Zero Ambitions Podcast

This week I caught up with Scott McAulay, from the Anthropocene Architecture School.Scott is an architect who has been writing about climate change and the built environment, and the need for radical change and to reshape the architectural education model.I discussed Scott's journey and what has caused him to rebel and how the Anthropocene architecture school has developed and grown over the past couple of years into a voice advocating radical change but also of opportunity.He is unapologetic in pushing for a change in the education of architects to bring the climate emergency to the forefront of design requirements and sees Sustainability and Retrofit as areas that are underrepresented within the architecture curriculum.It was a pleasure speaking to Scot, he is informed, passionate and clear in what he is calling for. Radical change now.

Discussion with Professor Kevin Albertson on the UK Energy Market and the causes of the current energy issues regards increased costs and supply, as well as some of the policy solutions that might be available to us.Prof. Kevin Albertson is an eclectic economist with a background in statistics and economics. He is a member of the Decent Work and Productivity Research Centre, is author/co-author of over 40 refereed academic articles and book chapters, and is co-author/editor of eight books, including the Haynes Guide ‘How to Run the Country’ and ‘Decent Work: Opportunities and Challenges.Kevin’s work ranges from business and social forecasting and the evaluation of government policy to the impact of globalised liberal markets on the political-economic prospects of the UK; the ways, means and implications of privatisation and marketisation in the public sector; and the development of social, and responsible, innovation. He is currently working in the areas of employment and society in a low-to-zero (economic) growth economy, and the wellbeing aspects of relational – as opposed to transactional – socio-economic interactions.• Albertson, Corcoran and Phillips (eds.) (2020) “Marketisation and Privatisation in Criminal Justice” is out now and available from Policy Press.https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/marketisation-and-privatisation-in-criminal-justice • de Saille, Medvecky, van Oudheusden, Albertson, Amanatidou, Birabi and Pansera (2020) “Responsibility Beyond Growth A Case for Responsible Stagnation” is out now and available from Policy Press.https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/responsibility-beyond-growth • To read “1979 and all that”, a conservative critique of the neo-liberal policies established in the 1980s please go to https://academic.oup.com/cje/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cje/bez037/5550923

Peter Rickaby qualified as an architect at Cambridge University and holds a doctorate in energy studies from the Open University. He worked in leading architectural practices in New Zealand and London before a thirty-five-year career as an energy and sustainability consultant in buildings and housing. He has published numerous technical guides to energy efficiency and was Managing Editor of the Institute of Sustainability's acclaimed suite of Low Carbon Domestic Retrofit Guides. Peter has been a Board Director of the Centre of Refurbishment Excellence (CoRE) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Energy Foundation. He contributed extensively to the Each Home Counts review, for which he was also a member of the Implementation Board, and he chairs the BSI Retrofit Standards Task Group. Peter was the Technical Author of the BSI's two UK retrofit standards: PAS 2035 Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency: Specification and guidance; and PAS 2038 Retrofitting non-domestic buildings for improved energy efficiency: Specification. Now semi-retired, Peter helps to run the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings (UKCMB) and coordinates the Building Envelope Research Network (BERN@ UCL), both at University College London. Peter is also Technical Director of The Retrofit Academy.

Interview with Scott Foster, who is the Director of Sustainable Energy at the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE), and Jenna Cramer who is Executive Director at the Green Building Alliance in Pittsburgh and part of the UN Centre of Excellence programme.