited about the potential of Indoor Air Quality education coming to the masses. It's the future fulcrum point of housing and health care. The HOMEChem experiment (House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry) took place in the month of June 2018, incorporating measurements from over 15 research groups from 9 universities to identify the most important aspects of the chemistry that controls the indoor environment. The HOMEChem field study is expected to kick-start and energize the Chemistry of Indoor Environments community of scientists, while also answering interesting preliminary science questions on the chemistry of indoor environments in a real-world experimental setting. This brings an excellent opportunity for outreach to the broader scientific community and other stakeholders, such as other funding agencies, the local and national media, and the public.

Corbett Lunsford wasn't always a building forensics expert- he used to play piano for ballerinas (among many other things). Since 2008, he has been educating and advocating for better performance testing in construction.

Among his goals are to package building performance so it can easily be understood and used by professionals and consumers alike, for better buildings worldwide. Corbett believes that homeowners are not just aiming for efficiency or sustainability, but that we really want what all homeowners aim for: living in a better home, and getting a better life.

Since 2009, Corbett has put on his Building Performance Workshop, and has hosted over 300 YouTube videos and 80 interviews for the Building Performance Podcast. He wrote the book Home Performance Diagnostics: the Guide to Advanced Testing, and developed the APT Reports software tool.

In 2016 he and his wife, Grace, built the world's highest performance tiny house on wheels, the #TinyLab, and toured the US before settling down in Atlanta, Georgia.

Of course, they’ve performed hundreds of comprehensive home performance tests and building investigations, keynoted for events including InfraMation, Habitat for Humanity Michigan, the Thermal Imaging Conference, the EPA, IR Info, etc, and presented courses in partnership with National Healthy Homes, Air Conditioning Contractors of America, the RESNET and Affordable Comfort (ACI) Conferences.

Home Diagnosis TV

We're excited to share and help promote a brand new show that will air on PBS in 2019 called Home Diagnosis TV. Our friend and colleague, Corbett Lunsford, and his wife Grace have been working tirelessly the last few years to make this project a reality and we are so proud of the result. You may have seen Corbett & Grace before on their Proof Is Possible U.S. tour. You'll be seeing a lot more from us about this show as it launches.

Here's the description from the Home Diagnosis TV website:

“Home Performance Experts Grace and Corbett Lunsford created this 6-episode 30-minute series coming to your television in 2019! Shot in cities across the U.S. as part of the Proof Is Possible Tour, the show follows Corbett and Grace as they solve mystery problems of all types in homes new and old. Presented by Georgia Public Broadcasting with post-production by ECG Productions.”

SixClasses.org

Many of the products we use every day contain chemicals of concern that may be harming our health. Many of these substances can be grouped into “Six Classes”, each containing similar chemicals. The Six Classes approach allows us to better understand these chemicals, their functions, where they are used, and how they can be avoided. It can prevent a cycle of “regrettable substitution,” whereby a phased out harmful chemical is replaced with a closely related chemical which may cause similar harm.

The Sloan Foundation

Founded in 1934 by industrialist Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the Foundation is a not-for-profit grantmaking institution that supports high quality, impartial scientific research; fosters a robust, diverse scientific workforce; strengthens public understanding and engagement with science; and promotes the health of the institutions of scientific endeavor.

Healthy, efficient buildings shouldn't leak. Leaky buildings are unfortunately a staple of our industry norm. As you know, making change in the construction industry is like turning a super tanker. It doesn’t happen quickly, but super tankers do turn. They use a trim tab to enable the large rudder to turn the shift. What is needed now is a fresh take on the societal forces resisting change in construction practices and energy code. We need a trim tab to start the process of countering these stuck forces. Enter a Duane Jonlin, a man with technical depth, a creative mind and a sense of humor. What he has accomplished through unconventional tactics in Seattle and Washington state is nothing short of astounding. The underlying strategy he used is one we can all use in our roles in life where we encounter stickiness and dogma from those who argue for the status quo. Listen with an open mind and enjoy the episode.

Duane Jonlin FAIA

Duane Jonlin is has been appointed by two Governors to the Washington State Building Code Council and chairs its Energy Code Technical Advisory Group. Recently he was appointed by ICC to the 2018 IECC Commercial Buildings Committee. Prior to joining the City of Seattle, Duane was a principal at NBBJ, where he led regulatory compliance and quality management initiatives. He is a professional member of AIA and ASHRAE, with 30 years' experience designing civic and institutional work, and has architectural degrees from the University of Washington and University of Michigan. Duane is an active member of the AIA Seattle Code Committee, and he writes and lectures on energy efficiency and construction technology in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Duane was also elevated in 2016 to the American Institute of Architects’ prestigious College of Fellows. The fellowship program elevates architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession (out of AIA’s membership of 88,000, only 3,200 members are distinguished with this honor). He’s also a really kind and funny person with a lot of great thoughts on how to affect change at a pretty substantial level.

Episode Sponsor

Special thanks to the BEC:Austin for their generous support. If you’re in the Austin area, be sure to check out their upcoming event called Mutations In Building Skins. More info on their website: button below!

If your house could go down a highway at 70MPH, would you trust your architect and builder to make sure it’s not going to fall apart?

Let’s face it - most people can’t build custom homes just like most people can’t afford a Lamborghini. It’s just not a financial reality for so many of us. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want a car that doesn’t work well and it doesn’t mean we don’t want a high quality home to live in. It sure as hell doesn’t mean we don’t want a healthy environment for ourselves and our families. So what are the economic drivers of a healthy, high quality, affordable home? Join Kristof as he interviews Ben Broughton about the trends in construction economics, job site processes, market dynamics, and the ins-and-outs of quality.

Ben Broughton

Ben is the Design Build Operations Director for Ames Design Build and oversees the execution of all construction projects. He holds a graduate degree in Construction Science and Management, through which his passion for research resulted in publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a building science student who uses his extensive experience in both commercial and residential construction to vertically integrate the land development and high-end residential components of Ames Design Build. Ben is a key driver of the company’s unique business model, which focuses on building to the highest degree of quality while adhering to exacting schedules and budget control in order to ensure success in each Ames Design Build project. Ben rejects the paradigm that you can't simultaneously be on-time, on budget, and achieve high quality.

What do heat pump water heaters, ERVs, and low static VRF systems have in common? You’re picturing them and we’re talking about them! Join Kristof in a wide-ranging discussion of building science topics with consultant John Semmelhack of Think Little.

John Semmelhack is the owner of Think Little. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, a member of the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) Technical Committee, and is a PHIUS Trainer for the Certified Passive House Consultant and PHIUS+ Rater training programs. He sits on the boards of the Passive House Alliance U.S. (PHAUS) and the Passive House Alliance U.S. – Capital Chapter.

John is also a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater, a Technical Advisor to builders in the EarthCraft House Virginia green building program, and a BPI-certified Building Analyst. He is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business (no, not that “LEED”) at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Thanks to Passive House Austin for their generous support and partnership.

To support the 2030 Challenge, the American Institute of Architects created the 2030 Commitment Program, aimed at transforming the practice of architecture to respond to the climate crisis in a way that is holistic, firm-wide, project-based, and data-driven. Over 400 A/E/P firms have adopted the 2030 Commitment, and firms from all over the country have been tracking and reporting projects since 2010, with over 2.7 billion ft2 of project work reported in 2016 alone. Join Kristof as he interviews Nathan Kipnis of Kipnis Architecture + Planning as they discuss the 2030 Commitment and all topics in-between.

