Zero Ambitions Podcast

This week Beth Williams joined us to talk about structural engineering and sustainability. She's an associate at Build Collective, (one of Jeff's favourites), and a professional who is long-steeped in green building practice. While there were some rash accusations of 'nepo baby' status, it seems that economic casualty seems fairer. Trained as an architect Beth went where the work was after the global economic crisis in 2008 and found her true calling in structural engineering. As the only Passive House-qualified structural engineer in the UK, she is well-versed in trying unconventional approaches to structural design, planning for the future, and considering best use of resources.Notes from the episodeThe Build Collective websiteHere’s the link for the ACAN talk and a link to the ACAN event page IStructE Climate Emergency infoAn IStructE retrofit eventICE Decarbonisation infoICE Knowledge Networks (some of which are geared towards climate emergency issues)**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify 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 have a transatlantic expert's perspective on the state of sustainable building in Ireland and the UK. Friend of the show, Lloyd’s Alter joined us after a research trip and drinking holiday to the UK.We thought it would be interesting to ask him to tell us about what learned on his travels and he offered us hiss thoughts on wood, the inspiring projects he visited, the people he met, cycling in Dublin, ventilation, air quality, transport, and all sorts.Notes from the episodeThat Extinction Beckons art exhibition at the Hayward GalleryThe Retrofit23 exhibition at the Building Centre Architype's case study of the Hereford Archive and RecordsCentreWhy Do we Make Everything So Complicated, a piece by Lloyd about that 'Radical Simplicity' Nick Grant article he references; I couldn't find the actual article but I'll update the notes with the link if Lloyd sends it onSeeing the Wood for the Trees, by Lenny Antonelli and Andy Simmons, from the pages of Passive House PlusThe Deluded World of Window Replacement, from Lloyd's Substack, Upfront Carbon**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

With the world waking up to the need to rapidly decarbonise buildings, quick-fire, quality education and training tailored to the industry's needs is essential. But doesn't training in how to fly drones for budding building pathologists sound too much like fun?This week we spoke to Lis O'Brien and Benny McDonagh of TUS about an exciting new platform, DASBE (the Digital Academy for the Sustainable Built Environment), which offers an excellent range of eye-opening courses designed to help Irish designers and tradespeople play their part in the war on carbon. For UK and international listeners, this episode is a fascinating insight into the development of new, more nimble educational and training approaches that may bridge the gap between trades and design professionals in the advancement of sustainable building and retrofit know-how.Notes from the episodeDASBE (the Digital Academy for the Sustainable Built Environment)Build Up Skills App The BIMzeED portal - anyone can register with this link in order to access the 12 modules**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

People off the telly don't tend to know the first thing about sustainability, let alone possess a properly anoraky understanding of the subject, but Charlie Luxton is different.Jeff and Alex spoke to Charlie about his approach to sustainability, how to communicate about the benefits of sustainability, asking more questions to our clients, and about the state of architectural education, among other things.For those who, like Jeff, have been living under a rock these past 20 years, Charlie Luxton has presented numerous shows across British TV, including Building the Dream, Homes by the Sea and Impossible Builds (More 4), World's Wierdest Homes, SuperCommuters, Best Laid Plans (Channel 4), Modern British Architects (Channel 5), Britain’s Hidden Heritage (BBC 1), Restored to Glory and Rebuilding The Past (BBC 2), Homes and Property (ITV) and The Great Treehouse Challenge (Sky Living). Charlie and his wife Kate Luxton also run an architectural practice, Charlie Luxton Design, whose work seems to be annoyingly well conceived.Kudos to Grace Fraser from heat recovery ventilation supplier Airflow for connecting Jeff and Charlie.Notes from the episodeSalk Insitute: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/louis-kahn-salk-instituteDitchley park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditchley_ParkThe Camden project Jeff mentions:  https://passivehouseplus.ie/news/design-approaches/study-extreme-overheating-not-reflected-in-building-simulationsCharlie's house - https://charlieluxtondesign.com/charlie-builds-house/Charlie Luxton Design's office, Black Barn Studios: https://charlieluxtondesign.com/buildings/black-barn-studios/ Airthings - Internal air quality monitoring: https://www.airthings.com/en-gb/Skipton Building society's carbon profiling of its building portfolio: https://www.skipton.co.uk/about-us/our-environmentCharlie's Cornish holiday home:  https://www.granddesignsmagazine.com/self-build/charlie-luxton/Helen Macarthur Foundation: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/RHS Malvern garden built from waste materials: https://charlieluxtondesign.com/rhs-malvern/**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)Email Alex and Dan about user research, websites, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify  **END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** 

