House Planning Help Podcast (Ben Adam-Smith)

Adam Dadeby from Passivhaus Homes talks about some of the challenges he faced when retrofitting his own home to the Passivhaus standard. He's also co-author of a new book called The Passivhaus Handbook.

Beth Williams from Build Collective outlines the role of a structural engineer and explains what tasks might be undertaken on a house build.

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Belinda and Paul Wilson share what they’ve learned from their Passivhaus build. Paul also explains the responsibilities of the Principal Designer and why he decided to take on this role himself.

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Tilmann Kramolisch from natureplus explains why their eco label was established, how materials and products are assessed, and what it means to use a natureplus certified product on your project.

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Architect and author Sarah Susanka explains why bigger isn't always better when it comes to building a house.

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Bronwyn Barry from One Sky Homes explains the evolution of windows and why modern windows are really pieces of equipment. She also shares what's involved when it comes to choosing high performance windows for a project.

Mark Westcombe, one of the founding members of Lancaster Cohousing, explains the cohousing concept and why creating an intentional community like this has many benefits.

Sarah Lonsdale, an eco columnist for The Telegraph, shares a list of 30 home improvements she has made to reduce energy bills, and save energy and water. Ultimately Sarah would like to build a new home (such as a Huf Haus or Passivhaus) but in the meantime she explains the benefits of incremental upgrades.

With Ben Adam-Smith struggling to find a plot of land in his town, he has decided to try a new approach and dedicate a full day trying to tap in to local knowledge. He shares the tips he was given and concludes with how successful his day was in progressing his self build plans.

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Mark Wilson from BuildingDesignExpert.com shares why he believes there is no such thing as a sustainable material and why it is our environment we are really hoping to sustain.

Kit Knowles from Ecospheric explains why he is driven to keep pushing further in pursuit of sustainability in building projects.

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Antoine Costantini explains how Kithurst Homes has embraced modern cutting technology to increase efficiency and minimise waste.

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Mark Brinkley, author of the Housebuilder's Bible, explains how his book can guide you towards building a better home. He also shares some of the themes that have cropped up while he's been editing the latest edition.

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Buckinghamshire Passivhaus has become one of the most airtight buildings in the UK. As such, we consider what factors contributed towards their exceptional result of 0.08 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals.

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A quantity surveyor can add far more value to a project than just working out how much your project is likely to cost. Jerry Thomas explains the role of a quantity surveyor, when you should employ one and how it could benefit your self build.

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Potton have a history of serving the self build market and are currently building a Passivhaus show home. They are making the details of the build available through their Self Build Live events and are running courses through their Self Build Academy to help people through the self build journey. Paul Newman explains why they’re doing this, and also what lessons they’ve learned from the construction of their Passivhaus show house.

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Simon Sturgis has been studying carbon emissions in the building industry for the last 8 or 9 years. He uses his experience to look at the scenarios of when it might be best to demolish and rebuild, or whether retrofit might be a better option. He also explains how new buildings should be created with their ‘circular economy’ in mind.  

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Sofie Pelsmakers, environmental architect and doctoral researcher at University College London (UCL), busts 10 common environmental design myths. This also serves as a good introduction to The Environmental Design Pocketbook.

Until fairly recently Paul Buckingham was carrying out airtightness tests on volume built houses. He explains how his role was to make the house pass the test, not about making the house energy efficient.

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Cath Hassell from ech2o consultants explains what rainwater harvesting is, why it’s useful and how to get started.

If you haven’t heard our first podcast interview with Cath on the topic of saving water, check that one out first!

David Arrenberg explains why he wanted to project manage his self build, what the work entailed and how much of his time it took.

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John Palmer from Enhabit explains what happens if you choose not to go all the way to Passivhaus standard, including how this impacts on cost, energy efficiency and comfort. He also outlines a best practice approach if you are going to build with Passivhaus principles.

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Mark Siddall explains how thermal bypass – or air movement around insulation layers – might impact a self-build or retrofit project.

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Dr. Derek Taylor talks about advances in wind and solar power over the last 50 years.

