
The Building Science Podcast
Positive Energy 163 episodes Oct 22, 2026
The Building Science Podcast is hosted by Kristof Irwin, principal of the MEP engineering firm Positive Energy. It covers the fundamentals of building science and explores adjacent scientific disciplines. The show examines how the built environment shapes human life on Earth.
Episodes

Thermal Truths
Homes and buildings are more than just boxes filled with air at the right temperature; they are complex thermodynamic environments deeply coupled with our bodies, minds, and emotions. We are lucky to be alive during this time of change in how the AEC understands what creates and delivers thermal comfort. Beyond the static “thermal blandness” model of the 1970s, we now realize that transient therma

The Progress Paradox: How Codes Create Carbon
An interview with Kelly Alvarez DoranWhy do our building codes encourage carbon pollution? How have we landed in a "progress paradox," where older buildings often outperform new ones in both operational and embodied energy? In this episode, we sit down with Kelly Alvarez Doran, co-founder of Ha/f Climate Design, to unpack the hidden impacts of the built environment—a sector responsible for nearly

Demystifying Decarbonization: Data Driven Design
In this episode, Kristof sits down with sustainability expert Josh Jacobs to demystify the ins and outs of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Product Category Rules (PCRs) and ISO Standards that are causing a decarbonization to happen around the world. Translating the complex data of an LCA into a standardized format, EPDs function as 'nutrition labels' for b

Perspectives on Hydronics in the Real World
An interview with Robert Bean and Lance MacNevinIn this episode we unpack the rapidly transforming world of hydronic heating and cooling. We are joined by two seasoned veterans of the industry, Robert Bean and Lance MacNevin. With many decades of real-world experience and hard-earned perspective between them, they offer a thoughtful and engaging look into why hydronics is at the forefront of moder

(Un)Healthy Homes
An interview with Dr. Eva KingOur homes are indoor environments of our own making. These environments exist to make our lives better but often unintentionally expose us to contaminants—chemical and microbial—that harm our health and wellbeing. For genetically susceptible individuals, these routine exposures can trigger a breakdown in the body's natural tolerance, leading to chronic inflammatory an

Our Second PSA, The Humid Climate Conference in Austin May 4th & 5th!
The Humid Climate Conference (HCC) is officially back in Austin this May 4th & 5th, and we have a fantastic line up of speakers and topics for our 10th anniversary. It’s time to step away from the Zoom screen and have some live 3D human interaction! Today’s episode is a public service announcement to join us in Austin to recharge our collective motivation and determination. We often talk

Our Hidden Roommates
An interview with Dr. Sarah HainesThe Indoor Microbiome is the complex, invisible world of trillions of microorganisms living within indoor environments. Its residents include bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses. We live immersed in this ecological niche, for good or ill. A typical home can host between 500 and 1000 different species of bacteria in household dust alone, and thousands of species o

Hydronics: The OG HVAC - Part 2
An interview with Benjamin Jewell.This is Part 2 of our latest series to familiarize our industry with the world of hydronics systems and air-to-water heat pumps. In Part 2 we’re rejoining the conversation to look at controls - the "central nervous systems" of these hydronics. We’re moving beyond old-school mechanical switches to a new class of microprocessor based systems that prioritize "outcome

Buildings as Habitat: Biodiversity-Informed Investments in Public Health
An interview with Helena van Vliet.“First we shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” - Winston Churchill (attributed)The natural world is humanity's original habitat. This habitat supports our physiological energy efficiency and is an important health intervention for the AEC industry. These are core perspectives that Helena van Vliet shares in this joint PHA-Building Science Podcast

Hydronics: The OG HVAC - Part 1
An interview with Benjamin Jewell.In this episode we are once again diving into the world of hydronics systems and air-to-water heat pumps. These systems are poised to transform how we heat and cool homes and buildings in the US. In this Part 1 of a two part series, we’ll be tracing the historical "divergence" that pushed the US toward forced-air ducting while Europe stayed with the efficiency of

