How can we build better supply chains for the built world? When it comes to the inconceivably vast amount of wood we use in our buildings, one “simple” way is to use less virgin material and use more wood that would otherwise not make it to market. Instead it would be destined to decompose and emit its carbon into the sky. What if, instead, the forgotten trees were salvaged and turned into valuable, usable lumber?
This is a big idea whose time has come. Still, having a powerful idea is only the first step. Making it happen in the real world is the other side of the story. Starting with a focus on a smarter, more transparent wood supply chain, the ambitious team at Cambium Carbon are making powerful change happen in the human side of the wood ecosystem in the AEC. Their work is a key support for firms committed to sustainability.
Join Kristof in a thoughtful conversation with Ben Christensen to learn more about what Ben and his team are doing to find wood impacted by the four Ds: disease, decay, disaster, and development and keep it out of landfills. Instead of landfills the wood goes back into the built world for generations to come.

The company Living Carbon was mentioned during this episode as an interesting website to check out!

Ben Christensen

Ben, a Forbes 30 Under 30 lister and TedX speaker, is a thought-leader and industry expert. He is the CEO and Co-founder of Cambium, a climate-tech start-up backed by Joe Tsai, Steve Case, and many others. By working with cities to divert wood waste, local manufacturers to create sustainable products, and demand partners for offtake they are creating a new regenerative supply chain for urban wood. Ben loves to share his expertise on topics like circular economies, climate tech, leadership, and building teams. He earned his Masters of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

Today we’re continuing the conversation on modular construction w/ Rommel Sulit and Chris Krager. Buckle up for some quotable quotes and impactful ideas in this episode. A recurring theme from part 1 is present here. Could it be the case that because modular delivery must rethink basic assumptions, it may be the first area of the AEC to do what the rest of the AEC is not. At core, the role of architecture is to create the link between design intent and what is actually built. This is not easy, nor simple. It means managing multiple streams of expertise and action so that they are effectively coordinated and integrated into a finished livable space.

Modular requires a high resolution understanding of why we build the way we do, what are its strengths and weaknesses, and, particularly, where are the key leverage points to unlock change. Because as they say in this episode, there’s no way around the reality that when it comes to AEC practices, We have to Pivot at somewhere. Modular delivery is perhaps, at heart, a recognition of this truth.

Rommel Sulit

Founding Principal and Chief Operations Officer at Forge Craft Architecture + Design. With 25 years of experience, Rommel founded Forge Craft with Scott Grinder to improve lives through the art and science of architecture and design. Rommel developed his architectural philosophy working on projects that span demographics, geographies and types at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with Rem Koolhaas, Page Southerland Page, Rhode Partners and BOKA Powell.

Before Forge Craft, Rommel’s work in Europe and across the U.S. centered on ambitious, large scale urban developments. Rommel now oversees projects across Forge Craft’s six Architecture + Design Craft Studios including Commercial, Affordable Housing, Interior Architecture, Residential Use, Modular Architecture and Emergent Technologies.

Chris Krager

Chris Krager has a BA in Business Administration from Michigan State University, and he received his March First Professional from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Krager formed KRDB (Krager & Associates, Design/Build), a develop/design/build company, in 2001 with the intention of creating financially accessible architecture, while focusing on sustainability in the urban environment (www.krdb.com). The firm’s projects cover a broad range from single-family developments, small lot projects, mixed-use and multi-family developments, hotels, creative office, alternative senior living models, and more.

KRDB’s work has been recognized locally and nationally including winning the AIA Austin’s prestigious “Firm Achievement Award” in its first year (2001). Their work has appeared in the New York Times, Dwell, Architectural Record, Residential Architect, and Metropolitan Home amongst others. It has been published in numerous books including “Modern Shoestring: Contemporary Architecture on a Budget” by Susanna Sirefman, “Good House/Cheap House” by Kira Oblensky, “The Perfect $100,000 House” by Karrie Jacobs, and two of Sheri Koones’ “Pre-Fabulous” books. There work has also been featured on shows such as “This New House”, “Small Space, Big Style”, “Dream Builders”, “Dwell TV” and “What You Get For Your Money”.