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Ben reviews the journey from briefing to planning stage for his own self-build project, with their architect Chris Parsons from Parsons + Whittley.

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Jake Fitness of Self Build Zone explains what a structural warranty is, and why you might need one on your self build or renovation project.

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Mark Siddall from LEAP explains his framework the 'Forever Home Lifestyle' and how he uses it with his clients.

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We re-run an interview from 2014 with Stephen Gurney, who explains what causes poor airtightness test results and how they could have been avoided.

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James and Dani McDonald reveal why they were drawn to HUF HAUS, how the process worked and why they have become very loyal to the brand.

Nick Grant explains why his childhood “make do and mend” mentality has given him a lifelong passion for doing more with less. Combined with a background in engineering he demonstrates how value engineering can be applied to a house building project. 

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Andy Moger, from Tetlow King Planning, explains the role of a planning consultant and the benefits they can bring to a project.

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David Olivier has over 30 years of experience working with architects and engineers, advising on energy conscious design. In 2012 he moved into his own passive solar self build house and shares with us some of what he has learnt professionally, and personally.

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Ben Adam-Smith reviews where he is in his own self-build process and discusses the reasons why there will be some changes to future podcasts.

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Initiated by Cherwell District Council, the Graven Hill Village Development Company are providing opportunities for self builders to create their own homes on a 1900 plot site, on land previously owned by the Ministry of Defence near Bicester. Philip Singleton explains the scheme and what potential customers can expect on their ‘customer journey’.

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Richard Hawkes from Hawkes Architecture tells us about the exceptional circumstances in which planning for rural new builds may be granted.

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Integrated design is a way of a design team working collaboratively on a project from the outset. Architect Charles Grylls and Passivhaus Consultant Nick Grant explain how their team works and the benefits it has for the client, as well as for future projects.

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Jack Harvie-Clark from Apex Acoustics provides an overview of acoustics in the home. He also explains how we might go about controlling noises and soundproofing.

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Richard Hollas from 21 Degrees explains why regular MVHR maintenance and servicing is essential, what it entails, and we accompany him step-by-step as he services a unit.

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Ben Adam-Smith outlines 5 strategies for taking your land search into your own hands.

If you have been struggling to unearth a plot for your self build and have time to invest, then these proactive strategies could help you get your hands on something that others have missed.

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Ben Adam-Smith shares some of the questions that got asked about the Passivhaus standard during a question and answer session at the National Self Build & Renovation Centre.

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Chris Herring, Director at Green Building Store, explains why careful consideration should be given when specifying windows.

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John Hernon from Thames Water explains the process of installing a new connection to a water main. He also outlines the role of water services company that delivers clean water and takes away waste water.

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Ben Adam-Smith looks at why self build projects often eat into the budget set aside for landscaping. This includes Ben's new home where initial garden plans have been put on hold!

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Paul Testa from Paul Testa Architecture talks about how to predict the costs of a house build and shares his tips on limiting a self-build budget.

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Andrew Peel from Peel Passive House Consulting explains why the quality assurance procedure is at the heart of the Passivhaus standard. He also feels the process can be useful to improve any building, even if not striving for the standard.

Andy Simmonds from Simmonds Mills Architects explains ventilation in the home, why it's important and what the options are if you're looking to retrofit a property for energy efficiency.

As Ben Adam-Smith's build enters the final few weeks he reviews his project's schedule and sequencing. Although a lot of the detail pertains to building a masonry wall Passivhaus, it still serves as an example of the stages any house build might go through.

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Geoff and Kate Tunstall explain how they were able to create a fantastic Passivhaus in Denby Dale with a modest budget of around £150,000. They also share how they got caught by a 6-inch ransom strip and what options were open to them.

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Simon Corbey from the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) shares some thoughts of what makes a healthy building product.

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Architect Richard Dudzicki explains the tricks and challenges of designing a £500,000 house on a £250,000 budget.

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Fran Bradshaw from Anne Thorne Architects shares her experience of building an ultra low energy home using natural materials such as straw bales, lime render and clay plaster. The house is also aiming for the Passivhaus standard.

