Explore every episode of the podcast Zero Ambitions Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
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| Developers can build sustainably and at scale, if they want to. With Nicola Cronin and Stephen O'Shea (Cairn Homes Plc) | 09 Sep 2024 | 01:11:20 | |
A wise woman once said: "sustainability is the doing, ESG is the talking about it". Today an Irish house-building giant has made a major move on Passive House — publishing a positioning paper and announcing the ongoing construction of over 1,700 homes to the standard. Joining us to talk about this are Nicola Cronin (Senior Sustainability Analyst) and Stephen O'Shea (Head of Sustainable Construction and ESG Reporting).
Where we've often derided ESG factors as a corporate fig leaf, in this instance ESG factors have driven institutional change. Most importantly, the scale of this change clearly illustrates the massive impact that big developers can have. If they choose to try. In short, we're talking about how change is made and why change is made.
Notes from the show
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| How can we embed sustainable design into the construction process? With Mhairi Grant (Paper Igloo) | 26 Aug 2024 | 01:10:01 | |
Jeff invited Mhairi Grant, co founder of award-winning architectural practice Paper Igloo, to join us to talk about the challenges of ensuring that one's ideas for sustainable design actually make their way through to the construction phase. The subject was sparked by a conversation she and Jeff had about lessons learned from a flawed project (that we discuss) and what it takes to ensure that our best, or even just easiest ideas are delivered upon in the build phase. Usually, we'd think about specifying a project in a way that can resist value engineering, but sometimes the project can be scuppered by something as simple as an easily avoidable comprehension issue.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Place-based hybrid finance to rebuild Ukraine and catalyse better building standards everywhere, with Iva Merheim Eyre (SMARTER4EU) | 20 May 2024 | 01:11:08 | |
This week we're joined by Iva Merheim Eyre from SMARTER4EU to talk about her recently published report the Catalogue of Good Practices, a document that details a variety of place-based hybrid finance models that have been used to rebuild and renovate homes in locations as wide-ranging as the postwar Balkan states to London's own Westminster.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Hydrogen, Alex's passivshed, a practical approach to retrofit, and some social housing chat | 10 Oct 2022 | 00:48:54 | |
Guestless, we had a chat amongst ourselves and talked a lot about social housing and retrofit. Eventually, we even got on to talking about Alex's passiv shed. We've got some links below to the things we talked about.
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| ‘Dream house’ sustainability and environmental activism in Hollywood with Ed Begley Jr (Better Call Saul, St Elsewhere, Six Feet Under) | 05 Oct 2022 | 00:54:21 | |
We got a chance to have a chat with a bonafide celebrity, Ed Begley Jr. As well as being a TV and Hollywood actor, Ed is a long-time environmental activist, and in those terms, Ed is a man who walks the walk, not just red carpets. Jeff got in touch with him to speak about the Platinum LEED house he was able to build following the success of his reality TV show. The interview was actually conducted for Passive House Plus magazine, but we thought it might work as a podcast episode too, so we recorded it and have a version ready to put out as a bonus episode on the Zero Ambitions feed. We talked about Ireland, what it's like to be a sustainability-focused person promoting better practice in a land of overconsumption, his long-time interest in environmentalism, the challenges of any resource-conscious building project, and Ed's three pillars for driving progress in sustainability activism. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Retrofitting for heritage, as well as the future with Dr Marina Topouzi (Environmental Change Institute) and Nigel Griffiths (Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance) | 04 Oct 2022 | 01:10:03 | |
The immensely knowledgable and experienced Marina Topouzi and Nigel Griffiths joined us for a chat about retrofit, this time adding heritage into the mix and acknowledging the past, not just thinking about the future. Marina Topouzi is a research associate at the Environmental Change Institute's energy research programme in the Lower Carbon Futures team. Her current project researches deep renovation policy initiatives and policy mixes across the world including both technology-focused and people-focused policies. Marina has been involved in building the Eco Retrofit App - a risk management tool to support low-energy skills literacy and mitigate the risk of poor-quality retrofits. She is a steering group member for the BSI PAS 2035: 2019 Retrofit standards. Nigel Griffiths is a sustainability and energy efficiency expert in the built environment with over 25 years’ of experience as a practitioner, project manager, author, and consultant. As Director of the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance, he works at the cutting edge of sustainability for heritage buildings. He is the author of numerous reports and several books on sustainable building including the Eco House Manual (Haynes 2007, paperback edition 2016) and more recently From Retrofit to Regeneration: A blueprint for post-Covid recovery. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Talking Carbon with a Tier One Contractor, a Conversation with Allan Smith, Low Carbon Manager for Morrison Construction | 27 Sep 2022 | 00:58:16 | |
Alex and Dan took some time to speak with Allan Smith, Low Carbon Manager at Morrison Construction, to find out about how a tier one contractor is approaching the low-carbon game. The conversation took in the viability of the Passivhaus standard at scale, the responsibility for leading your supply chain in learning how to deliver for you, a little bit of retrofit, and a little about the difference between private and public sector demand. **OUR OWN SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Part 2 - Housing Policy with Gavin Smart & Callum Chomczuk of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) | 22 Sep 2022 | 00:41:25 | |
A great discussion with Gavin, the Chief Executive of the CIH, and Callum, who is the National Director in Scotland. We had a fascinating conversation that covered a wide range of housing policies, including new builds, retrofits, the private rented sector and loads. This is the second part of the podcast we recorded.