KRDB’s Sol Austin project, a 40 unit model for holistic sustainable design, was one of the first net-zero capable projects in the US, and was awarded an AIA Austin Merit award, the inaugural Austin Green, “Project of the Year” and was featured on the front page of the NY Times Homes section (www.solaustin.com).

KRDB introduced ma modular in 2008, their line of affordable modern modular homes and are currently working on projects in Austin, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York
(www.mamodular.com). What began as a single-family endeavor, has now grown to
include projects ranging in scale from a 4 unit small lot development, to a 135 unit, 150k sf project on 6 acres.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

Who knew that an indoor pickleball facility could become a touchstone for high performance construction based on passive house principles? The backstory here is worth unpacking as it relates to a powerful force that is not often discussed - money. Return on investment is the aim of the game in the realm of real estate investment and this fact typically filters out high performance passive buildings - but not this time, and it is important to understand why. Our guest today is adept in both the financial and the construction realms and has been able to make a solid case for the value of passive construction in his latest development.

Beyond the financial angle, this project aim to showcase high quality construction while also fostering community through sport. Plus with the heat and humidity of the Texas summers playing sports indoors makes it far more accessible to people. Join us in this thought-filled interview with David Komet of Urban Earth to hear about his journey and learn what he’s doing with his new pickleball facility as he prioritizes the health of the community, the local environment, and the planet.

David Komet

David's professional career began with the Medical Center Guesthouse of America, developing interim stay facilities for patients and their families in major medical centers. From there he went on to be General Manager of Murdock Pharmaceuticals, a division of Nature's Way. His business experiences soon led him to the public capital markets and positions with Prudential Securities and Komet Asset Management managing private pools focused on long/short equity, direct lending and equity real estate investments. His current active projects reflect his deep interest in the sustainability conversation for the built environment, including age in place housing , commercial buildings and controlled environment agriculture.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

At a fundamental level, passive house practitioners are engaged in a rebellion against poor quality design and construction. It’s becoming quite clear that this rebellion has legs and will endure. Given this, a question worth unpacking is whether the durability of the passive house movement is emerging as an architectural style. What are the defining principles behind architectural aesthetic decisions in the context of high performance homes and buildings? What will the history books say about our little rebellion in the years to come? Join us in this rich and thoughtful discussion with two powerful voices at the top of their game in the passive house realm.

Tessa Bradley

Tessa is an optimist. She’s also tenacious and dedicated to creating designs that are stunning and sustainable at once. She uses her powers for good: in Tessa’s vision of the future, architecture is a cohesive part of creating the good life for more people — she believes that excellent design can help make a joyful life.

With a tireless enthusiasm for problem-solving and a drive to tackle the toughest challenges head-on, she approaches every project with a blend of spunk, poise, and nerdy, sciencey know-how.

Tessa’s signature style merges elegant modernism and cutting-edge building science. She’s designed some of the most energy-efficient homes in the United States and has been featured in Dwell, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Sunset Magazine, Design Boom, Houzz, and in books about sustainable design, prefab architecture, and Passive House homes.

Graham Irwin

Graham is the principal of Essential Habitat Architecture, a Northern California design firm focused on healthy, high performance, sustainable buildings built to Passive Building standards. He has a degree in physics, with additional studies in engineering and architecture, and an extensive background in software development. Since 2008, his firm has worked on numerous single-family, multi-family and commercial Passive House projects throughout California and the US, including the first certified Passive House in California, the first certified Passive House retrofit in the US, and the first certified multi-family Passive House in the US. He is a licensed architect and licensed general contractor in the state of California.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

Big news! The Humid Climate Conference is coming back to ATX and it’s time for some appropriate FOMO. We’re just two weeks out. You will be so glad you made the decision to come to HCC in ATX. Both the technical knowledge and perspectives you’ll hear, as well as the realization and experience of the power, vitality and unstoppability of the growing community of folks in the AEC that are stepping up to move our industry and our society forward.

