Zero Ambitions Podcast

Jeff received a press release that piqued his interest, so we invited the man behind the call to action, Joseph Kilroy, (Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)). Joseph joins us to talk about their ideas for increasing the pace of change required to meet the ubiquitous net zero 2050 targets. They're calling for government to incentivise better building practices by using the tax system to create an economic environment that supports the spirit of climate legislation rather than undermining it. Specifically, we talk about the impact that charging the full rate of VAT for demolition in Ireland would have if a reduced rate for repair and refurbishment was maintained, and the idea of introducing a levy for demolition as a similar catalyst. But these same ideas could probably be applied much the same anywhere. Notes from the showJoseph Kilroy on LinkedinCIOB calls for reuse and refurbishment over demolition in Ireland and NIThe CIOB websiteRetrofit ReimaginedIf you're nearby Glasgow on 11 November, go! **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.Jeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronising way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

This week we're joined by Mike Fell, energy researcher at UCL, amongst many other things. We've been following Mike's work for a while, (mainly because the pump:chic work is really interesting to us) and when we clocked he's co-authored this paper about realist approaches in energy research we saw an opportunity to bring him onto the podcast.Realist approaches ask not just ‘what works?’, but ‘for whom does it work, under what circumstances, and why?', all good subjects for enquiry in any project. It's much less academic than it might sound. We think it's a really valuable way of approaching research so we wanted to talk with Mike about how he's been using the approach and give us a chance to promote it all to our listeners. We also want folk to check out all the other interesting things he's up to as well. Check the links below.Notes from the showRealist approaches in energy research, by Mike Fell, Katy Roelich, and Lucie Middlemiss (this link should be fine but if anyone has any problems do let us know)The Baking Forecast Twitter accountShouldIBake.comThe power of getting real(ist), a blog about the paper, for if you want to dip in quicklyThe pump:chic website Mike's pump:chic glamour photography Instagram accountNathan Gambling's LinkedIn post that we mentionMike's blog about Airbnb: Peer-to-peer energy: what can we learn from more than a decade of AirbnbMike's blog about energy access: How fair is flexibility?Mike's website for his art projects, like the Mechanical Choir that we mentionedRetrofit ReimaginedIf you're nearby Glasgow on 11 November, go! **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.Jeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronising way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

This week Jeff introduced us to a new friend he met while working on a EU funded green finance project, Alexandra Hedesiu, Head of ESG & EU Advisory Services at EnerSave Capital. The EU Life-funded project is called Smarter Finance for EU, and its aim is to develop the market for credible green home certifications and associated green mortgage, loan and development finance products, with €8.5bn worth of projects already built or planned under a previous phase of the Smarter initiative.As well as getting into the drivers of how large sustainability projects get financed, Alex was able to highlight how the demands of finance are changing the construction industry for the better and how sustainability is being recognised as a risk factor by money men. It's pretty clear that finance is going to demand more accountability from the construction industry, in terms of sustainability strategy and reporting, and that some developers are already feeling the pain of stranded assets. This is all before we touched on carbon pricing.It seems clear that all businesses that work within the built environment should think about how they're going to step up in their own accounting and reporting, because pretty soon every entity in the supply chain will be having questions asked of it. Notes from the showAlex on LinkedInEnerSave Capital's websiteRetrofit ReimaginedIf you're nearby, go! More Retrofit Reimagined 2023 is happening in Machynlleth (Centre for Alternative Technology, 21-22 October), and Glasgow (11 November).**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronising way)Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