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| Bonus Episode - United Nations Centres of Excellence for High Performance Buildings with Scott Foster & Jenna Crammer | 21 Sep 2022 | 00:59:38 | |
Last year before CoP26, we spoke to Scott Foster, the Director of Sustainable Energy and Jenna Crammer at the Green Building Alliance in Pittsburgh.
This year between the 21st and 23rd of September, the U.S. will host the first ever Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh. The three-day event will feature a high-level plenary, topical roundtable with energy and science ministers from 31 countries, CEOs and experts, side events, technology demonstrations, and other activities.
As the High-Performance Buildings Initiative – Centres of Excellence will feature throughout the summit, we thought we would rerelease the episode we did last year.
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| Part 1 - Housing Policy with Gavin Smart & Callum Chomczuk of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) | 20 Sep 2022 | 00:40:10 | |
A great discussion with Gavin, the Chief Executive of the CIH, and Callum, who is the National Director in Scotland. We had a fascinating conversation that covered a wide range of housing policies, including new builds, retrofits, the private rented sector and loads. This is the first of a two-parter, with the second out Thursday the 22nd of Septebmer.
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| BONUS EP #2 ZAP x CIH from Scotland's Festival of Housing 2022 - the UK private rental sector | 23 Aug 2022 | 01:01:18 | |
This Zero Ambitions bonus episode is the second part of our CIH collaboration, produced a Scotland's Housing Festival 2022. Again, we're joined by Callum Chomczuk (National director, CIH Scotland) following the 'Four nations - one PRS system' session. That session introduced PRS reps from across the UK presenting their take on the priorities and challenges faced by the PRS housing system, particularly looking at post-devolution divergence across the regions. We were joined by: Alice Simpson | Board member, CIH Scotland Professor Ken Gibb | Director, UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) Daryl McIntosh | Policy manager, Property Mark Douglas Haig | Board member, CIH Cymru and non executive Janet Hunter | CEO, Housing Rights Many thanks to our speakers and all the guys at the CIH who helped us out on the day.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| BONUS EP #1 ZAP x CIH from Scotland's Festival of Housing 2022 - the right to a home | 16 Aug 2022 | 00:36:56 | |
We don't have a standard Zero Ambitions episode this week so we're putting out this bonus episode that we recorded back in May. We are joined by Callum Chomczuk (National director, CIH Scotland) following the festival's opening session "The right to a home". It is the first of a collaborative two-parter we produced a the Chartered Institute of Housing's Glasgow Conference, Scotland's Housing Festival 2022. At this session our speakers talked about why human rights and dignity must be at the heart of our housing policy, as well as the notion that having a stable, secure home is central to every aspect of our health, wellbeing, educational attainment. We were joined by: Gavin Smart | CEO, Chartered Institute of Housing Dr Elaine Webster | Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights Law, and Senior Lecturer at Strathclyde Law School Fanchea Kelly | Chief executive, Blackwood Homes and Care Mike Dailly | Solicitor advocate and principal solicitor, Govan Law Centre Many thanks to our speakers and all the guys at the CIH who helped us out on the day. The CIH podcast can be found on the CIH website, Spotify, and the usual other apps. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Re-up: The Politics of Change and a Real Green New Deal (part 2), with Robin McAlpine of Common Weal | 11 Aug 2022 | 00:53:22 | |
First, thanks for the heads-up, Joe! Part two of our chat with Robin McAlpine is an experienced political strategist and founder of the Scottish think tank, Common Weal. (Again. it's a little profane at points, so be warned if you have kids about.) Over the two episodes, we discuss the political landscape, the actual economics of change, how power is exercised in order to activate and inhibit change, and what plans to achieve a zero-impact society might actually look like. Links to other things that we mentioned **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Peter Rickaby returns to ZAP: a lot of words about energy, retrofit, and natural building materials, all the way from South Africa | 13 May 2024 | 01:20:52 | |