This week, Jeff, Alex and Dan are joined by Dr. Peter Rickaby, a man who should need little introduction to those who know the sector well, and to the listeners of our podcast, he's been on twice before.To those less familiar with him, he's an expert in the sector, who's devoted a career to improving energy efficiency in the built environment in the UK with a particular interest in retrofit.This week, rather than talk about a particular piece of work or technology, we wanted to talk about a slightly more esoteric subject: who can you trust? In other words, how difficult is to know what to do about anything. It's something we talk about amongst ourselves a lot, and presumably you our listeners find yourselves talking about much the same. The challenge here can probably be best summed up by the endless heat pump debate, in which we're asked to often hold two contradictory and correct positions at the same time: every home can be heated by a heat pump vs. not every home is suitable for a heat pump. We thought Peter would be a great person to talk about it because of the length and breadth of his experience, and he's a great speaker.We took in the housing market, heat pumps, hydrogen, retrofit, snake oil and more. In spite of our conversational meandering and rambling, we did actually manage to come up with, albeit a very short list, of people that we do think you can actually trust. Anyway, we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify 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 joined by Dr. Oliver Kinnane and Dr. Richard O'Hegarty of University College Dublin to discuss their recently published paper: A whole life carbon analysis of the Irish residential sector - past, present and future. In some ways it's quite a technical episode, delving into calculation methodology, but one tempered by lots of meandering diversions. The pair are academics who both occupy positions in the rarefied world of academia and can hold their own space at the coal face of the built environment, and this is one part of a body of work that is focused on unpicking the sort of detail that the industry really needs. Their paper looks into carbon consumption in the residential sector, from both an operational and embodied perspective, forecasting results in line with Ireland's national development plan and climate action plan using a methodology that accounts for consumption, not just production. Notes from the episodeThe paper we're discussing: A whole life carbon analysis of the Irish residential sector - past, present and futureTheir previous paper: Whole life carbon quantification of the built environment: Case study Ireland Grant Chalmers' tweet illustrating changes in regional carbon consumption: April 2023 median carbon intensity gCO2eq/kWh) and power consumption breakdown (%). Data via Electricity Maps, table via R {gt} package.Another paper: Small Penises and Fast Cars: Evidence for a Psychological LinkThe Building in a Climate Emergency Research Lab**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify 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 Alex and Dan were joined by Emma Elston (Sustainability Associate) and Amandeep Singh Kalra (Associate Director) to talk about all things MMC (modern methods of construction). The pair are working on some pioneering projects that are utilising MMC in order to deliver value throughout the supply chain, including a construction pattern book that could be of massive value to everyone involved, long into the future.Notes from the episodeBe First Regeneration website / LinkedInThe Be First design team's InstagramModernise or Die by Mark Farmer We haven't included the UK government website, as per Emma's recommendations (we're sure you'll be able to Google it though)Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A Moore**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 Join the IGBCListen to Accelerate to Zero, Sara's podcast produced at BE-ST, on Apple or Spotify Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

For a change, it's an episode that mainly concerns sustainability for non-residential building design. Friend of the show, James Woodall joined us to talk about his experiences in sustainable architecture in all its complexity, and how to help clients do better work by challenging briefs, asking difficult questions, and then help clients to answer those questions.We also covered the untapped potential for rewarding positive outcomes by promoting them (i.e. a Michelin star guide for building performance), how the effectiveness of building design is impacted is affected by location and climate, the importance of understanding embodied carbon versus operational (and how the emphasis and importance of each is will flip at some point soon), and the great work LETI is doing in creating guidance for retrofitting commercial buildings.Notes from the episodeSkidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)The paper about embodied carbon that we mention: A whole life carbon analysis of the Irish residential sector - past, present and future by Richard O Hegarty and Oliver KinnaneThe LETI website, do check it and sign up to their mailing list, it's right there on the homepage.**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 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**

John Baguley, Director of Technical, Risk and Compliance at Countrywide Surveying Services joined us to talk about how sustainability in the built environment is being affected by market forces, and how energy efficiency is likely to impact market conditions.A vastly experienced professional who has seen all sides of the industry his experience affords him a different perspective on all the usual angles. There are no simple solutions but we discussed how energy efficiency is affecting property valuations (well, it is and it isn't), how change is likely to be driven, and the writing that we're able to see on the wall.**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**

Events conspired against us this week and we didn't manage to get a recording together. Sorry.In lieu of having something ready for you, we decided that we'd recommend some of the things that we're listening to. These are all personal recommendations, some related to our subjects, some not. They're all worth a listen though.-------------------------------------------------The Blindboy Podcast - Topographica HibernicaWeb / Apple / Spotify link to episode-------------------------------------------------Alex's recommendationsEvil Genius with Russel Kane - Marlon BrandoApple / Spotify link to episode Guardian - Today in Focus Mouldy flats and bidding wars: how did the UK rental crisis get so bad?Apple / Spotify link to episode The History of the English Podcast (Alex just said it’s worth working through this one from the start) Apple / Spotify link to episode -------------------------------------------------Jeff's recommendationsLex Fridman Podcast - Sam Altman: OpenAI CEO on GPT-4, ChatGPT, and the Future of AIApple / Spotify link to episode Lex Fridman Podcast - Eliezer Yudkowsky: Dangers of AI and the End of Human Civilisation Apple / Spotify / YouTube link to episode The Blindboy Podcast - Witches Piss and Horses SkullsWeb / Apple / Spotify link to episode-------------------------------------------------Dan's recommendationsTech Won’t Save Us - Why Green Capitalism Won’t Fix Climate Change w/ Adrienne BullerWebsite / Apple / Spotify link to episode  Ten Thousand Posts - Posting through the Housing CrisisApple /Spotify link to episode  Trashfuture - Busting Offsets feat Dr Jess GreenApple / Spotify link to episode  **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 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**