The Building Science Podcast

The work of the AEC is broader than buildings. On a daily basis we, collectively and individually, make decisions that have broad and lasting impacts on our lives, our health, and our world. These impacts can be either positive or negative; the choice is ours. This is the perspective of Gina Ciganik and her brilliant and motivated team at Habitable.  Armed with powerful minds and compelling d...

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 v...

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 arc...

How often do you think about modular construction? Is it an idea whose time has come? There are those who view it as the only path forward that realistically checks all the boxes - are they right?  The potential is clear, modular project delivery can save time, save money, and positively impact our current and looming labor and skills crunch on the construction side of the AEC. There is no do...

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 building...

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 decis...

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 u...

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 importan...

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 a...

Josh Salinger Joshua Salinger is CEO and Founder of Birdsmouth Design Build, a residential Design Build company located in Portland OR. In 1999 Josh graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in Zoology and Conservation. In 2007 he started Birdsmouth Design Build with the goal of designing and building beautiful, high performing homes that transform and improve the buil...

Luke Leung Luke is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Fellow; He is also a Centennial Fellow from The Pennsylvania State University Architectural Engineering Department; Board of Directors for USGBC (United State Green Building Council), Illinois; Chairman of the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning) Committee on “Tall Buildings”; Chairman of...

Chris Magwood Chris works with the Embodied Carbon Team in the Carbon Free Buildings Program. He brings focus on carbon-storing material and the residential sector to the team, using his experience with LCA studies and policy development to support the team’s work. Chris has been designing and building zero-carbon buildings throughout his 25-year career. From 2005 to 2018, he was a lead instructor...

How do we design and build affordable net-zero, carbon-negative homes? That important goal is the subject of today’s episode and is the focus of a multidisciplinary team that includes PNNL , Virginia Tech, and Green Canopy NODE . On the podcast today you’ll hear from Patti Gunderson with PNNL who is working with a talented team who are taking a thoughtful approach to this ambitious goal. One that...

You don’t have to be a building nerd or an engineer for a question like this to be relevant and important to consider. There are many reasons why AWHP systems make an attractive alternative to our batch of current “normal” heat pumps that rely on refrigerant for thermal distribution. Some of the reasons AWHP are appealing include: (1) reduced refrigerant volumes, thus reduced refrigerant leakage i...

We spend the vast majority of our time inside yet we actually know very little about what it means to live indoors. This is the case even though what happens indoors impacts us in nearly every way. Our comfort, health and overall well-being all are deeply impacted by what's in the air we breathe and what’s happening in and on the surfaces all around us.  Enter Corbett and Grace Lunsford. Know...

Moving heat with a heat pump is an unsung superhero in the global energy transition. Chances are nearly 100% that you’re using a heat pump right now - to heat or cool yourself, refrigerate your food, or keep your car comfortable while you drive. The vapor compression process may be the thermodynamic engine of a heat pump, but where the rubber meets the road is the heat exchanger, aka “the coil”.&n...

As a society we are learning, slowly but surely, how to design and build healthy indoor spaces for ourselves and our loved ones. Seeing the need to both guide and accelerate this learning process, Paula Baker LaPorte and her wingman John Banta and Erica Elliot MD dedicated themselves to write a book. This happened 35 years ago with the 1st Edition of Prescriptions for a Healthy Homes, last year (i...

Designing and building a sustainable passive house is a powerful moment for all involved - the client, the architect, and the planet. For the owners the process is deeply personal and emotional, with layers of financial impacts and the significant time investment involved. For architects the key is to talk in a way that clients can hear them, and listen in a way that they can hear their clients*....

Stated another way: Why is it that some firms produce a consistent stream of high-performing buildings, while others have trouble crafting a single project that moves beyond traditional practice? The answer is Practice; the environment and practices within which each particular firm carries out or exercises its professional role in the society. Join us in this episode as Corey and Kristof enjoy a...

Topics include the basics of particulate capture, the tradeoffs between filtration efficiency, clean air delivery rate, and energy use, filter media types, and electret degradation.  If you want to learn about the role of filtration in delivering clean indoor air for your self, or if your role in society has agency in making sure your clients are breathing healthy air, you will appreciate wha...

Topics include the basics of particulate capture, the tradeoffs between filtration efficiency, clean air delivery rate, and energy use, filter media types, and electret degradation.  If you want to learn about the role of filtration in delivering clean indoor air for your self, or if your role in society has agency in making sure your clients are breathing healthy air, you will appreciate wha...

The 2020’s have so far been a decade of abundance and progress for society’s awareness and understanding of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Beyond and before the pandemic put IAQ on everyone's mind, researchers have been enjoying well funded support from various organizations, both public and private, to better understand the impacts of indoor air on our health and well being. Plus cutting edge technolo...

There are few roles in society with the broad and lasting power of Architecture. Architecture both reflects and directs the story of a civilization and its cultural milieu by signaling what’s important, who has value, and how society functions. Recognition of the power of architecture in society sets the stage for today’s discussion with Corey Squire, a skilled sustainability consultant, a member...

In a Seattle neighborhood, close to public transportation, Dan Whitmore and his associates are putting the money where their ideals are and making affordable housing happen.  Not just affordable but high-performance Passive House affordable per the Phius standards, plus they have an onsite PV array that unlocks the benefits of onsite power generation. This episode is an interview with Dan as...

Today we are going to dig into The Future of Homes with two home builders intent on delivering that future in the present. How do we make truly healthy, exceptionally durable homes that also respect the environment, the new normal?  What are we doing in residential construction today that we’ll look back on and say “Remember when we used to do that?” Conversely, what are we doing that is “new...