Jeff and Dan are joined by Dr. Peter Rickaby again. We were due a catch up so we recorded the conversation because he's always interesting. Peter should need little introduction, so we'll just say he's our favourite retrofit expert (sorry everyone else) and our most frequent guest on the show. He's only returned to the pod, not to the UK. In principle he's migrated to South Africa and is supposed to be retiring, but that's not exactly worked out so far. He has made it to Johannesburg though. Bu, if you haven't encountered him before Peter is one of the heads behind PAS 2035 and Ireland's BER system, amongst many other achievements. Go back and check the earlier episodes too. We had planned to talk about his experiences with the energy situation in South Africa and what we might learn from it but, as ever, we meandered all over the shop covering all sorts: retrofit, natural building materials, heat pumps, fabric first, fabric fifth, novel recycling, embodied carbon etc.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Retrofit, procurement, contracting, and preparing for the future: a conversation with Jennifer Phin from A.C. Whyte | 09 Aug 2022 | 00:53:22 | |
Last week we met with 'friend of the show; Jennifer Phin, MD of A.C. Whyte & Co., a firm with decades of experience delivering energy efficiency through retrofit measures As part of our ongoing conversation about the challenges around retrofit, she has a lot to offer the discourse. Our discussion included the role of procurement in delivering successful retrofit, the need for greater client-side literacy (to appraise cost vs value), and the desperate need for a stronger education strategy across the board, from building up the body of specialised personnel that the industry needs, to the sorts of education that benefit the occupants, post installation of measures. All common themes, underpinned by a long-term, coal-face contractor's experience. You'll find A.C. Whyte & Co online and on LinkedIn, but we definitely recommend checking the Skills Academy video. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| The state of retrofit – with Russell Smith of Parity Projects and Retrofit works | 02 Aug 2022 | 00:50:57 | |
This week Dan and Sara had the chance to speak with retrofit pioneer Russell Smith, of Parity Projects and Retrofit Works. As a long-marcher in the retrofit space, we talked about the challenges of being a first-mover in the retrofit industry, the perennial problems it faces, and the necessity for significant culture change at all levels. This also included a discussion of the impact that localisation and fostering of collaboration could have on catalysing the development of a much larger retrofit industry. In the light of governmental inertia and the traditionally competitive instincts of the construction sector, collaboration actually offers a viable route to all the players delivering the best possible quality, and importantly, earning more money. Proper collaboration has the potential to deliver the sort of retrofit industry that homeowners, local authorities, and social housing entities really need. Some links to Russell's work **OUR OWN SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Retrofit Reimagined mash up, with Charlotte Bailey of Civic Square | 29 Jul 2022 | 01:21:43 | |
In this episode, Sara speaks to Charlotte Bailey from Civic Square.Sara spoke to Charlotte about how we value approaches to problem solving in the built environment, going beyond technical responses into considering the importance of building trust and community, as well as the slow work of organising. All key facets of her role as Dream Matter Story Teller at Civic Square. Throughout the episode we have included a collection of short interviews from participants and audience members at the festival. Our vox pop lineup includes: Immy, from People Powered Retrofit; Toqueer, from Friends of the Earth Birmingham; Aba, from St Martins Church; David, from Canopy Housing; Cat, from Dark Matter Labs; James, from Rixon Architecture; Bobby, from ACAN; Sam, a local project manager; Sophie, from Carbon Coop; Sarah, from Nettle Fold, and; Scott from Anthropocene Architecture School. To find out more about the event check the following links. If you need any more context, check our episode with Immy Kaur of the same organisation and Jack Minchella of Dark Matter Labs, published in the lead-up to the Retrofit Reimagined festival. The speaker lineup from the Retrofit Reimagined festival Video recordings from the days (YouTube): **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| A contractor's right to reply, but without any contractors, just Dan, Duncan, Jeff, and Sara | 26 Jul 2022 | 00:34:04 | |
This week we didn't have a guest, just Dan, Duncan, Jeff, and Sara. But we still managed to record two hours of chatter. We won't subject you to it all. This episode started out by discussing the right of reply that contractors are probably due on Zero Ambitions (they come in for a lot of stick), and we also talked about the difficulties in maintaining standards from design through to delivery, the way culture needs to change, and a bunch of other stuff. Dan refers to a bit coming after the end theme, it's been postponed for now. There was a lot more to the conversation, much of which we'll put out another episode. We ended up talking about the hot weather (boring by now, surely), and discussed whether we sometimes get a little too political, rather than just talking about sustainability and the built environment. We'll drop it as a bonus episode sometime soon. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Overheating: design and build for heatwaves and a warming world, with Nick Grant, Alan Clarke, and Kate de Selincourt | 19 Jul 2022 | 00:44:59 | |