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Nathan Kipnis, FAIA, LEED BD+C

Founder & Principal, Kipnis Architecture + Planning

Nathan Kipnis has spent his career practicing and promoting the importance of sustainability and energy efficiency in architectural design. A life-long interest was initially sparked during the 1973 energy crisis, and Mr. Kipnis designed his first solar home, located in Boulder, CO, when he was just 22 years old.

Master of Architecture | Emphasis: Energy Conscious Design - 1985
Arizona State University, Tempe

Bachelor of Environmental Design - 1983
University of Colorado, Boulder

AIA National 2030 Commitment Working Group - 2014 to current (Co-chair 2018-2019)
AIA Chicago 2030 Commitment Working Group - 2010 to 2016

Citizens Greener Evanston
Board of Directors - 2010 to 2014
Renewable Energy Task Force - 2008 to current

The architectural work designed by Mr. Kipnis has been widely published both locally and nationally.

Selected awards and distinctions include:
2015 - Elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.
The award is given to those who have made significant contributions to the profession and society on a national level.
2011 - Chicago Magazine Green Award
2009 - Home of the Decade, Natural Home Magazine
1999 - Green Homes for Chicago
A KAP design was selected for this international design competition and built.

"He is one of Chicago's new breed of up-and-coming architects, who blends excellence in architecture with a social conscience. Before the advent of air conditioning, before electricity, everything that was built related to nature. Nate understands that. He made a habit of it long before it was fashionable.” — Stanley Tigerman, FAIA and co-founder of Archeworks.

Viewing the mission beyond his own practice of architecture, Mr. Kipnis’s leadership was instrumental in helping to develop the idea of an offshore wind farm in Lake Michigan off Evanston's shoreline. The work led to a Design Evanston Urban Design/Planning award, and the project is now on the DOE's list of potential offshore wind farm sites.

Additionally, he currently serves as Co-chair for The National AIA AIA 2030 Commitment’s working groups. In this capacity, he assists architects with the AIA 2030 Commitment, whose goal is to design full Net Zero buildings by 2030.

Nathan Kipnis also lectures extensively on topics related to sustainable architectural design and renewable energy. He has been an invited speaker at numerous symposiums and conferences, including at national AIA conventions, the Chicago AIA, Archeworks, GreenBuild, The Midwest Renewable Energy Association, the Center for Green Technology in Chicago, and Northwestern University's “Green City Summer Institute,” as well as being one of the keynote speakers at the Mother Earth News Fair, among others.

Recognized as Chicago’s premier award winning sustainable architectural practice, Kipnis Architecture + Planning (KAP) was founded in 1993 and is based in Evanston, Illinois. KAP has practiced the architectural design philosophy of 'High Design/Low Carbon™' long before it was in vogue. They are guided by the idea that architectural design excellence need not be sacrificed for principles of sustainability. Rather, they believe sustainable design expands the possibilities for innovative architectural forms, construction methods and the use of materials. A particular expertise is the architectural integration of passive solar and bioclimatic design. They are early signatories to the AIA's 2030 Commitment, rigorously working towards having their projects be 'net zero' for their energy use by 2030.

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Architecture 2030 Challenge

The urban built environment is responsible for 75% of annual global GHG emissions: buildings alone account for 39%. Eliminating these emissions is the key to addressing climate change and meeting Paris Climate Agreement targets. To accomplish this, Architecture 2030 issued The 2030 Challenge in 2006 asking the global architecture and building community to adopt the following targets:

All new buildings, developments and major renovations shall be designed to meet a fossil fuel, GHG-emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 70% below the regional (or country) average/median for that building type.

At a minimum, an equal amount of existing building area shall be renovated annually to meet a fossil fuel, GHG-emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 70% of the regional (or country) average/median for that building type.

The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings and major renovations shall be increased to:

80% in 2020

90% in 2025

Carbon-neutral in 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG emitting energy to operate).

These targets may be met by implementing innovative sustainable design strategies, generating on-site renewable energy, and/or purchasing (20% maximum) off-site renewable energy.

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2030 Commitment Program

Join the 2030 Commitment today and become part of a growing network of designers striving to meet the 2030 Challenge targets. Commitment signatories gain access to a host of online tools, educational resources, and mentorship opportunities to support success.

The mission of the AIA 2030 Commitment is to support the 2030 Challenge and transform the practice of architecture in a way that is holistic, firm-wide, project based, and data-driven. By prioritizing energy performance, participating firms can more easily work toward carbon neutral buildings, developments and major renovations by 2030.

Joining the 2030 Commitment gives you access to the Design Data Exchange (DDx), a national framework created by AIA with simple metrics and a standardized reporting format for measuring progress. The confidential, easy-to-use DDx lets you pinpoint best practices and anonymously compare project performance in your firm and beyond. The research tool allows you to compare projects of similar type, size, climate, and a host of other attributes across the 2030 portfolio.

Through the 2030 Commitment, you can elevate your practice, save clients money, and combat the effects of global climate change. Explore the resources and articles below to navigate the program.

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The AIA+2030 Series

The AIA+2030 Online Series is an educational program aimed at providing design professionals with the high-performance building knowledge necessary to meet the 2030 Challenge targets. Sponsored by Autodesk and delivered through AIAU, the AIA’s online education portal, the highly-rated Online Series is based on the successful AIA+2030 Professional Series that has been offered to over 30% of AIA’s membership in 25 markets throughout the United States.

New 2030 Commitment Signatories get the first course of the AIA+2030 Online Series for free, so join today!

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Thanks to our sponsor, Passive House Austin for their generous and continued support of the podcast.

We just wrapped an unthinkable season 4 of The Building Science Podcast. We hope you'll join us for season 5 in 2019. Hear more about what we'll be discussing.

Live from The HIVE Conference held in Austin, TX in 2018, we’re proud to bring you one of the brightest minds in the discipline of indoor air quality research, Dr. Brett Singer from Lawrence Berkley National Labs. Join Kristof as he discusses a broad array of topics that affect every single person who breathes inside a house (so, ya know, most people). It’s our last episode of 2018 and season 4 so we made sure it’s extra long (almost an hour and a half!). Enjoy it and we’ll see you next year!

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Dr. Brett C. Singer, PhD, is a Staff Scientist and Principal Investigator (PI) in the Energy Technologies Area of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Singer is the Leader of the Indoor Environment Group and co-leader of Indoor Air Quality research in the Residential Building Systems Group.

Dr. Singer has conceived, conducted and led research projects related to air pollutant emissions, physical-chemical processes, and pollutant exposures in both outdoor and indoor environments. His research aims to understand the real world processes and systems that affect air pollutant exposures. His guiding professional motivation is to provide the scientific basis to inform energy and environmental policy.

Dr. Singer leads the Indoor Environmental Quality project within the US-China Clean Energy Research Center Building Energy Efficiency Program.

A major focus of Dr. Singer’s work over the past decade has been the study of environmental quality and risk reduction in high performance homes. The goal of this research is to accelerate the adoption of IAQ, comfort, durability and sustainability measures into new homes and retrofits of existing homes. This is achieved through the mechanisms of buildings codes and standards; training of builders and contractors; public education; and technology development – all supported by robust research. The IE and RBS research groups conduct in-home studies, controlled laboratory experiments, simulation-based studies and data analysis to identify the most effective and energy efficient air quality control strategies.

Dr. Singer’s early career research examined on-road motor vehicle emissions and the effectiveness of California’s Smog Check program. His first project at LBNL examined the sorption of secondhand smoke compounds, an effect that contaminates materials and leads to extended odors and pollutant exposures. This work helped launch interest in the study of “thirdhand” smoke.

Dr. Singer has authored or co-authored over 50 papers in archival, peer-reviewed journals and dozens of technical reports and peer-reviewed conference papers.

Education and Honors:

2016: Named to the Academy of Fellows of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate.