Beyond the View
An interview with Andrew Dryden.Windows are pivotal to the lived experience of a home. They impact the basic aesthetic and provide natural light, views, ventilation, and safety. However, they are also nearly always the largest single source of heat loss and gain - it's hard to overstate the importance of getting windows right, as they play a huge role in a building's energy use. Today, we're going

Cementing Carbon
An interview with John Mead.This is a crossover episode with the Spring Street Passive House education and advocacy series.Welcome to a pivotal conversation on the future of our built world. The concrete industry, indispensable for modern infrastructure, is facing an urgent mandate: reconcile its foundational role (pun) with its role as a source of environmental pollution. The scale of the emissio

Systems Thinking to Save the World - 50 years of Serious Commotion
This may be the ultimate systems thinking interview. Beyond building science at the site scale, this is systems thinking to save the world. Gail Vittori and Pliny Fisk III have their fingerprints all over the structural ideologies for ways of thinking that underlie what we now think of as the fields of sustainability, greenbuilding, indoor health and well-being and more. Enjoy this thoug

Navigating the Path to Passive
This is a crossover episode with the Spring Street Passive House education and advocacy series.How do Passive House enclosure decisions actually happen? There’s a stubborn storyline that passive house designs go “too far” and result in a wholly different, and painful, design and construction process. The reality is that designing and building a Passive House is not all the different from building

Blurring the Edges Between Inside and Out
Why do we design indoor spaces the way we do? What are the unseen socio-cultural impacts involved and how do they impact other aspects of the indoor environment that we can not see? Today, we're unpacking the idea that our indoor environments are not just passive shelters - they are complex, multifaceted situations with competing goals and perspectives. As our guest, Dr. Liz McCormick shares, our

Commissioning Matters
Commissioning Matter - Establishing a Culture of CollaborationWho on the AEC team can deliver strategic guidance, direction, and leadership for the functional aspects of homes and buildings? This is the role of a Commissioning Agent (CxA) and it’s a role that matters now more than ever. The term "commissioning" itself means to "entrust into the safekeeping of someone", with its origins dating back

Architectural Epidemiology
How do we expand the positive impacts of our buildings? Now is the time. The building sector is looking at a once-in-a-generation opportunity to flip from being a major contributor to both chronic disease and climate disruption to becoming one of the primary solutions. The key is provide training and perspective to the professionals involved. Why is it that so few architects base design decis

Design Matters: Aesthetics, Ethics and Architectural Impact
“It’s time to rethink the idea that architecture does not sully itself with social or ecological ills.”Jonathan Feldman (in conversation w/ KI)The practice of architecture is a place where ethics and aesthetics converge. We make decisions and lead our lives based on ethics. As such ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society. Aesthetics is a set of principles that are involve

Architecture of Risk: Managing Liability & Uncertainty in the AEC
Risk is real in the AEC. True risk management isn't about avoidance, but about informed engagement. Homes and buildings today measure success in many ways, each of these represent a potential failure mode. Managing risk means recognizing and embracing it, this is a core message from our guest today. Joe Basham is a seasoned construction industry attorney with decades of experience, a keen mind, cl

Building the Movement
In this special episode of the Building Science Podcast Kristof is joined by Ilka Cassidy of Passive House at NESEA's BuildingEnergy Boston '25.Ilka and Kristof are joined by the following inspiring speakers and organizers of NESEA 25:Jacob Deva Racusin, New Frameworks Natural Design/BuildAndrew Himes, Carbon Leadership ForumLaura Bailey, Vermont Council On Rural DevelopmentHeather Ferrell, Prism

Sustainability & Climate Wordcraft
Understanding climate action through the words we useKeep an ear out for an easter egg after the outro on this one.The words we use matter. Terms like "sustainability”, “net zero” and “resilience” signify our industry's evolving priorities and concerns. These “buzzwords” reflect current cultural circumstances within the AEC industry and larger society while also actively shaping how we approach an