With much of Europe in literal meltdown, we wanted to talk about another kind of overheating – natural, but very much carbon-assisted, overheating. We took some time to pick the brains of three bona fide experts, passive house consultants Nick Grant, Alan Clarke, and sustainable building journalist Kate de Selincourt. All three have been frequent contributors to industry technical guidance from the AECB, the Passivhaus Trust, and even our very own Passive House Plus magazine. We talked about strategies to prevent or limit overheating right now, a little about the physics of why we feel hot, and how to design new builds and retrofit to reduce the risk of overheating in a warming world. Nick and Alan have had a hand in some of the UK's most significant passive house projects, covering all shapes, sizes, and typologies – from schools to apartments, private homes, and even climate-sensitive archive buildings. Kate, meanwhile, is arguably the most forensic journalist covering the minutiae of low-energy building in the UK, with a long track record of seminal articles for Passive House Plus. **SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| The Politics of Change and a Real Green New Deal (part 2), with Robin McAlpine of Common Weal | 14 Jul 2022 | 00:53:22 | |
Part two of our chat with Robin McAlpine is an experienced political strategist and founder of the Scottish think tank, Common Weal. (Again. it's a little profane at points, so be warned if you have kids about.) Over the two episodes, we discuss the political landscape, the actual economics of change, how power is exercised in order to activate and inhibit change, and what plans to achieve a zero-impact society might actually look like. **SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** Links to other things that we mentioned | |||
| The Politics of Change and a Real Green New Deal (part 1), with Robin McAlpine of Common Weal | 12 Jul 2022 | 01:00:35 | |
This was a much more political conversation than usual, but don't be put off. Robin McAlpine is an experienced political strategist and founder of the Scottish think tank, Common Weal. We mainly wanted to speak with Robin about their Green New Deal, a fully-costed programme of action, explaining how life in Scotland will need to change in order to reverse environmental harm and social failure. We covered a lot too, so it's a long one which we've split into two parts. (It's also a little profane at points, so be warned if you have kids about.) Over the two episodes, we discuss the political landscape, the actual economics of change, how power is exercised in order to activate and inhibit change, and what plans to achieve a zero-impact society might actually look like. We really enjoyed Robin's company and hope you do too. **SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** We also discussed exporting traditional Scots wellness expertise to China, and a few thoughts on the various qualities of Buckfast, the tonic wine that is Devon's primary export to Scotland. That all felt a bit too far off topic to keep in the main body, so we've tacked it on after the closing theme tune. (FYI, it's the most sweary bit too.) Links to other things that we mentioned | |||
| Retrofit Reimagined with Immy Kaur of Civic Square and Jack Minchella of Dark Matter Labs | 05 Jul 2022 | 01:09:28 | |
This week we spoke to Immy Kaur of Civic Square and Jack Minchella of Dark Matter labs about the upcoming Retrofit Reimagined festival, who is taking part, why it's happening, and how you can get involved and attend. For more details check the following links: | |||
| Commercial sustainability, doing it right and making it pay, with Gary Wilburn (EP Projects', AECB) | 28 Jun 2022 | 01:13:41 | |
We had a chat with architect and building physicist, Gary Wilburn. He's the MD of EP Projects (the architectural wing of Energy Pro Group), and Chair of the Board of Trustees at the AECB. He's been a pioneer in sustainable construction, pushing innovation in sustainable architecture and design, incorporating building physics and whole-life value as an essential part of the process, across retrofit and new build projects at all sorts of size and scale. EP Projects website | |||
| Dr Peter Rickaby (part 2) on Retrofit, Heat Pumps, EPCs, PAS 2035, LADs, Climate Change, and everything in-between | 16 Jun 2022 | 00:43:54 | |
In this second of a two-part interview with Peter Rickaby, we discuss the challenges of how we upgrade the UK’s historic housing stock and the difficulties we face with our hard-to-treat properties.