1998: Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

1991: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University (Summa cum Laude).

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Lawrence Berkley National Labs

From the infinite scale of the universe to the infinitesimal scale of subatomic particles, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – Berkeley Lab – are advancing the scope of human knowledge and seeking science solutions to some of the greatest problems facing humankind. Scientific excellence and an unparalleled record of achievement have been the hallmarks of this Laboratory since it was founded in 1931.

Thirteen Nobel Prizes are associated with Berkeley Lab. Eighty Lab scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Fifteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation’s highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research, and one (Arthur Rosenfeld) has received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In addition, Berkeley Lab has trained tens of thousands of university science and engineering students who are advancing technological innovations across the nation and around the world.

Located on a 202-acre site in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus with spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram science lab in the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab have generated billions of dollars in revenues and thousands of jobs. Savings as a result of Berkeley Lab developments in energy-efficient technologies – from cool roofs to window coatings to appliances – have also been in the billions of dollars.

Berkeley Lab was founded by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics. It was Lawrence’s belief that scientific research is best done through teams of individuals with different fields of expertise, working together. His teamwork concept is a Berkeley Lab legacy that continues today.

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The Corsi Code

Originally from a paper titled, Klepeis et al., J Exp Anal Env Epid 2001, 11, 231 from Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology published in the year 2001, volume 11 about a study called the National Human Activity Pattern Survey funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

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Modern building materials are generally feats of engineering marvel - we’ve managed to manufacture countless high performing systems, yet it has often been at the cost of human exposure to harmful chemicals. But it’s not a hopeless situation. There are people who are helping the average consumer understand what’s what. Join Kristof in a wide ranging conversation with Gina Ciganik and William Weber from the Healthy Building Network.

Gina Ciganik

Chief Executive Officer

Gina has been growing and scaling HBN’s vision since assuming the CEO role in 2016. Previously she served as Senior Advisor for Housing Innovation, establishing and leading the HomeFree initiative, an expansion of HBN’s healthy materials work into the affordable housing sector. Recognized as a national leader in transforming human and environmental health through strategic partnerships, innovative business practices, education, and leading-edge research, Ciganik has a proven track record of creating healthier spaces where we live, work, and play. Prior to HBN, she was Vice President of Housing Development at a Minneapolis-St. Paul area affordable housing development organization, where she spent two decades creating thousands of healthy, affordable homes. Her efforts culminated in the construction of The Rose, a 90-unit apartment building in Minneapolis that set a new national standard for healthy materials.

William Weber

Collective Impact Director

Billy oversees the leadership and design of HBN’s communities of practice and educational activities, with a focus on the HomeFree Affordable Housing Initiative. A widely sought and accomplished speaker, technical advisor, and facilitator on innovative projects regionally and nationally, Weber’s work focuses on the integration of sustainability and architecture through applied research, exploring and developing tools to evaluate and compare what are often disparate aesthetic, economic, and environmental goals. Before joining HBN he served in multiple roles over a nearly 20-year stint at the University of Minnesota, including as Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Building Research and Lecturer at the School of Architecture. Weber has both a B.A. and M.Arch. from the University of Minnesota.

Home Free Website - 9 Product Categories

Healthy Building Network

HomeFree

HomeFree Products

Chlorine/PVC Research

Chlorine and Building Materials (A Global Inventory of Production Technologies, Markets, and Pollution Phase 1: Africa, The Americas, and Europe)

Antimicrobial Research

Healthy Environments: Understanding Antimicrobial Ingredients In Building Materials

HPD Repository

HPD Public Repository

Building Science Report - Multivariate Insulation Analysis

Making Affordable Multifamily Housing More Energy Efficient: A Guide to Healthier Upgrade Materials

Is Dallas, Texas ready for the state’s first internationally certified Passive House? Kyle and Connor Fagin think so and they’re betting on it. Join Kristof as the Fagin Partners tell us their unique story of operating in the developer driven construction world to sacrificing profit for the principled push forward in industry transformation.

Kyle Fagin

The first home Kyle ever built was a tree house for his three awesome kids. Sometime after that he began a major remodel on a mid-century home for his family and was heavily involved in all aspects of the project. A year or so later he was part of a team that designed and built the family lake house in East Texas. He discovered building really suited him and it seemed that he had a knack for it as well. He built commercially for a while, but found residential much more enjoyable. His true passion is learning how to build the most efficient and sustainable homes that can be built and now does this alongside his son and partner Connor. When he's not working, Kyle enjoys biking, sailing, being outdoors and spending time with his wife, Christy, and his three kids.

Connor Fagin

Connor is a graduate from Baylor University. He has always been deeply involved in community adventures; he helped to develop the Dallas High School Meals on Wheels advisory board, which is still active today. He is a self-proclaimed techie and stays on the leading edge of any technology that can enhance his own life as well as the customers. “I truly enjoy the fact that the changes I help people make to their little slice of the American Dream is something that they will enjoy and be proud of for years to come.”

Fagin Partners

Kyle and Connor are extremely proud of the homes they have built and are building; their focus is on their customers, the environment, and the union of the two.

The homes built by Fagin Partners are efficient, sustainable, consistent and include the forethought to make it the most comfortable home for their customer. The attention to detail in each home allows each customer to be sure their home is uniquely theirs.

Fagin Partners sees the value in doing good for the environment but also appreciate that these efficiencies greatly impacts the customers. Through innovative materials and technology we create our unique yet comfortable homes. We are constructing homes today to prepare for the changes and needs of the future.

At Fagin Partners, we sacrifice profit on each project to create a high preforming product that pays our customers back every month, year after year.

Fagin Partners Passive House Press

'An experiment unlike any other': Father-son duo build first house of its kind in Texas

A spec Passive House was built in Dallas. Will buyers bite?

Designer Spotlight: Fagin Partners and the Passive House

The First Passive House in Texas

PASSIVE HOUSE – A First of its Kind Home Makes its Mark in Texas by Making None.

Texas-Sized Savings: Texas’ First Certified Passive Home Runs on $2 of Energy a Day

Look Inside First 'Passive House' in Texas

Sense Energy Monitoring System

Every electrical device has a unique electronic signature — its own voice. The Sense home energy monitor listens to those voices through current sensors in your electric panel. It records them millions of times per second. Then advanced machine learning detection algorithms work to distinguish one appliance from another — to recognize each individual voice. Over time, more and more devices are discovered as the Sense community grows.
https://sense.com

Flo Smart Water Meter Monitoring System

https://meetflo.com

Flo by Moen is installed on the main water supply line to the home. Because it’s installed in-line, this allows Flo by Moen to monitor all water going into the home. The device has three sensors that actively monitor water flow, pressure, and temperature. These sensors, in combination with Flo by Moen’s algorithms, are what enable Flo by Moen to detect and protect the home from problems like leaks, burst pipes, etc.

The state of our current housing industry’s understanding and treatment of HVAC systems in in quiet crisis. Systems are routinely installed incorrectly to the detriment of the environment both on a macro scale and on the micro scale of the air quality inside people’s homes. In this episode, Kristof interviews Sean and Ian Harris, the owners of IAQ Texas. You'll hear discussion on why quality duct installation is crucial for good indoor air quality outcomes.

Also, we talk about Aerobarrier. It’s a little sneak peak for our full episode with the CEO of AeroBarrier, Amit Gupta, to be released soon!