Telling Better Stories
“The world is not made of atoms, the world is made of stories”Muriel Rukeyser“Where do buildings come from?” is a question that comes with a story. Less often asked, “Where do buildings go?”. The evolving story human society tells itself in answer to those questions is worth unpacking thoughtfully. That’s what happens in this episode. Join Kristof as he shares a conversation with Greg Esparz

Architecture Out of Balance
The tension between aesthetics and performance in architecture is a critical and complex issue in contemporary design. Architects are increasingly and appropriately being tasked with designing buildings that are not only beautiful but also functional in terms of impacts on owners, occupants, resources, and planetary ecosystems. The contrasting view, one where architecture is principally form-makin

An Architectural Optimist Wrote a Book - Part 3, Causing Good Design to Happen
Join Kristof and Corey Squire in this third and final installment of their interview series discussing Corey’s book People Planet Design. In Part 1, they opened the discussion at the logical starting place of the important Why questions. Why design matters to society and Why architecture is the place to address so many important issues we face today. Part 2 addressed How to make good design happen

Designer Desiccants, Molecular Filters, and the Prospects of Dehumidification
What is the future of dehumidification? Turns out this simple question opens up an exciting view of the future of IAQ generally. The goal of a low energy method for removing water molecules from a flowing airstream boils down to some way of identifying, grabbing and holding onto them. Essentially we are talking about a designer desiccant or molecular filter that lets the air pass through while it

Unlocking Electrification with Passive Buildings
Passive house has become synonymous with the rapidly arriving new normal for our homes and buildings and offers layers of positive outcomes. Thermal comfort, IAQ/IEQ, durability, and low energy use are typically the incentives for owners, architects, builders and trades. As it turns out, there may be broader societal benefits tied to thoughtfully managing heat flows in and out of a building as wel

More Influence, More Impact, More Satisfaction
Empowering the practice of architecture to achieve consistent, predictable, positive impacts on human well-being and planetary health is perhaps one of the most pressing topics in the AEC today. Starting with a review of the history of the search for Bioclimatic Law, this conversation with Dr Bill Braham, FAIA is an invitation to architects to reclaim their power. Bioclimatic Law is the relat

Tools For a Habitable Future
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 da

Rethinking The Wood Supply Chain
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

Modular Part 2 - Working Skillfully Within Constraint
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 arch

Modular Part 1 - It doesn't have to be so *$%! Hard!
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 dou

Pickleball Goes Passive
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

Is There a Passive House Aesthetic?
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

Our First PSA, Humid Climate Conference in Austin, May 6-7!
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

Ultrasonics Comes to Market
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

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

Houses are Made of Stories
Josh SalingerJoshua 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 built

Entropy, Insight and Our Time to Shine
Luke LeungLuke 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 t

Wood is Good?
Chris MagwoodChris 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 i

Circles All the Way Down
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 fo

Air-To-Water: Hydronic Hype or the Future?
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

Not Your Grandpa's Home Improvement Show
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. Knowi

Excuse Me, Your Coil is Leaking
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

Healthy Home Revolution
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

Green Glop & Hair Shirts - Perspectives on Client Communication
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*.

An Architectural Optimist Wrote a Book Part 2 - Design Excellence through Practice
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

Filter Feast Part 2
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

Filter Feast Part 1
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 “Roaring 20s” for IAQ
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

An Architectural Optimist Wrote a Book
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

Making Quality Homes A(a)ffordable?
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

The Future of Homes
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”

Hempcrete Homes: A Growing Industry
Why is the AEC industry still mostly ignoring hempcrete? There are a host of good reasons to use this renewable and low environmental impact material in homes and buildings - including indoor air quality, acoustics, thermal comfort, and energy performance - yet the mainstream market is still largely uninformed and continues to deliver today’s houses with yesterday's material palettes. With i

Architectural Solar: A New Normal
The best place to generate electrical power is where it’s used. We all know that solar PV adds value for both owners and society by improving resilience, reducing energy costs and decreasing carbon emissions and climate impact. Yet traditional design practices and compressed schedules make it challenging for project teams to include integrated solar on their designs. The solution is Architect