We talk about heat pumps and the additional energy we’ll need to electrify heating as well as low carbon heat networks and where it could and should be used in conjunction with reducing the energy demand for our homes.
And procurement – are the contracts here that we need to deliver retrofit at scale and what do we need from our procurement managers to do so.
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| The UK has a weird relationship with heat pumps: under appreciated influencers, wild pricing, and bad vibes. With Andrew Sissons (Nesta) | 06 May 2024 | 01:21:03 | |
This week we're joined by Nesta's Deputy Mission Director, Andrew Sissons, to discuss his take on why the UK has such a weird relationship with heat pumps. It was inspired by an excellent Twitter thread on the subject that gained quite a bit of attention the other week. We talk through it all so you might as well listen, or just take a look at the thread, either way it should be interesting.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Dr Peter Rickaby (part 1) on Retrofit, Heat Pumps, EPCs, PAS 2035, LADs, Climate Change, and everything in-between | 14 Jun 2022 | 00:30:33 | |
Last week Jeff, Dan, Sara and Duncan met up with Dr Peter Rickaby to talk about all things retrofit. The conversation centred on PAS 2035 and the work that is going on to review the process over the coming year. However, as usual, we got so involved in the various different themes around retrofit that we made enough for two podcasts so this is part one with part two coming out on Thursday.
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| EnerPhit in Action with John Gilbert Architects, Dr Ken Gibb, and Yogini Patel of The Passivhaus Trust | 31 May 2022 | 00:56:17 | |
Great discussion with Yogini of the Passivhaus Trust, Dr Ken Gibb at Glasgow University and Chris Morgan of John Gilbert Architects on the retrofit of the sandstone tenement block in the Southside of Glasgow at Niddrie Road to EnerPHit standards. | |||
| The CarbonLite Retrofit Standard (part 2) and a database for Low Energy Buildings, with Andy Simmonds of the AECB | 26 May 2022 | 00:56:21 | |
The AECB is a network of individuals, companies & organisations promoting sustainable building since 1989. With over 1800 members, their aim is to bring together tradespeople, architects, engineers, and builders interested in low carbon retrofit to train and promote best practices, bring about lasting and sustainable change within the construction Industry and push toward net-zero targets.
In this podcast, we speak to Andy Simmonds CEO of the AECB retrofit standard, CarbonLite, and the Low Energy Buildings Database (LEBD), PH Ribbon and embodied carbon and loads more. | |||
| The CarbonLite Retrofit Standard (part 1) and a database for Low Energy Buildings, with Andy Simmonds of the AECB | 24 May 2022 | 00:28:52 | |
The AECB is a network of individuals, companies & organisations promoting sustainable building since 1989. With over 1800 members their aim is to bring together tradespeople, architects, engineers, builders anyone interested in low carbon retrofit to train and promote best practices. With the aim of bringing about lasting and sustainable change within the construction Industry and pushing toward net-zero targets | |||
| Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), with Stephen Good and Douglas Morrison | 17 May 2022 | 00:51:39 | |
Decarbonising the built environment is the greatest engineering challenge the UK has ever faced. We are now in an unprecedented period of transformation that requires innovation at speed and scale.
The recent rebranding of Construction Scotland Innovation Centre to Built Environment – Smarter Transformation or BE-ST marked a strategic change in how we address the issues within the built environment and climate change.
In this episode, we speak to Stephen Good and Douglas Morrison about the plans the organisation have and the work they are doing around low carbon learning.