Sean Harris has been developing his interest in residential home construction since participating in a remodel project, certified by Austin Energy’s Green Building Program in 2005. With a degree in business administration, Sean combines his interest in green building and knowledge of business systems. Sean oversees the operations of Positive Energy and including product development, quality control, staffing, and marketing/sales. He is also a certified RESNET energy rater and conducts home performance inspections, energy code tests, ECADS, and HERS ratings. His father and business partner, Ian Harris, has worked in many aspects of the residential construction industry for decades and was a Positive Energy consultant in the early days of the company. Together, they run IAQ Texas, offering observation, cleaning, and sealing services across the state of Texas.

Rooted in building science, IAQ Texas was started by testing homes to better understand how they work and how indoor air quality can improve your health and comfort. IAQ Texas has experience in hundreds of new and older homes throughout Central Texas and beyond. They aim to help builders who frequently struggle to seal building envelopes and duct systems, to prevent leaving homeowners, especially in older homes, stuck with poorly sealed houses, discomfort, and IAQ issues. Since the beginning their goal has been to resolve poor indoor air quality issues for both builders and homeowners. The team believes that the greatest possible quality of life indoors can happen by simply improving and protecting the air you breathe.

Refrigerants are all around us and we barely ever notice. They are a hidden force in creating the comforts we have grown to think of as normal and yet many of us know little about them. Rethinking refrigerants is considered by many experts to be the #1 way to to combat and draw down climate change given how much carbon they can add to the atmosphere when not created and handled correctly. This episode features John Miles of Sanden Water Heaters in a ranging discussion of the effects and behaviors of refrigerants that might just blow your mind a little.

If you’re ever wondered what kind of salt it takes to move the needle for multi-family passive house projects, look no further than the story of architect and developer Hank Keating. We all have under utilized power in our professional roles. Join Kristof for a discussion with Hank about the work he’s done in Massachusetts to make way for passive house buildings - from codes, to renter occupants, to design - this episode’s got it all.

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Hank Keating, AIA

Mr Keating is a registered architect with more than 30 years of experience in the design and construction of multifamily affordable housing projects. Recently retired from Trinity Financial, (but consulting back on select projects) Mr Keating completed over nine affordable housing developments totaling over 1500 units in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York City while at Trinity. For the last 10 years Mr Keating has been engaged with the Passive House movement and designed and completed a passive house for himself while pushing to move Trinity’s large scale affordable projects toward the Passive House Standards. He managed the Bristol Commons / Lenox Green project in Taunton which created 160 affordable units built to near the passive house standard– 4 years of data tracking demonstrates that the project is using 80% less heating energy that comparable LEED GOLD projects in Massachusetts. Since retiring, he has been consulting with Trinity during the design of 425 Grand Concourse, a 26 story, 270 unit, affordable passive house project in NYC. Mr Keating is currently on the Passive House Massachusetts Board of Directors and has been leading the efforts of its Public Policy Committee to get passive house incentives included in the upcoming EEAC Three-Year Plan for utility company incentive programs. In addition, he is on the MassCEC Passive House Challenge Selection Committee and has been working with DHCD to encourage the addition of QAP bonus points for passive house projects.

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Green Builder Article On Hank

“This unique home’s smart and solar bells and whistles reduce its ecological footprint even more.

Building a home up to standards required to be deemed “passive” might make some builders cringe. But when the Valle Group received such a request, it was almost par for the course. The Cape Cod, Mass.-based builder specializes in carefully planned, energy-efficient homes.”

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Passive House Massachusetts

Passive House Massachusetts is a member-based non-profit organization that promotes a healthy and comfortable built environment that significantly reduces energy consumption and lowers carbon emissions by utilizing the Passive House building standard and other high-performance building strategies, focusing on education, training, outreach, and advocacy.

We regularly host meetings, trainings, tours, and other events related to Passive House design and construction and serve as a hub of knowledge for high-performance design in the state and region.

PHMA members include designers, builders, engineers, policy makers, students, community leaders, and all those interested in high-performance, energy efficient buildings. From regular member meetings and educational programming to tours and special events, there are plenty of way for members to become involved and membership support is essential to our work promoting and expanding the use of Passive House and high-performance building.

David Escobedo is a fascinating character with a deep connection to his own heritage in the construction industry. Join Kristof as he interviews David for a conversation that outlines not just the path of a builder, but the path of someone who wants to leave behind a legacy.

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David Escobedo is the active founder of Escobedo Group where he leads a six-division, vertically-integrated luxury home building company that self-performs their work.

Escobedo’s focus on solid construction methods, resulting in superior aesthetic beauty, is seamlessly delivered due to the fact that the company is literally building every aspect of the project within their own stone, metal and millwork divisions.

Equipped with the latest CNC technology and some of the best craftsmen in the country, Escobedo guarantees razor-edge precision, which has become the signature of his work.

Today, David’s primary focus is utilizing digital fabrication and computational modeling within all the company’s divisions, leveraging his DARIO panelized construction process that delivers fully systems-integrated pre-fabricated wall, floor and roof panels that mitigate the customary high-end residential construction issues surrounding weather, labor force scarcity and site risks. Escobedo is literally revolutionizing how luxury homes are built with his DARIO process.

Escobedo is known within the design and building industry for his technical design capabilities, his skills in fabricating complex and challenging structures and his problem- solving techniques. In 2016, Escobedo collaborated with colleagues from MIT, ETH-Zurich and Cambridge to design and fabricate the prestigious Armadillo Vault, a 399-piece limestone vault with a 60’x50’ footprint standing in true compression; a showstopper at the by- invitation-only 2016 La Biennale di Venezia Architettura (prototype model pictured above).

Escobedo and his work have appeared in Dezeen, CNN Style, Domus, The Economist, BBC with Will Gompertz, Austin Business Journal, Houston Chronicle, HGTV, The Guardian, Architectural Record, Inhabitat, Architect, Elle Decor, Detail, Luxe, Western Interiors, Cowboys & Indians, Objektandothers. The company was deemed the #1 General Contractor in Texas in 2018 and has won the Artisan award from Texas Society of Architects, as well as the Custom Home Pacesetter Award. David Escobedo had been named one of the top 100 most influential Latin business owners in America.

David lives just outside Austin,Texas with his wife Kathy, three dogs and a cat. All three of David and Kathy’s children (Matt, Jessica and Anna) work at Escobedo Group.

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For more show notes and photos, visit our show’s website.

Join Kristof as he interviews Amit Gupta, CEO of AeroBarrier and Aeroseal Technologies. The discussion dives into the particulars of a unique and fascinating technology company at the helm of the architectural and construction industry change.

Architecture that interacts skillfully w/ the sun is needed now more than ever. Beyond just light and heat there are broader implications and deeper relationships between the building skin and aperture that are not always transparent during the design process. It's time to develop a sympathetic understanding of interrelated decision factors. Enter Matt and Dason and their new book that seeks to fill a void in the understanding and practice of designing around the Sun. This is an architects resource for moving the industry forward with the design of apertures - both the pragmatics and the poetics. This interview shares a feast of ideas related to this evolving field with two of its thought leaders.

As houses get tighter, we know they need to be ventilated (hopefully). But many in the building industry don’t understand ventilation well. We know about the less than ideal ways to do it, like raw fresh air intakes. We’ve heard of ERVs. And it seems like everyone thinks they want them, but nobody understands them or cares enough to actually bring them into a project. Well wonder no more friends. This episode is a two part series and a deep dive into the V in HVAC - demystifying the ventilation paradigm and making ERVs a topic you can wrap your head around after a few listens.

Don’t be afraid to rewind. Soak it up. Join Kristof as he interviews Chris Smith of Zehnder America about ERVs, HRVs, and all things ventilation.

