Zero Ambitions Podcast

We like Kate Simpson, a doctor and a Research Associate at the School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London. It was a bit of a weird episode where the conversation didn't really go to plan and, at times, Jeff found himself being interviewed by our guest. It was good though.From a researcher's perspective, we discussed what motivates retrofit consumers and suppliers, as well as the potential for and nature of retrofit one-stop shops. Notes from the episodeMichael Gove dancingThat rhizome concept The Green Register (Bristol)A bad-quality retrofit LinkedIn postAnother bad-quality retrofit LinkedIn postThe PH+ article about getting tradespeople into retrofit **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Insidious misconceptions, false myths, and the lazy thinking pervades the green building sector, we're not happy about it, and nor are the authors of 'Building for 2050 Low cost, low carbon homes'. This is a recently published BEIS research paper about how low carbon construction is held back by a false understanding of what it costs, how hard it is, and what its users actually think about living with it.Alison Crompton (AECOM) and Tom Dollard (Pollard Thomas Edwards) were very generous with their time and took us through as much of the project as we could manage. If you want more, you'll probably find everything you're looking for at www.buildingfor2050.co.uk.In fact, you definitely should take a look at their website.This is the article that Sara posted back in December about how low carbon building was being held back by misconceptions about costs.**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Today we saw a LinkedIn post today that Dan wanted Jeff to explain to him; at the heart of it was an image of a retrofit job that looked lacking. Sadly, the LinkedIn post came down but here's the article it presented. It'll make more sense if you take a look too but it's not absolutely essential, you'll get the gist without it.Reading through the post's comments Dan didn't know what to make of it, so he ask Jeff to tell him what he was looking at and to try and school him a little.We also took a little time to acknowledge the tragic death of Paul Doran, one of the best and most forward-thinking builders Jeff has ever encountered. So we took a few moments to pay tribute to a modest man who had a big impact in Ireland. Notes from the episodeLink to the Paul Dorian Go Fund Me page https://www.gofundme.com/f/qpgyk-paul-doran-hero-dad-fundraiserLink to Jeff's blogpost about Paul Doran Paul's seminal feature Why passive house doesn't cost extraPaul's Flat pack passive house articleThere are more links on the blogpost and Jeff's LinkedIn tributeThe Preston retrofit catastropheDefective blockwork story**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We had a contentious discussion last Friday about hybrid heating systems, a transition technology that could play a role in the decarbonisation of home heating.Stephen Kelly of OYA Energy joined us for a grilling from a very skeptical Jeff, to make his case for the use of heat pumps alongside legacy gas boilers. It's important to note that this is intended as a transition technology, not an ultimate end.Also, we do not discuss hydrogen as a hybrid heating solution, for obvious reasons.**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

It's all about how 'incompetence still reigns supreme' as we meander recklessly from GDPR, to jaywalking, before getting into the substance of the podcast. Mainly, we discuss DPE certification (the French EPC) and some appalling advice that was sourced by the French version of Which? magazine, Que Choisir, in an article about shopping around for your DPE. We also talked about EPCs, BERs, and a little bit about ESG (the post-punk band as well as the 'ethical' the value metrics).Some references from the showThe origins of jaywalking Another Way of Looking at a Country's Carbon Footprint: A Tale of Switzerland and South AfricaPost-punk classic, UFO, by ESGAin't no half-steppin' - Big Daddy Kane (prod Marley Marl) Some French-language links We prefer to do rough translation with deepl.com Que Choisir, the militant French Which? Wikipedia background about About Que ChoisirInformation about DPEs, as EPCs are fashioned in FranceGovernment information about DPEsA DPE database containing some information translated and read out on the podcastA direct link to the online issue of Que Choisir that we used**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We'd arranged to have a post-Christmas catch-up about a few things and Alex suggested people might be interested in hearing about the genesis of Passive House Plus and its progenitor, Construct Ireland magazine, and the changes we've seen throughout the green building industry across those 20 years. First off, we had a post-Christmas catch-up to find out about Jeff's family's developing taste for seagull and our various breaks. If you want to skip that chatter entirely feel free to jump forward 12 minutes or so, that's when we start the proper conversation, however, Jeff did manage to quickly turn things around to SAP calculations about five minutes in.And, at the end, we managed to squeeze in a bit of chat about how differently retrofit appears to be approached in France, with specific reference to the advice offered in the French version of Which? magazine.Some references from the showHeat pump installer gets suspended for fraud Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)The Construct Ireland archive on Passive House Plus**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

On the night before, the night before, Christmas, we spent the morning with Ross Cremin a QS with a lot of experience in passive house building [I know what I wrote – Dan]. Broadly, we talked about what it's like to live in a Passivhaus building, eating seagulls in celebration of Christ, heating homes, and all the other usual things. It's worth highlighting that Jeff suggested we speak with Ross apropos of an anecdote he drew from in the Passive House Plus feature on Ross's house and in Jeff's 'Virtuous Luxury' TedX Talk about the value of the Passivhaus building standard.Some references from the showPassive House Plus feature on Ross's houseJeff's 'Virtuous Luxury' TedX TalkRoss's blog about his homeThe Medeira Oaks passive house scheme that Jeff mentions The Irish Times Catherine Cleary article about appraising her own heat recovery system**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We spent a little time with Stewart Little, a former architect who's been working to support energy efficiency and retrofit in the built environment for more than 20 years. With IRT Surveys he has led a business that uses thermal imaging to highlight energy saving issues in the built environment and an online platform that uses property data that shows its users how to save energy and access funding. Stewart was excellent value, with plenty to offer from years of experience and his  Rockstar-related origin story, but we were really keen to speak with Stewart because his story highlights just how much things have changed for the green building sector, and how much opportunity is being recognised.Some references from the showIRT SurveysHeero appMears Group**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

This week we're with Ryan Philp from heat pump manufacturer Daikin who caught our attention thanks to his article titled Heat Pumps Are Not The Answer.In truth, he is a firm believer in heat pumps, just not heat pumps as a 'magic bullet'. So, we talked about that a lot, as well as efficiencies, embodied carbon, and heat networks. You also get to hear four white men talk about diversity issues.Some references from the showRyan's article, Heat Pumps Are Not The AnswerThe Heat Pump Association of IrelandFuture Homes Hub, for whom he is a technical advisorStemazing, an inspiring scheme that Ryan mentions at the end for achievements in diversity and representation**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We were delighted to be able to have an early-doors chat with Architectural Manager and incoming RIBA president Muyiwa Oki. As one might expect, it was very architecture heavy: we talked about the impact of architecture on all of the things we usually talk about, as well as the impact he is going to have on architecture. He's a fella with a lot of great ideas, so we're really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.(Also, new theme just dropped. We've moved on from the stock music to something a bit more real.)Some references from the showThat Irish Times article about the appalling award winnerThat RIBA exhibition Long Life, Low Energy: Designing for a circular economy**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Zero Ambitions Partners email address - zap@eiux.agencySubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Join ACANJoin the AECB Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**