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| Reissue #1 The UK Energy Market with Professor Kevin Albertson (ep #3) | 10 May 2022 | 00:47:16 | |
This week we’ve gone back to an episode of the podcast that we recorded in the Autumn of 2021 about the UK Energy Market with Professor Kevin Albertson. The episode was made just after the Ofgem price cap increase in October. We discussed the UK energy market and how it came about, and the opportunity for the Government to get involved, both in regulating and providing energy to try and mitigate fuel poverty. Given the latest price increase and energy becoming unaffordable for many households – with average bills potentially reaching £3,000 this year and fuel poverty affecting up to 40% of households – we thought that we would revisit the chat with Kevin. | |||
| Collective Purchasing with Chris Clarke at Scape Group - The power of procurement frameworks to change the dynamic | 03 May 2022 | 01:02:45 | |
Conversation with Chris Clarke, who is the Performance and Improvement Director at Scape Group. Scape is one of the UK's leading public sector procurement authority within construction and services. Scape is a leading provider of services that accelerate project delivery, embed value for money and create a positive procurement experience.
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| BetaTalk meets Zero Ambitions: we need to do better with our heating, and for our heating engineers | 26 Apr 2022 | 01:12:34 | |
We met with Nathan Gambling of the Beta Teach platform and BetaTalk podcast. A champion for better heating systems, better training and education, renewables, and clean technology. We talked about the challenges and complexities associated with heating engineering, not just heat pumps, and the need to optimise our existing heating infrastructure in order to begin seriously reducing demand because we can't change everything at a stroke. We also discussed challenges and problems around training, finding good engineers, and their value, whether it's really appreciated or not. BetaTeach is his platform for heating engineers. | |||
| ZAP's Good Friday late-night roundtable: should we be building new homes at all? | 19 Apr 2022 | 00:59:41 | |
After our scheduled guest postponed their appearance we took the opportunity to discuss an issue that's been a little bit fractious in the Zero Ambitions chat: should be building new homes at all? Heads up: it was an evening pod, some drink had been taken; apologies if the early reference to war in Ukraine sounds a bit glib, we aren't able to publish the pre-record chat was a little less centred on us; also Sara was on holiday, and Rachael dropped out at the last minute, so it's a bit of a boys-club episode. There's a little mild profanity too. Some links to things we mentioned | |||
| Central heating problems: systemic issues in design, accessibility, and economics | 12 Apr 2022 | 01:11:28 | |
Heating problems: systemic issues around design, accessibility, and economics | |||
| Building with straw on a continental scale and experiencing retrofit as a resident. With Cypren Edmunds (European Straw Building Association) | 29 Apr 2024 | 01:16:34 | |
The other week we had a chance to have a conversation with Cypren Edmunds, President of the European Straw Building Association about building with straw, experiences in retrofit, and the meandering path that led him to the green building trade. For us, it was a really interesting chat because we got to talk about how he got into greed building via sport, the music industry, and playing an active role in his community. The wasn't a built environment professional embarking on a curious diversion in a construction career, it's someone who did something else first and found their way into the building trade later in life, led by interest and making the most of the breadth of their experience. And we got to talk about music for a while, but we cut most of that out because we thought most of our listeners wouldn't be too into it. Notes from the show
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Helping Retrofit Reach a Wider Audience, with author and influencer Laura de Barra | 29 Mar 2022 | 01:00:39 | |
Laura de Barra is an award winning author, illustrator, and property portfolio developer and has previously consulted on government schemes such as the Green Homes Grant around which she has some key observations. What drew us to Laura was her efforts in trying to empower mainly renters to understand and maintain their homes by sharing tips, tricks and knowledge from how to rid your home of mould, to understanding how your drainage system works. Her two books, Gaff Goddess and Decor Galore were a culmination of years of learning on the job of how to improve the conditions people live in. Showing people that it's possible without needing to spend huge money or be reliant on others to fix things for you. You can find out more here https://www.instagram.com/lauradebarra/ | |||
| Social Justice in Retrofit, with Tara Gbolade and Marianne Heaslip | 22 Mar 2022 | 00:57:10 | |
Tara Gbolade is an architect, passivhouse designer and cofounder of Gbolade Design Studio, a design-led, community centred practice, focused on sustainable design. She is a member of the Architect’s Declare steering group, sits on a number of design panels and co-founded the Paradigm Network, an organisation that champions black and asian representation in the built environment: https://www.paradigmnetwork.co.uk
Marianne Heaslip is an architect and expert in retrofit, low carbon design, building performance evaluation and participative design. She is an Associate Principle at URBED, works in collaboration with Carbon Coop and plays a key role in People Powered Retrofit, an organisation that exists to tackle many of the barriers homeowners face in commissioning retrofit work on their homes: https://retrofit.coop
Our conversation started with a run-down of International Women’s day and the current state of the industry and went on to explore topics such as: how retrofit needs to be user-centred, solving complex problems by bringing broader voices to the table, and how we can learn from pioneers such as Wangari Maathai and Kate Raworth, who stepped outside and beyond their professions to have wide-ranging positive impacts.