Chris Smith, Business Development Manager, Zehnder America

Chris Smith is Business Development Manager for Zehnder America, a high-performance residential ventilation division of the Swiss-based Zehnder Group. Chris's technical inclinations were established as a teenager in his family's CNC machine shop and further developed as a guided-missile launcher technician in the U.S. Navy. He has spent over 15 years in the residential design/build industry as a designer and licensed construction supervisor. He is an NAHB Certified Green Professional and a Certified Passive House Tradesperson. He has designed custom, balanced ventilation systems for hundreds of projects and has personally installed many of them. Chris's professional passion is to help mature the North American building industry's knowledge and application of ventilation systems and promote best practices for healthy Indoor Air Quality.

As houses get tighter, we know they need to be ventilated (hopefully). But many in the building industry don’t understand ventilation well. We know about the less than ideal ways to do it, like raw fresh air intakes. We’ve heard of ERVs. And it seems like everyone thinks they want them, but nobody understands them or cares enough to actually bring them into a project. Well wonder no more friends. This episode is a two part series and a deep dive into the V in HVAC - demystifying the ventilation paradigm and making ERVs a topic you can wrap your head around after a few listens.

Don’t be afraid to rewind. Soak it up. Join Kristof as he interviews Chris Smith of Zehnder America about ERVs, HRVs, and all things ventilation.

Chris Smith, Business Development Manager, Zehnder America

Chris Smith is Business Development Manager for Zehnder America, a high-performance residential ventilation division of the Swiss-based Zehnder Group. Chris's technical inclinations were established as a teenager in his family's CNC machine shop and further developed as a guided-missile launcher technician in the U.S. Navy. He has spent over 15 years in the residential design/build industry as a designer and licensed construction supervisor. He is an NAHB Certified Green Professional and a Certified Passive House Tradesperson. He has designed custom, balanced ventilation systems for hundreds of projects and has personally installed many of them. Chris's professional passion is to help mature the North American building industry's knowledge and application of ventilation systems and promote best practices for healthy Indoor Air Quality.

While insulation and airtightness are critical elements of a high performance building, they also can significantly increase the risk of health and moisture failure issues. In addition, if using high "embodied carbon" impact materials then high performance buildings can have a higher net carbon impact by 2050 than conventional buildings. Come join us to learn how to create truly healthy, durable, comfortable, and low carbon impact buildings. Join Kristof as he interviews Lucas Johnson in a discussion about the impacts of insulation material decisions.

Lucas is a building scientist who has worked as a builder, utility program manager, enclosure systems consultant, and clean tech venture capital consultant to deliver Zero Net Energy, Passive House, Living Future, and even two of his own standards: SUN Buildings and Active House. Lucas holds a degree in Physicochemical Biology as well as a Master of Environmental Science and

Lucas Johnson

EcoEntrepreneurship. His position at 475 is his dream job since he gets to share his experience by collaborating with architects, engineers, and builders to make their projects cost-effective, carbon negative, healthy, durable, and enjoyable.

Architects and engineers have great power because they make decisions that influence resource and energy use in their buildings. With great power comes great responsibility and now is the time to become fluent in the language of embodied carbon. In this episode Kristof has a lively conversation with Z. Smith and Kelsey Wotila from EskewDumezRipple on this and some adjacent topics.

It’s time to fundamentally reevaluate the way we build - not just at the level of detailing, but at the scale of the city. What are the decisions we make about density and how do they affect our daily lives? Why do we orient our urban infrastructure around cars when they’re incredibly inefficient ways to move people around? Why can’t you get to 90% of your daily needs within a 15 minute walk? Join Kristof as he interviews Ruchi Modi of the architecture and urbanism firm, PAU on a range of topics exploring how urban environments (can and will) actually benefit the entire planet.

Ruchika Modi, AIA

Ruchika Modi is an associate partner and the studio director at PAU. A registered architect, she oversees all aspects of the design process in the office. Most recently Ruchika completed design development for Riverfront Square, a 730-unit residential project in Newark, NJ. She is currently spearheading the design of the Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn, NY, an adaptive reuse project to transform a factory into offices with a mixed-use ground floor; the master plan and design of forty-one buildings as part of a mixed-use new development in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and an arcade infill and POPS design for an Emery Roth–designed office building in Manhattan.

Before joining PAU, Ruchika was a senior associate at Standard Architects and a founding partner of Studio r&star in New York City. She has also worked at Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects, Richard Lewis Architects, Maria McVarish Design Services, and Tim Perks Architecture.

Ruchika holds a Master of Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, where she was awarded the Charles McKim Prize for Excellence in Design / Saul Kaplan Traveling Fellowship, the William Kinne Fellows Prize for Study and Travel Abroad, and the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize. She received her BA in economics from the University of Delhi and a BA with distinction in interior architecture from the California College of Arts, San Francisco. Her work has been exhibited at the Center for Architecture in New York, the International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, and the China International Architectural Biennale in Beijing.

PAU

Founded by Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA FRAIC, in 2015, PAU is both an emerging and an established global practice. We embrace architecture and city planning as allied fields operating along a range of scales. We break down disciplinary boundaries by expanding the definition of architecture and rejecting the silos that have ossified it. Our designers use both sides of their brains to be as creative as they are analytical. Given the breadth and depth of our team’s talents, but also in an effort to raise labor standards in our field, we treat our personnel with the utmost respect in terms of compensation, staff development, benefits, and work-life balance. Our team of twenty, our network of experienced collaborators, and our clients all come to PAU inspired by our desire to palpably and positively impact the world. Together we thrive on constraints such as program, constructability, public process, regulation, budget, and schedule as the fuel for innovation and beauty. To achieve this, from the precise scale of an architectural detail to the large scale of a master plan, ours is a group of “swiss-army knives,” professionals who employ an unprecedented range of skills and mindsets. We are fluent in multiple languages: we speak architecture, we speak culture, we speak ecology, we speak economics, we speak academia, we speak urbanity, we speak government, and, perhaps most importantly, we speak the language of democratic public process, because the complexities of the projects we design demand no less. Below are brief descriptions of the individuals who form our unique collective, a group of thinkers who build, utopian pragmatists whose dreams of impactful design have been forged in the white heat of hard-fought experience.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It’s been an incredible year. Let’s unpack it together and take a look at what’s coming your way in Season 6 of the show. Join producer Miguel & host Kristof for a fireside chat as the winter settles in around us.

Join Kristof as he interviews Zack Semke and Michael Ingui of Passive House Accelerator on all the great work they’re doing to build community in the building science field.

Passive House Accelerator

Mission

Together we can make a difference! We have seen the power of collaboration.

The Passive House Community is creative, driven, and Collaborative. Passive House Accelerator has been created to make it easier for others to learn about Passive House, to support the community by allowing them to share ideas and solutions, to continue and expand on the incredible conversations and sessions at conferences, and to allow those who are succeeding in creating beautiful projects and/ or solutions to share their knowledge.

Passive House Accelerator aggregates the already fantastic content from existing sites while also creating a new platform for people to share new ideas. This site will hopefully always be a work in progress.

One of the keys to the success of Passive House Accelerator is for you to contribute -

Create new short or long articles

Provide a short description and a link to an existing article on your own site

Share photos and details — lessons learned

Upload your finished Passive House Projects

Share an upcoming event on the calendar

Links to sites, people, projects, features and anything else you feel can accelerate Passive House.

If you would like to be a contributor please email info@passivehouseaccelerator.com

Zack Semke (CPHC, LEED AP) is Director of Passive House Accelerator, VP of Marketing with Zola Windows, and owner of Semke Studio, a marketing consultancy for the high performance building industry. Part of Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Zack writes and speaks about the role that buildings can play in accelerating the clean energy transition. He studied human biology, with a focus on human ecology, at Stanford University (BA, ’93). Since then he’s worked as a policy advocate for progressive regional planning, a developer and leader of nonprofit community organizations, a taiko (Japanese drum) musician, and an evangelist for Passive House construction.

