Better Buildings For Humans

Architecture as Activism? BNIM is an architecture and design firm from Kansas City that has been a leader in sustainable design since 1970. In this episode Joe has a conversation with their Director of Sustainability and Regenerative Design, Jeremy Knoll . Jeremy is passionate, knowledgeable, articulate, optimistic, and full of joy! This is a wonderful episode where the topics range from practical...

Many of our listeners know Adrian Lowenstein from his excellent building envelope videos and his new “All Things Façade” podcast. Adrian is passionate about the need to do proper inspections and testing on building facades - the best designs can still yield poor results if installation is not executed properly. In this episode, he makes the argument that proper installation can be even more powerf...

Interior Design plays a major role in driving comfort, wellness, productivity, and overall satisfaction with the spaces we occupy. This episode is a real departure from hardcore building science. Samantha Frew  of Think Curious, takes Joe to school about the ways that interior design can impact all aspects of IEQ. Her work as a journalist allows her to share some insight into important modern tren...

Can architects and buildings scientists learn anything from the world of anthropology? The answer is “yes, we can learn far more than most of us imagined!”. Marcel Harmon is a sustainability consultant with Branch Pattern in Overland Park, Kansas. He is an engineer with a PhD in anthropology. He applies the skills, knowledge and wisdom of these two professions to help create sustainable, healthy,...

The power behind Better Buildings for Humans, Advanced Glazings, recently announced a partnership with world-class insulated metal panel manufacturer, Norbec. In this episode, Joe speaks with Alexandre Belisle, the R&D director for Norbec, about the strategic importance of this new relationship. The ultimate goal is to create better buildings through higher performing, fully-integrated facades...

Lila Allen is the Senior Editor of AD Pro at Architectural Digest. In this episode, we finally get to talk about style! We get a glimpse of how the art of building design impacts our wellness and our motivation. It’s not just about air turnovers and solar heat gain coefficients – humans also crave beauty. In this episode, you can hear a truly joyful human articulate magnificently about current des...

Steve Kemp is a true pro! Through decades of experience as an energy consultant, Steve has formed some strong opinions. Listen as he sheds light on our inadvertent missteps toward good intentions. In this episode, we talk about the pivotal role of the building envelope in energy management. We learn why embodied carbon is becoming more important and Steve has some surprises about the tradeoffs bet...

Improving the energy performance and sustainability of our buildings will require both new techniques and new materials. In this episode, Peter Dushenski from GlasCurtain explains how we can dramatically improve the energy performance of glazing systems by using FRP framing. The energy leak points in most buildings are at the interfaces – the seams where two different systems or materials come tog...

Students in public schools across America are feeling more isolated, while simultaneously feeling overwhelmed. Students, teachers and school administrators are struggling to manage the challenges in our modern education system. When we fail to manage these challenges, the results can be catastrophic. In this episode, we speak with Sonny Thadani, the CEO and co-founder of Robin, an organization tha...

Dr. Alejandra Menchaca is a master practitioner of passive design. You may know her as the co-creator of the famous “thermal comfort tool”. Listen to this expert in daylighting as well as passive heating and cooling explain why she gave up being a rocket scientist to help create better buildings for humans!

A pioneer when it comes to sustainable design, Keith Robertson was known as a 'tree hugger' in his early days as an architect. Keith wasn’t a ‘tree hugger’, he was and still is, a pragmatic idealist. Nowadays, the architectural world has caught up to his ideals and is embracing his way of thinking. This conversation is a must listen if you value sustainability.

In this deep dive into the science of sleep, circadian rhythms and their impact on human health, Joe speaks with Dr. Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Listen to learn about the need to bring natural light into buildings to reset our internal clock and maintain the integrity and alignment of our circadian system. The conversation takes an extraordinary...

This episode is as much a business lesson in entrepreneurialism as it is a conversation about healthy buildings. Chuck Morrison is the Founder and CEO of INVZBL . A serial entrepreneur, Chuck’s latest venture provides disinfecting/sanitizing equipment and services for laptops and tablets – but in the wake of COVID 19, he has created systems to purify indoor air. INVZBL focuses primarily on schools...

In our most forward-looking episode yet, we explore the new materials and techniques that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, reduce our dependence on materials that end up in landfills, and discover what will allow us to create healthier buildings for occupants with guest Blaine Brownell, an architect and the Director of the David R. Ravin School of Architecture at the University of North...

In this special two-guest episode, the CEO of Advanced Glazings , James Satterwhite talks about how the miracle material, aerogel, has allowed translucent glazings to achieve insulation levels that are comparable to opaque walls. This is vitally important because architects can continue to create large glass facades that bring in lots of natural light, provide those critical views to building occu...

In this episode, Joe interviews Vicki Worden, CEO of The Green Building Initiative, providers of the Green Globes Building Certification program. Vicki explains GBI's mission, the objectives of Green Globes Certification, and the ways in which Green Globes is different. This conversation is valuable for anyone seeking to better understand the valuable features of this certification program, th...

This conversation challenges many common myths. Do you know the best way to predict glare? Do you understand non-image forming light? Do you understand how to design to account for circadian rhythms? What about the best way to counter the urban heat island effect? Alstan Jakubiec, an Assistant Professor in both the Faculty of Design and the School of Environment at the University of Toronto, answe...

Stefano Schiavon is a world leading expert on building occupant comfort. His research is showing that so much of our conventional wisdom and current practices are just plain wrong. Joe talks with Stefano about methodologies for discovering which factors most affect comfort. Stefano also makes the case for measuring and controlling comfort factors to suit individual needs.

In this episode, Joe speaks with Dr. David Geisler-Moroder from University of Innsbruck about advancements in research in the field of daylighting and energy modeling and what software tools are available to architects and researchers.

Daylight and views are critical to the well being of building occupants. The world's leading researchers are confirming this fact and learning more about why every single day. In this episode, Joe speaks with Dr. Michael Kent from UC Berkeley about indoor environment design and its importance in meeting the visual, health and comfort needs of the building occupants. It's an amazing convers...