Tara and Marianne signposted lots of fantastic resources: Book: Culture is Bad for You: Orian Brook, Dave O'Brien and Mark Taylor: https://thesociologicalreview.org/reviews/culture-is-bad-for-you-by-brook-obrien-and-taylor/ Book: Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking: Matthew Syed Community Organisation: Homebaked Community Land Trust: https://homebaked.org.uk/ Training Organisation: B4Box: https://b4box.co.uk
Plus a few more post-podcast references: Community Organisation: Arts Emergency: https://www.arts-emergency.org Book: Programmed Inequality: Mar Hicks: https://programmedinequality.com
And don’t forget to check out: https://www.paradigmnetwork.co.uk | |||
| Training for a just transition, with Caitriona Jordan of BE-ST | 15 Mar 2022 | 00:58:10 | |
Caitriona Jordan from Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) spoke with us about the importance of training in supporting a just transition and shared some of CSIC's plans for accelerating the built environment’s transition to zero carbon. Caitriona is Head of retrofit programmes, one of four interlinked programmes across which CSIC delivers impact, and her passion is in Low Carbon programmes including the training and upskilling in Passivhaus, EnerPHit and Retrofit. Keep your ears open for when Caitriona describes how the CSIC is enlivening the future of apprenticeships and how they are also planning to help homeowners better understand the impact a just transition will have on them. Construction Scotland Innovation Centre is Scotland’s national innovation centre for the built environment and one of Scotland’s seven innovation centres supported by Scottish Government, Scottish Funding Council and Scotland’s Enterprise Agencies. www.cs-ic.org/innovationcentre/future-skills/low-carbon-learning/ | |||
| How We Actually Use Buildings, with Adrian Leaman and Bill Bordass (usablebuildings.co.uk) | 08 Mar 2022 | 01:07:17 | |
Episode #31 with Adrian Leaman & Bill Bordass . If you’ve started looking into building performance and post occupancy evaluation at all you’ll soon come across research and tools that Adrian Leaman and Bill Bordass have had a hand in. Together they were involved in the creation of the BUS methodology, the Soft Landings framework, Probe, which later became Nabers, then Nabers UK and Display Energy Certificates – or DEC ratings. They are experts in making buildings truly usable through feedback and strategy. The pair’s website UsableBuildings.co.uk is a treasure-trove of guidance, research and case studies aimed at encouraging those who make buildings, think about end users, understand their experiences, and take their feedback seriously. Some links to the files we discussed www.usablebuildings.co.uk Zero Ambitions is a podcast about sustainability, net-zero goals, and the built environment. We are focused on what can be done to meet the collective net-zero challenges that lie ahead, talk about good practice (not necessarily best), and obsess about retrofit. | |||
| Ireland's National Retrofitting Scheme, with Eamon Ryan (TD) | 01 Mar 2022 | 00:47:32 | |
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/government-launches-the-national-retrofitting-scheme/ | |||
| Driving the EU to Net Zero, with Ciarán Cuffe MEP | 22 Feb 2022 | 00:51:27 | |
A great listen this week with a seasoned and experienced activist and politician. 20 years after an EU directive introduced energy performance certificates for buildings across Europe, Ciarán Cuffe explains why the directive is being recast to drive the push to net zero. | |||
| Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings Patrick Harvie - "No Pathway to tackling Climate Change without More Ambition" | 15 Feb 2022 | 00:57:08 | |
"There is no path to meeting our climate targets that doesn't involve much more ambition [on buildings]. By the end of this decade, we need to see a million homes converted to zero-emission heating systems. We need to see a much bigger emphasis on energy efficiency.” Patrick Harvie, the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings at the Scottish Government, sets out his decarbonisation vision on this week's episode of Zero Ambitions podcast. Patrick explains the role headline policies from the Scottish Government such as the Heat in Buildings Strategy (HiBS) will play in radically decarbonising Scotland’s homes. Patrick also gives his thoughts on tenants’ rights and the role of the private rented sector, and the role that local authorities can play through local heat and energy efficiency strategies. | |||
| Demand reduction, heat networks and healing our homes | 08 Feb 2022 | 00:39:07 | |