The theme for HCC’24 is Transitions. The work we do in the world as architects, developers, builders, trades, and even owners is important and it is also going through a series of transitions that together represent an altogether new way of delivering buildings to clients and communities. The Energy Transition, the refrigerant transition, the transition to lower carbon designs, both embodied and operational, are all “in play” right now. Now is the time to learn about them from visionary thought leaders and boots on the ground who are both showcasing these transitions and helping make them happen.

Here’s the HCC website and here’s the link to buy tickets.

Code to get $50 off is shared on the podcast!

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

Today’s episode opens up the system of systems that delivers the materials, equipment and tools we use to deliver high quality homes and buildings to ourselves. The focus is on an novel ultrasonic leak detection system. This is potentially game-changing technology that impacts the ability to confidently deliver Passive House quality air control layers. Along the way you’ll learn about the importance of the air barrier and get a glimpse of the vastness of the AEC. This is an expansive episode that covers the human side of what it will take to get us from high quality designs to high performance finished projects - and ultimately to high quality lived experiences for occupants and owners.

If you appreciate the ideas you hear on our podcast, Humid Climate Conference is the conference and the community you’re looking for.

Bernard Hornung

Head of Built Environment, Coltraco Ultrasonics Limited a technology firm in the UK.

Coltraco is manufacturer of a novel and powerful ultrasonic leak detection system.
An example of the types of innovative and trailblazing materials equip and tools that Source2050 is brining to the market. Major Bernard Hornung was educated at Ampleforth College and at The RoyalMilitary Academy Sandhurst. He served 15 years in the Irish Guards, firstly as a Platoon Commander in the Battalion and secondly at the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion. Bernard is fluent in Spanish and in Portuguese Bernard joined Coltraco Ultrasonics In May of 2020 (a good time to switch career focus to air quality and air barriers) as Head of the Built Environment at Coltraco.

John Knapp

Co-founder of Source2050.

Source2050 is the first mission-driven, curated marketplace of energy efficient and high
performance building products that lets builders find and purchase the best solutions for their projects. As you’ll hear he’s a force of nature who has done a lot, and played a varied of roles during his time on the planet.

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker

What if it’s true that “We can not solve our problems using the same level of thinking that created them”? - Attributed to Albert Einstein

Could it be that our building science understanding is limited? Could it be that even the clarity of understanding we gain by viewing homes and buildings as a systems of systems, assemblies, materials and products interacting according to the laws of science and nature - is necessary but not sufficient to cause us to build that way?

Building science is a necessary understanding but it is proving insufficient to cause the change we want at the pace we need. What do we need to add to the building-as-a-system perspective? What will it take to get past Knowing How to get us to Actually Doing what it takes to design and build for the outcomes we need? Using that concept as a lens, this episode seeks to expand the building-as-a-systems view into the society-as-a-system view in order to find ways to allow the power of building science to have proper impact in society. Anyone working in the AEC knows that the barriers to change are solid and weighty. This is what motivates our search for Leverage.

Leverage is a force multiplier. Leverage creates a large powerful force using a smaller force. We need leverage to multiply the force we can exert to cause change to happen in the AEC. Following the insights from Donella Meadows(2), we focus on the concept of Leverage Points - those “places within a complex system where a small change in one area can have pervasive positive impacts”. What we will discover is that according to Donella our mental models of the world, our industry, and our role in it - our deeply held, often unexamined, paradigms, are points of power that bring leverage.

Please join us for this rich and thoughtful exploration to find sufficiency. What will it actually take to bring the future we want into the present we have. Bring your caring hearts and curious minds and let’s have some fun!

Reference: Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer

BSPS, SIGN UP PAGE TO GET ON OUR MAILING LIST, WE NEVER SHARE IT.
https://positiveenergy.pro/the-building-science-philosophical-society

DONELLA MEADOWS BOOK
CHAPTER 6
https://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdf

Wiki on Donella Meadows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donella_Meadows

Donella Meadows Project - Academy for Change
https://donellameadows.org/

Check out the Systems Thinking Resources page!
https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-resources/

Book: Thinking in Systems
https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-book-sale/

Team

Hosted by Kristof Irwin

Edited by Nico Mignardi

Produced by M. Walker