Michael Ingui is a Partner at Baxt Ingui Architects, located in NYC. Baxt Ingui is a highly collaborative architectural design firm that consists of a number of talented architects and teams, most of which are also Certified Passive House Designers. Michael is active in the Passive House community, speaking at many national and international conferences. The team at Baxt Ingui have extended their collaborative efforts by opening their homes during construction to teach architects, tradespeople, homeowners, and developers to integrate better building techniques.

It’s not often that you get to have a discussion with someone who has uncovered a fundamental physical law of the universe, but that’s exactly what we got to do in this unmissable episode. In a very entertaining and fascinating departure from our usual discussion of building science, we dive deeply into the concepts underlying Contstructal Law with its discoverer, Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University. Our conversation ranged from HG TV, to the golden ratio in architecture, to the evolution of Homo sapiens, to fake news, and so much more. Join us as Kristof tries to uncover the mysteries of flow structures that prevent us from creating better buildings and we’ll also learn why a duct system, river, leaf, and lightning bolt are all shaped so similarly. Buckle up and hold on to your hats, folks!

Now, more than ever, there is a tremendous amount of attention on how interconnected we are to our immediate environmental conditions (and to each other). As building science consultants. Our family, friends, colleagues and clients have asked us for years about information that will help them reduce their exposures to pollutants, like viruses, in their homes, offices, and other indoor spaces. So as we began contemplating this episode, we heavily considered talking more about the Novel Coronavirus and how our work can help prevent potentially worse future outbreaks. What we realized in the process is that creating the future we want to see is the only way out of the old paradigm. We have to internalize the fact that buildings can improve health outcomes, both for us as human beings and also for the health of our planet.

This podcast episode is the first of a five part series exploring what we see to be The 5 Principles Of A Healthy Home. Join Kristof and Miguel as we explore what it means to “start with a good enclosure.”

The 5 Principles Of A Healthy Home:

-Start with a good enclosure
-Minimize indoor emissions
-Keep it dry
-Effectively capture particles
-Ventilate

Allison Bailes is writing a book! Allison writes the popular Energy Vanguard Blog. With a PhD in physics and thousands of hours spent in attics and crawl spaces, he knows a thing or two about houses. Join Kristof in a discussion with his old friend and colleague as they explore common myths about houses and talk about your next book purchase.

Dr. Allison Bailes III

With a background in physics and nearly twenty years of experience in many facets of the residential buildings industry, Allison Bailes has a good handle on what’s wrong with residential buildings and how to fix them. In 2001, he built a high-performance home and launched himself into a new career in the world of building science. Since that time, he has worked as an HVAC designer, home performance contractor, regional manager for a green-building program, and building science trainer. For most of this new career, Dr. Bailes has run his own companies. Energy Vanguard, which he started in 2008, is his current firm.

At heart, though, Dr. Bailes is a teacher. He taught high school science for three years prior to earning a PhD in physics from the University of Florida and then taught physics for six years at the college level after his graduate education. Since leaving academia, he has focused his teaching on the principles of building science. Through short presentations, workshops, and extended classes, he has helped thousands of people understand how buildings work.

What Dr. Bailes is most known for is writing the Energy Vanguard Blog, which gets ten thousand page views per day. He also writes regularly for Green Building Advisor and has had articles published in Fine Homebuilding, The Journal of Light Construction, Home Energy Magazine, and other publications. Dr. Bailes is also popular speaker at conferences, presenting keynote speeches, breakout sessions, and extended workshops. In addition, he is a runner, a juggler, and a skier as well as having the honor of being perhaps the only man included in Who’s Who of American Women.

The Book!

A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It?

“Of course it doesn't. But the people in the house do! That's one of many myths I'll be exploding, along with lots of advice about how to do things right (and sometimes, how not to do them wrong). And with the coronavirus on everyone's mind now, one of the topics I'll be discussing is what's most effective at combating infectious microbes in your home...and what's not.

My goal with this book is to make it one of the most informative and readable building science books in the world. I want people who live in homes - and that's almost everyone - to know how their homes work and what they can do to be more comfortable, have better indoor air quality, and save money on their energy bills.”

Here's some of the advance praise I've gotten for the book:

Dr. Bailes is my favorite writer in building science and HVAC design because of how he simplifies and explains complex topics. This book is sure to be a must read.
~ Bryan Orr, Founder of HVAC School and host of their podcast

I am stoked to share my excitement about the upcoming book, "A House Needs to Breathe." Manufacturers, distributors, trades, and design professionals need to get it right - right now. There's so much bad BS (building science) floating around, it needs to be sanitized before society moves into more bad houses. Dr. Allison Bailes, a designer's designer, will clean house with this one - a recommended must-read!"
~ Robert Bean (ret.), ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer, Mechanical and Building Construction Engineering

Allison Bailes makes the complex world of building science seem intuitive. He combines the penetrating analysis of a physicist with the flowing narrative of a storyteller. And the story he tells is about what your home can and should be doing to make your life better. You're going to want to read this book!

~ Kristof Irwin, P.E., host of the Building Science Podcast

“If you order this book, you'll get signed copies of the book. If you order at the Six Pack level or higher, you'll also get your name listed in the book. And the top four levels have other bonuses (free consulting, webinar, workshops, or advertising in the Energy Vanguard Blog) included for the same price per book.

Please go to the campaign page and then click the Pre-order button at the top right to pre-order your copies. And pass the link on to your family, friends, and coworkers.”

Energy Vanguard Blog

Southface

Passive House Austin

Engineers can fulfill a vital role in their communities through civic activism, proactive engagement in shaping public policy and leading in the civic realm. This segment of the Ideas Institute will explore the future of civic activism and leadership in the public realm for engineers. It is time for the engineering community to contribute to this re-examination in the spirit of technological and environmental stewardship. Increased leadership from the engineering community is needed to help society prepare for future crises.

Join Kristof in an interview with members of the Engineering Change Lab USA as they explore the future of engineering.

The world’s climate is changing and so the way we think about design needs to change with it. But before we know what that looks like, let’s dig into the science and understand how it might change. And as we think about expanding humid climate zones in the era of climate change, what does the cutting edge dehumidification technology look like? You’re going to find out. Join us as Kristof interviews Pamela Cabrera about the expansion of humid climate zones in the future and the development of passive, membrane-based dehumidification.

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Pamela is currently a project climate engineer at Transsolar. Cabrera’s research centers on building science and new material assemblies for passive climate control systems. Her professional experience has alternated between New York and Lima, where she co-ran the studio CE-AD for three years. She is a partner at the Peruvian NGO Construye Identidad, where she contributes with research on the development of vernacular building and materials. She has a BArch from The Cooper Union and a Master’s in Design Studies in Energy & Environment from Harvard GSD, where she received the Daniel L. Schodek Award for Technology and Sustainability.

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Abstracts For Pamela’s Research Work

Uncovering Future Mold Risks in Existing Residential Walls with Climate Change
Pamela. L. Cabrera1 , Holly W. Samuelson1 1 Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, USA

This paper exposes the vulnerability of prevalent, wood-framed residential envelopes to mold-growth in predicted future weather, a topic that is yet to be explored in scientific literature. In the U.S. and elsewhere, residential exterior walls have followed a tradition of layered construction, including interior insulation to mitigate heat loss and vapor membranes to control moisture. These building assemblies, and their defining codes, have been designed for a narrow definition of historical climate which may be ill- suited for future conditions. We combine state-of-the-art hygrothermal simulation and mold-growth computation with morphed future weather data to analyze 60 prevalent code-compliant walls in three U.S. cities: New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. Our results show an imminent problem in all tested wall types indicating future mold prevalence. The work serves as a framework for considering future hygrothermal risks in building envelopes and demonstrates the widespread need for further work on building resilience.