There's no question that we must decarbonise our housing stock. But we believe there must be a comprehensive approach to demanding the reduction in the first place, and not just a focus on low carbon heating sources. As part of this approach, retrofit can deliver so many other benefits besides more efficient buildings. Healthier places for communities to thrive? Why wouldn't we want to do that? | |||
| What makes for a successful retrofit? Evaluating what really matters with Lisa Pasquale | 01 Feb 2022 | 01:01:06 | |
Lisa is one of the most experienced building performance consultants working in the UK. She has extensive knowledge of in-use building operation and management, building physics, low-energy services, and fabric design for new build and retrofits domestic and non-domestic buildings. She takes an evidence-based approach to building performance and is an expert in built environment research, technical risk management and post-occupancy evaluation. We spoke to Lisa about PAS 2035, how it can be improved, and some of the projects she has been evaluating over the last few years. Through our discussion with Lisa, it’s clear that if we’re to meet our climate change objectives and decarbonise our homes, we need to understand the lessons of the past so as not to repeat them in the future. Evaluation is critical, and as a wise man once said, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. | |||
| Campaigning for Retrofit with ACAN and the NEF | 25 Jan 2022 | 00:52:10 | |
Putting our time and energy where our mouths are! Want to know more about taking action on making the changes we need to see around decarbonising our homes? Tune in and hear more about an exciting collaboration between the NEF and ACAN | |||
| The energy performance of buildings matters, to me and EU and everyone we know, with Ciarán Cuffe (MEP) | 22 Apr 2024 | 00:51:04 | |
The Recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is now enshrined in EU law, which has big implications for the built environment everywhere. Even the South East of England. To mark the occasion and get the lowdown on what this all means, we invited friend of the show Ciarán Cuffe back on to talk about it. For those who might not remember, he's the Irish Green Party MEP and Rapporteur to the EU who has been deeply involved in driving it through. And, as a qualified planner and architect he's a politician who really understands his brief.
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION** | |||
| Putting People Front and Centre with Jon Daley of Magenta Living Housing Association | 18 Jan 2022 | 01:03:31 | |
Reference is made some reports and articles in this episode, which we share here. Each Home Counts Review: https://www.eachhomecounts.com/ Housing Quality Network article: "Four key ingredients for sustainability in housing" by Jon Dtraaley | |||
| EnerPHit at Scale with James Traynor of ECD Architects | 10 Jan 2022 | 00:51:13 | |
An interview with James Traynor of ECD Architects about retrofit, EnerPHit, Portsmouth's Wilmcote House project (the largest scale retrofit of its type, in its day), and James's fabulous book about EnerPHit. https://www.ribabooks.com/enerphit-a-step-by-step-guide-to-low-energy-retrofit_9781859468197 https://ecda.co.uk/projects/wilmcote-house-2/ | |||
| Financing Retrofit with Rufus Grantham of Bankers without Boundaries (BwB) | 27 Dec 2021 | 00:55:06 | |
Bankers Without Boundaries (‘BwB’), an innovator in finance, is a not-for-profit powered by former investment bankers to assist high impact projects that benefit the environment and social good. BwB works with governments, institutions, cities, and foundations to mobilize capital advisory and research services.
They apply financial concepts and structuring expertise to projects to align them with the investment needs of capital markets, considering risk reduction, the scaling and generation of financial returns, alongside broader positive co-benefits and impacts. Their focus is to garner public and private institutional support for projects, enabling public funding to sufficiently leverage private capital to generate requisite scalability.
They are committed to catalyzing investment within sustainable development, they are passionate about facilitating necessary solutions and innovation by accelerating entrepreneurship. Reducing emissions in the built environment is a complex problem with multiple components. Many of these complexities arise from an underlying assumption, in nearly all jurisdictions, that solving the problem is the responsibility of individual property owners.
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