Florence Collier, founder of Humblebee, takes us step-by-step through the deep retrofit of her 1970s home. She explains the costs relating to each measure and the cumulative total as the project advances.

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Simon Corbey from ASBP shares some of his research into the costs and life cycle of plastic windows and suggests some considerations for self-builders.

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Dennis and Nicola Merrigan talk about the highs and lows of their Passivhaus self-build project, sharing lessons learned.

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Tom Gresford likes to use auctions as a way of finding interesting and quirky development sites. He bought an old water tower at auction to build his latest project, Chieveley Passivhaus, which was shortlisted for a UK Passivhaus Award 2016. His intention was to show that you can build beautiful, modern houses in the Passivhaus way. 

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Marlen and Tony Godwin explain why it was important for their modern, minimalist Passivhaus home and office designs to be sympathetic to the neighbourhood.

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Piers Taylor from Invisible Studio Architects explains what a build system is, why you would use one over another and whether any are preferable when it comes to creating low energy houses.

Greg Byrne from RB Asbestos Consultants explains what asbestos is, why it was used so widely in construction, its potential impact on health, and how you go about identifying and removing asbestos products.

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We have been following Alex Baines’ Long Barrow Passivhaus self build project in previous podcast and Hub episodes. This time we catch up with him to use his experience of working in the renewables industry, together with his current role as a Passivhaus consultant, to understand how renewables and a fabric first approach can be balanced when building your own energy efficient house. 

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Tomas Gartner describes building biology as “a more holistic approach to achieving sustainable, low energy buildings with a more human focus." He explains how it is nothing to be feared or fanatical about, but is a sensible approach to understanding the risks and trying to improve them wherever possible.

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Mike Whitfield shares his experience of running a local construction company that specialises in Passivhaus. He explains how the business is structured, and what tasks are tackled on a daily and weekly basis.

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Andy Marlow from Envirotecture explains why Passivhaus homes are a good fit for most climates in Australia, how they approach these projects and what is needed beyond shading to keep the homes comfortable when the outdoor temperatures soar.

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Duncan Baker-Brown from BBM Sustainable Design explains how we can reduce waste on our projects, given a little more time and with a different approach on site.

With the construction industry being such a big contributor of annual waste, he also shares strategies for how we could transform things if we treat buildings as material banks, which are built with deconstruction in mind.

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Having recorded an audio journal the whole way through his project, Ben Adam-Smith plays back some key moments so you can hear what is involved in a self build within a single podcast episode.

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Mark Chesney from Beam Vacuum & Ventilation explains how houses have become increasingly airtight and why this has had a significant impact on energy efficiency. He also shares why having a good ventilation strategy is so important.

Harold Orr reflects on why the Saskatchewan Conservation House was a landmark on the road to high performance buildings.

Howard Johns, founder of One Zero, outlines their home energy transformation service which includes topping up insulation and adding solar PV, battery storage and a heat pump.

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Professor Fionn Stevenson explains why building performance monitoring and post-occupancy evaluation should be mandatory on new homes.

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Rory Bergin from HTA Design LLP explains why building standards are devised, the pros and cons, and why people adopt voluntary standards. He also gives an overview of the Active House standard.

We re-run an interview from 2012 with the co-founder of the Passivhaus standard, Dr Wolfgang Feist.

Diana Woodward explains how her house was first modelled on a computer and then the 3D digital information was transformed into exact physical replicas. The components were fabricated out of WISA board on-site using a mobile manufacturing facility.

Elrond Burrell from Architype helps bust some of the common myths that surround the Passivhaus standard.

Arun, Nicki, Donal, and Glen share their stories of how they successfully bought their plots of land. With four case studies to evaluate from three different countries, there’s lots to be learned from our guests today.

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Kara Rosemeier from Passive House Academy New Zealand looks at why natural ventilation leads to little control of ventilation. She also shares why the Passivhaus approach is the logical step forwards.

Architect, planner and author Graham Towers explains the fundamentals of housing density and why we really need to get it right in future developments.