In the midst of a weirdly warm October for this part of the work, we're talking about thermal comfort in building design with Huda Elsherif and Andy Simmonds about a project they've been collaborating on in Tanzania.While the lessons we can learn from it might not be immediately obvious, there are plenty of them there to be had as our climate grows warmer. In terms of building design it's already clear that we should be thinking ahead, planning for today's needs and building with one eye on future adaptation.Air conditioning is an incredibly convenient solution in the global north, but it's very fragile, and a reliance on it does not lead to an adequate supply of resilient building stock if we're designing for a climate with higher temperatures. The overuse of air condition has appalling implications when we consider its inefficient use of energy, implicit challenges in generating enough energy to meet demand (already a problem in California), and big problems down the line when buildings designed for air conditioning can't use it.We also get to touch on cultural difference in building design and the impact that can have, wherever we are, the inadequacy of the assumptions made in standardised guidelines (i.e. the deficiencies in SAP or DEAP), and a few mosquito facts. Notes from the showHuda's employer calfordsedanHuda Elsherif on LinkedInAndy on LinkedInAndy's own practice SimmondsMillsAndy's own case study about the project in TanzaniaRetrofit ReimaginedIf you're nearby, go! More Retrofit Reimagined 2023 is happening in Machynlleth (Centre for Alternative Technology, 21-22 October), and Glasgow (11 November).**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronising way)Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Lloyd Alter introduced us to Passive House Accelerator earlier this year and it turns out that we're doing some quite similar work, promoting high-performance building, sharing innovation, and elevating thought leadership.Instead of starting a blood feud, we decided to invite Zack Semke onto the podcast to talk about what they're up to and see what we can learn from them. As it turns out, they're doing some really interesting stuff and Zack had already interviewed Jeff ages ago. Seems like we should look into collaborating.We had a chat about their stateside perspective on high-performance building, how to make sense of the place of passive house globally, and the schism between PHI vs PHIUS standards(European vs US). It went into a bunch of other things too. All fairly familiar subject matter, substantially less Brexit than usual but more naked culture war nonsense. Whatever we think about the nuance of the standards, it's clear that US adoption of passive house has massive potential to push things forward.Notes from the showPassive House Accelerator Passive House Accelerator LiveZack Semke on LinkedInWikipedia's page about the two passive house standardsThe Phius websiteThe ASHRAE websitePassive House Accelerator's OCEC tool (beta)Zack's interview with Jeff Retrofit ReimaginedIf you're nearby, go! More Retrofit Reimagined 2023 is happening in Bristol (6 October), Machynlleth (Centre for Alternative Technology, 21-22 October), and Glasgow (11 November).**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronising way)Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We've a slightly different episode for you this week. Our guest is Ellora Coupe who we think has a big part to play in the retrofit space without performing one of its traditional roles.Ellora is the founder of Her Own Space, a platform that provides a women-only space to share knowledge, insight, support, and help in all things to do with renovation.It's an incredibly engaged community that has an awful lot to offer the whole industry if we're open to paying attention and offering some support. We're very enthused.Also, you can donate money to Her Own Space here.Notes from the showEllora on LinkedInThe Her Own Space websiteThe Her Own Space Facebook groupThat Guardian air pollution mapThe Task Her website**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCEmail Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

It was about time we had someone from the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) join us on the podcast. So Jeff invited Marion Jammet, the IGBC's Head of Policy and Advocacy, to join us to talk though a recent white paper they published in conjunction with the Institute of International and European Affairs.The paper is titled: Reviewing the Co-benefits of Energy Efficiency in an Irish context and it's well worth a look for all of our listeners. While its focus is on the situation in Ireland specifically, it's relevant to all of us. The themes, problems, and solutions discussed in the document are broadly the same wherever you are, even if the details and the politics differ.You can find the paper here.Notes from the showMarion Jammet on LinkedInThe IGBC websiteReviewing the Co-benefits of Energy Efficiency in an Irish context**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCEmail Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

We often talk about the notion of selling high performance building to people but we rarely seem to talk with people who actually deal with the customers. In an effort to fill this gap we were joined by Andy Mitchell, MD at Green Building Store, a long-established retailer of all the things a high-performance building might require, and a passive house specialist.We start with ventilation before meandering our way through customer needs, the value of design, passive house, window sills, retrofit, and all the sort of things you might expect from us by now.Notes from the showAndy on LinkedInGreen Building Store website**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCEmail Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

More heat-related chat this week. We're with Lisa Treseder of Kensa Utilities joined us. She’s the string-puller behind Kensa’s Heat the Streets project the success of which has garnered national coverage because of its innovation and its success so far (which is now up for an award).Heat the Streets is a pioneering project in which Kensa sought to provide a Cornish village, that wasn’t on the gas grid, with its own grid infrastructure using a geothermal heat network and heat pumps.So, we talked about how the project got started, the challenges of decarbonisation, what they learned about user behaviour, where they see opportunity in the space, what's motivating Kensa, and what they plan to do next There are loads in there for anyone who's thinking about heating decarbonisation and community-based solutions. What's particularly heartening is that this has worked here and shows plenty of potential to work elsewhere too. Vote Kensa for the EHPA's People's Choice Awards And, sign up for more information with Kensa's newsletter.Notes from the showLisa on LinkedInKensa's Heat the streets websiteA webinar about the subject: Low cost, clean heating for new build developments Sign up for Kensa's newsletterKensa Utilities' website**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCEmail Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

'EnerPHit need not be any more expensive than retrofit': those are the words that we put into the mouth of this week's guest Mel Reynolds. He stood by them, even if they weren't his own, but advisedly. It's not necessarily easy, but it can be done, and it can be scaled up.Mel took us through his experience in working on high-performance buildings, learning passive house principles, undertaking his own new builds, and applying everything he's learned to carry out EnerPHit-standard retrofit. The standards and good practices that he's learned have been incorporated as common sense standards to uphold whatever project he's working on, and he's made it work. The long and short of the conversation is that good planning and design will improve your impact (comfort and carbon) without necessarily increasing construction costs.Notes from the showMel's writing in Passive Hous PlusMel on TwitterThe Mews House, in the Irish TimesThe Mews Hous on Instagram**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.agencyFollow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCEmail Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**