The Humid Threshold: Cooling hot, humid climates via membrane dehumidification
Thesis, Master in Design Studies - Energy and Environment Pamela L. Cabrera Pardo Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, USA

The thesis centers on the design of a membrane material for cooling hot, humid climates via dehumidification, by selecting water vapor out of humid air. While membrane selectivity is a well-known field of study, found throughout nature and applied across industries, architecture has only regarded membranes as barriers. However, membranes have the potential to separate substances through diffusion, a passive process that is isothermal, and therefore a membrane selectivity system for dehumidification can be less energy intensive than typical vapor compression system used for cooling (Yang, Yuan, Gao, & Guo, 2015) (Woods, 2014) (Mahmud, Mahmood, Simonson, & Besant, 2010). Membrane dehumidification research has been developed over two decades for the enhancement of air mechanical units, but it has not yet been proposed as a building material. This thesis investigates the possibility of using membranes as a building screen material to dehumidify incoming air as it is drawn into a building. This application could lower the latent heat that drives air conditioning demand in humid climates, and thus increase natural ventilation potential and other passive dry-bulb cooling strategies.

For the first time in its 24 year history, the Westford Symposium on Building Science was forced to take a hiatus by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (it would have began as of the release of this episode). If you’ve never heard of this conference, you’ve been missing out. It’s one of the most incredible hubs of building science knowledge exchange and community building in North America. Obviously, we were sad about missing it so we decided to ask the founders and hosts of the conference for an interview. Join us as Kristof interviews Joe Lstiburek and Betsy Petit about the history, meaning, and impact of “Building Science Summer Camp.”

Joseph Lstiburek

Ph.D., P.Eng., ASHRAE Fellow

Principal, Building Science Corporation

Joseph Lstiburek is the founding principal of Building Science Corporation. Dr. Lstiburek’s work ranges widely, from providing expert witness testimony to overseeing research and development projects, to writing for the ASHRAE Journal and buildingscience.com. Dr. Lstiburek’s commitment to advancing the building industry has had a lasting impact on building codes and practices throughout the world, particularly in the areas of air barriers, vapor barriers, and vented and unvented roof assemblies. For example, his work with industry partners through the Department of Energy’s Building America program led to significant research into the wetting and drying of walls and ultimately to a major code change relaxing the requirement for vapor barriers in the International Residential Code.

Dr. Lstiburek is also an acclaimed educator who has taught thousands of professionals over the past three decades and written countless papers as well as the best-selling Builder Guides. Fittingly, the Wall Street Journal has described him as "the dean of North American building science." He has a joy for telling tall tales to his protégés and audiences.

Dr. Lstiburek holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Building Science. While still an undergrad, Dr. Lstiburek worked as a residential construction manager; during his Master’s degree, he developed the Air Drywall Approach to air barriers. Other formative experiences include working on the Canada-wide Super Energy Efficient Housing R-2000 program and serving as senior engineer on commercial construction projects for Trow in Toronto. Dr. Lstiburek founded BSC in 1990 with his business partner Betsy Pettit, and he has been a key figure in establishing BSC as one of the most influential, innovative, and respected building science firms in North America.

Betsy Pettit

M.Arch., FAIA

President, Building Science Corporation

Betsy Pettit is the president of Building Science Corporation and is a registered architect with over 35 years of professional experience in the design and renovation of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. With a particular passion for and commitment to environmentally responsible design, Ms. Pettit managed Building Science Corporation’s role in the Department of Energy’s Building America project for the past twenty years, which has involved the design of over 2,000 high performance houses throughout the United States.

Consistent with her philosophy that environmental responsibility ought to also be economical, Ms. Pettit has done extensive work to advance the building industry in the area of energy efficient affordable housing, partnering with Habitat for Humanity, as well as developers and builders across the United States. She is the former Director of Modernization and Redevelopment in the public housing division of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Offices of Communities and Development, where she oversaw over $120 million of building improvements to Massachusetts’ 40,000 units of public housing.

Ms. Pettit has given seminars on the subject of healthy and environmentally responsible housing to builders and architects across the country, and she has contributed to many procedural and technical manuals and papers to guide designers and contractors in the area of high performance design. She has also served as chair of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) Buildings Conference, where BSC staff members are frequent presenters.

Ms. Pettit holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Design from Miami University and a Master of Architecture from North Carolina State University. Based on Ms. Pettit’s “notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture,” she was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in February 2008.

How well do we understand the behavior of the novel coronavirus in our homes? What can we do to make our homes healthier? What is a CERV? These questions open the door to a rich exploration of the role of ventilation in healthy indoor environments. And you’ll be surprised to find how intimately connected ventilation is to a future powered by solar PV. Join Kristof as he interviews Ty Newell in a broad exploration of topics relevant to any building science aficionado.

Ty Newell, PhD, P.E.

Professor Emeritus - University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Engineer/Owner - Build Equinox

After a distinguished career at one of the country’s finest research institutions, Ty is now the owner/engineer at Build Equinox, focused on developing technologies for sustainable, healthy and comfortable living. They are the company responsible for manufacturing the CERV ("serve") smart ventilation system for residences. He’s an all around brainiac and kind soul.

What do we actually know and have available to us in the United States market when it comes to high performance windows? The answers may surprise you. Join Kristof as he interviews Sam McAfee of Zola Windows in a wide ranging conversation of window performance, market dynamics, and the future of high performance windows.

Sam MacAfee

Sam McAfee has been a student of green building ever since buying his first Earthship books back in 1988. Since then, he has received an MFA in Sculpture from UC Berkeley, designed web experiences for Gucci, HBO, & Showtime, and launched the green-contracting company Sumner Green that executed one of the first PH retrofit projects in NYC (2010).

He went on to co-found 475 High-Performance Building Supply, co-design the Zola Historic Simulated-DH window being used in many landmarked Passivhaus projects around the country, and started SGbuild Consulting that worked alongside Baxt Ingui Architecture to complete the first certified Passivhaus in Manhattan (2014) and the First Landmarked Passivhaus in NYC (2014). Over the last 4 years, he was co-founder & CTO of Fentrend.com, a global window & door marketplace, and designed/developed the permit data analysis portal FenIQ (iq.fentrend.com).

He is currently with Zola Windows (www.zolawindows.com) and in charge of their NYC client support & market development and has launched the NYC Low-Carbon Building Social Networking group focused on expanding the reach of high-performance building knowledge into other segments of the NYC real estate market.

Zola Windows

“Zola is committed to offering its customers products that stand apart from the competition. We are continuously innovating and improving our windows and doors to ensure that we can offer the highest performance and quality on the market. We are proud of the recognition that has brought us in the architectural and building communities.”

https://www.zolawindows.com

When Ken Gehring began his career servicing dairy equipment, who would have guessed that he would go on to pioneer some of the most important equipment to hit the HVAC market? But that’s exactly what he did, leading the charge in the development and creation of the Therma-stor product lines, which include the Santa Fe and Ultra-Aire dehumidifiers that you’ve heard us talk about many times. Join Kristof as he and Ken explore a range of topics on human health, indoor air quality, dehumidification, ventilation, building envelope leakage, and more. Just FYI, we curse a little on this episode so if you’re around sensitive ears, be sure to stick some ear plugs in them.

Disclaimer: Therma-stor has sponsored previous episodes of this podcast and is a current equipment sponsor of the show. Big thanks to their continued support the last 6 years that has kept this show going!