Ben Adam-Smith shares an idea he has about using the Internet to communicate the need for incremental lifestyle change as an action to combat climate change. This one-off episode focusses on how you could use content marketing to get your message across. Cesar Abeid from The Construction Industry Podcast is Ben's guest and helps explain how content marketing works.

Like Ben Adam-Smith, Michelle is a podcaster who is keen to build her own home and is sharing the information she learns along the way with her audience. In this episode she and Ben discuss how some of the challenges of the self build market compare in the UK and the US, and also some of the best things about their respective housing industries.

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Professor Phil Jones from the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University explains how SOLCER House exports more energy to the grid than it uses and addresses fundamental issues relating to affordability, buildability and performance. With governments around the world committing to deliver zero carbon housing by 2019, this project has been designed from the outset as a practical solution.

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Juraj Mikurcik, Nick Grant and Mike Whitfield reflect on the award-winning Old Holloway project, which is built with EcoCocon straw panels and is a certified Passivhaus.

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Harvey Fremlin is Managing Director of the National Self Build and Renovation Centre, where they have trade exhibitors, run courses and generally provide impartial advice on all things self build. Harvey talks us through the different things to be thinking about when you’re choosing your building materials.

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Author Michael Mobbs reflects on what he’s learnt about sustainability over the last 20 years. From living without a car and bringing key services in-house (his home is not connected to mains water, mains electricity or mains drainage) to growing his own food and being careful how he spends his money, Michael considers how effective he has been.

Jon Martin explains how he beat the odds with his extraordinary self-build tree house.

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Landscape Architect and Director of HLM Architects, Simon Bell, explains why he decided to upskill when it came to building his own house.

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Andrew Michler has been living off grid in the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over 20 years. He has had a long interest in sustainable design and as well as completing a book about how sustainable architecture around the world responds to its conditions, he has also created Colorado’s first certified Passivhaus home.

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Bill Butcher from Green Building Company, the construction division of Green Building Store, explains how they tackled two radical retrofit projects in West Yorkshire. Each took a 'whole house' fabric first approach in order to improve comfort levels and reduce the heating bills.

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Interior designer Emily Bizley explains how she and her husband, an architect, co-designed their RIBA shortlisted self-build home.

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Werner Brouwer explains why being able to build a house without restrictions in Oosterwold is also about working together to build a community.

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Elina Grigoriou from Grigoriou Interiors talks about design, wellbeing and sustainability, and the role of interior designers.

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Lloyd Alter explains how we can take personal actions to address our own carbon footprints, and why it's more important to do so than ever.

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What's more important - preserving heritage architecture or retrofitting it to high energy efficiency? In our first forum on a Google+ Hangout we discuss some of the issues.

The Panel

Writer and blogger Roger Hunt (who appeared in our 10th podcast)

Writer and Passivhaus consultant Adam Dadeby from Passivhaus Homes (who appeared in our 5th podcast)

Homeowner Ross Atkin (who has recently retrofitted his Victorian house)

Ben Adam-Smith explains how he and his wife have been specifying their new home (which will be built to Passivhaus standard).

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Robert Flynn from Solarbarn explains how to choose a solar array to suit your needs.

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Tully Gallagher of Beartooth Passive House, explains what it was like to take a leap of faith in swapping a desk job with building a 'forever home' for his family.

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Jason and Lucy Reeve share what preparation was necessary to commission their new-build home and Ben Adam-Smith considers what's more important in renovation, preserving the past or creating a sustainable future.

Ben Adam-Smith explains his motivation for creating this podcast and there's an interview with Simon Lewis, Managing Director of RW Armstrong, a residential builder in the South East of England.

Architect Adam Cohen explains how his modular construction system is making Passive House building simple and affordable.

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Toby Cambray talks about the risks associated with moisture in buildings, and the modelling techniques – like WUFI® – that can be used to assess those risks.

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Stephen Gurney from Ecological Building Systems explains the main causes of poor airtightness test results.

Having worked on his own hands-on group self build project, and site managed others, Geoff Stow shares his experience on where to start when it comes to self build.

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Jonathan Dixon talks about incorporating home automation into a Passivhaus retrofit of a 1960s detached house, built using cross wall construction.

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