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Ken Gehring, President Emeritus, Therma-stor

Ken Gehring is the President Emeritus and chief troublemaker at Therma-stor in Madison, Wisconsin. His career has spanned the divide between refrigeration service and engineering/product development and his expertise and leadership has led to the development of many products considered a normal part of construction in the 21st century. Ken has a treasure trove of personal stories that paint a picture of the HVAC industry’s evolution over the last 40+ years and its rapid changes in the last decade.

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HVAC Talk

An online forum for HVAC professionals and homeowners to discuss and problem solve issues both normal and strange. You can find Ken’s username, teddy bear, via this link.

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2016 Risinger Interview With Ken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsIq-vI_Cnc

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

This Old House has been the gateway experience for countless numbers of building science enthusiasts and we’d wager many of you listeners have intersected with the show at some point in your life and career. Media, whether television or podcasting, is about so much more than sharing information - it’s about telling stories. And the important stories are the ones that change paradigms and facilitate progress in the world. Join Kristof as he interviews Chris Ermides of This Old House and the Ask This Old House podcast about leveraging stories to create meaning and context for anyone building a home.

Chris Ermides:

Chris Ermides joined This Old House in December 2018 as the editor of pro content. Since then, he’s written and produced a wide array of digital content, including articles and videos geared towards professional tradesmen and women. He is the host of the Ask This Old House podcast, the Idea House Build series, and many interviews on This Old House: Live.

His interest in home improvement began at the age of 6 when he accompanied his dad to the local hardware store on the weekends and helped him on projects around the house. It was during this time that he also started watching This Old House and New Yankee Workshop. The trades have been a strong part of his family for several generations—Chris’s grandfather, an immigrant from Greece, was a cobbler and his great grandfather was a carpenter in Greece.

While studying English in college, Chris worked full-time at a local hardware store before graduating with a Master’s degree in teaching English. He went on to teach high school and middle school English while working as a house painter and repairman during the summers. After four years of teaching, Chris returned to the trades starting with a brief stint on a ranch in Wyoming.

His career path continued to evolve on jobsites, working his way up from a laborer to carpenter and eventually site supervisor for a custom home builder in upstate New York. He combined his love for the trades and writing chops with his jobsite experience and became an editor at Fine Homebuilding and Tools of the Trade. He’s been a contributor to JLC, Deck Builder, and ToolBox Buzz. Throughout his career he’s reported on many aspects of residential construction including how-to, tools, materials, and building science.

Follow Chris on Instagram @ChrisErmidesTOH.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

We’ve talked a lot about indoor environmental quality on this show, but what how do we measure that and how do we know that our measurements were consistent and accurate? Turns out, data quality in the built world can be quite opaque and challenging to reign in. But there’s hope. Join Kristof as he interviews Anjanette Green, Director of standards at RESET about the nature of data quality in the built world and how it impacts the daily lives of practitioners and occupants across the planet.

Valentines Day 2021 began a hellacious week for Texans as not one, but multiple critical infrastructure grids failed amidst prolonged record low temps. Join Kristof as he interviews Dr. Joshua Rhodes and Dr. Charles Upshaw, of IdeaSmiths (and of Positive Energy if you don't mind the bragging). In this episode we discuss what happened in Texas, separating myth from fact and understanding the role of buildings in the equation.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

Industrial hemp is poised to proliferate across many verticals in the construction materials marketplace. It’s a raw material with an unfortunately politicized history and so many potential applications it’ll make your head spin. Join Kristof and Miguel in conversation with Mattie Mead and Henry Valles as we explore the many intersections of industrial hemp and the built environment.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

The world of indoor air quality monitoring can feel like the Wild West and it’s high time we sort it out. Join Kristof as he interviews Stanton Wong, President of RESET Standard, about the landscape of sensor technology, accuracy, data reliability, how SARS2 moves around public spaces, and a range of other indoor air quality topics. You may be surprised by how deep this field of applied science can go.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker 

One of the most uncomfortable topics for anybody to wade through is the nearly ubiquitous and constant exposures to hazardous chemicals and compounds which we all encounter in daily products. The construction industry is no different - many building products are chock full of chemicals that are known health hazards to humans. As the body of scientific knowledge about these chemicals and their health impacts grows, it’s important that professionals and consumers have a sufficient understanding of their presence and purpose.

Join Kristof as he interviews Dr. Tom Bruton, Senior Hazardous Substances Engineer at California Department of Toxic Substances Control and formerly a Senior Scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, on a class of chemicals called PFAS, which are present in many common building materials and making their way into our bodies through a variety of exposures that are easy to forget in day-to-day life.

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Dr. Bruton is a Senior Hazardous Substances Engineer at California Department of Toxic Substances Control. He works at the interface of science, business, and government to promote healthier products and a healthier environment. Trained as an environmental engineer and environmental chemist, Tom’s experience ranges from contaminated site remediation to chemicals management in supply chains to regulatory policy, with particular expertise on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

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Dr. Bruton is a Senior Hazardous Substances Engineer at California Department of Toxic Substances Control. He works at the interface of science, business, and government to promote healthier products and a healthier environment. Trained as an environmental engineer and environmental chemist, Tom’s experience ranges from contaminated site remediation to chemicals management in supply chains to regulatory policy, with particular expertise on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

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PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of highly fluorinated synthetic chemicals notable for their non-stick, waterproof, and grease resistant properties and also for their extreme environmental persistence. Building materials are a high-volume use of PFAS that have received relatively little attention. PFAS have many uses in the building industry, including in roofing materials, flooring, paints and coatings, sealants, glass, and more. Annual sales of PFAS-containing building materials are more than $26 billion.

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Green Science Policy Institute

The Green Science Policy Institute was founded in 2008 in Berkeley, California, by Executive Director Arlene Blum after she learned that the same chlorinated tris flame retardant that her research had helped remove from children’s pajamas in the 1970s was back in furniture and baby products. Since its founding, Green Science Policy Institute’s scientific research and policy work has contributed to preventing the use of “Six Classes” of harmful chemicals in consumer products and building materials worldwide.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

Do we really need dehumidifiers when we’ve got VRF units? How do dehumidifiers work? Why do we need dehumidifiers now when we’ve never had them before? These are valid questions that deserve scientific answers and we’re here to dig in. Join Kristof as he interviews David Treleven and Nikki Krueger of Madison Industries (makers of dehumidifiers, ERVs, and many other innovative indoor air quality products).

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker

The famous astronomer and educator Carl Sagan once said, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.” What Sagan was pointing at is the fact that for us to really do anything from scratch, we have to understand the system in which we exist.

The planet and all its inhabitants exists as a massive, complex system of interconnected systems that we don’t always see. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown us that public health is part of a global web, inextricably linked. On a smaller scale, the materials and energy that we use to build and operate our homes and cities rely on these natural interconnected ecosystems. Effortlessly spanning scales from the level of the planet, a vast forest or a single home, the science of Systems Ecology provides a powerful perspective and valuable set of tools that can inform skillful design and construction practices for homes, buildings and cities.

How do natural ecosystems provide us with all that we need for our lives, homes and cities? What are the basic ingredients that are “cooked” in this recipe? Join Kristof as he interviews Miaomiao Hou and Dr. Bill Braham for a fast and furious dive into the infinite complexity of emergy. You’ll never be able to un-hear this. We will unpack some of the terms and concepts needed to unlock this powerful, versatile, quantitative way to understand what matters most when it comes to resources and energy, and why. Along the way we will learn about energy that remembers where it comes from and the layers of transformations it goes through along the way to us, so we can make better decisions on how to use it wisely. 

For complete show notes, please visit the episode’s webpage.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin
Edited and Produced by M. Walker