Build. Not too much. Mostly with plants.
There has never been a better time or opportunity to completely rethink the way we approach the practice of architecture and construction. With climate change looming over us, becoming more visible by the day, a critical look at the materials we use and their impacts on emissions is needed. Enter natural building materials. Which ones are legit? How can we use them? Join Kristof as he interviews a

Building Science Journalism
We live in the information age. The quality of the information we receive determines the quality of our decisions and the effectiveness of our actions. It is also no secret that money holds influence, and the methods through which we obtain information, as well as the economic dynamics of the building science and construction industry, are undergoing constant change.We invite you to join us in exp

Low Carbon Buildings - What’s Next? Wow. Just Wow
You’re in for a feast of ideas here. Join us as Kristof talks with Bruce King about his work as a stubborn optimist and powerful motive force in the realm of low carbon buildings. Bruce joins a wise heart with a clever mind and a deep understanding of the technical aspects and implications of the role of energy and carbon in how we, as a society, deliver buildings to ourselves. Today’s interv

Direct DC-to-LED Lighting (Bonus Short Episode)
Producer’s note: after a regrettably long COVID-19 disruption, this fun bonus short episode (recorded live in 2018) finally gets to see the light of dayAre you open to rethinking how you provide lighting to your home? What if there were a lighting system that not only saves you time, money and energy, but also enhances your experience of the living space?I think we all already know that runn

An Introduction to Embodied Carbon & Buildings
Is a building more like a river or a rock? A building seems to just sit there*, so in that sense it seems to be more like a rock. But in reality every building material, and thus the entire building itself, is a snapshot in time of a river of resources and energy flowing from natural ecosystems into our use, and then, ultimately flowing back into the environmentAll along the way, this flow of ener

Do you like it hot? Do you want it now? Do you want it to last forever?
Gary Klein is in hot water and that’s a good thing. Hot water is the often-overlooked aspect of energy use in our homes and buildings and that makes zero sense. Energy for water heating is either the second largest, or in some cases the largest single energy use and does not get enough attention.As if that were not motivation enough, hot water is also the place where convenience and energy savings

Building Passion For Passive
Knowing how to build fantastic high performing buildings is not enough; we need to cause that to actually happen. We need high performance buildings to exist. Knowing how is necessary, but also clearly not sufficient. During this time of increasing urgency to realize new performance outcomes, we need new skills in order to fulfill our roles in society as architects, engineers, builders and trades.

Proving Passive House Is Practical, Possible, & Promising (In Climate Zone 2A)
Join Kristof as he interviews architect and Passive House nerd, Trey Farmer, in a wide ranging discussion about remodeling his personal residence. The ambitious project was an endeavor to prove to the Austin architecture and construction community that beautiful, well designed single family passive houses were not only possible in the market, but also quite practical and able to be built without b

The Business of Building Science
Happy New Year! Welcome back to the 8th season of our little show. We can hardly believe it. In this episode, we ask the question “what is it actually like to run a business that focuses on building science?” Turns out, we know something about that. Join Kristof and Miguel in a discussion about the challenges, joys, and future of business model innovation as building scientists and entrepreneurs.

Energy With Memory
The famous astronomer and educator Carl Sagan once said, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.” What Sagan was pointing at is the fact that for us to really do anything from scratch, we have to understand the system in which we exist.The planet and all its inhabitants exists as a massive, complex system of interconnected systems that we don’t always see

Keep It Dry !
Do we really need dehumidifiers when we’ve got VRF units? How do dehumidifiers work? Why do we need dehumidifiers now when we’ve never had them before? These are valid questions that deserve scientific answers and we’re here to dig in. Join Kristof as he interviews David Treleven and Nikki Krueger of Madison Industries (makers of dehumidifiers, ERVs, and many other innovative indoor air quality p

PFAS In Building Products
One of the most uncomfortable topics for anybody to wade through is the nearly ubiquitous and constant exposures to hazardous chemicals and compounds which we all encounter in daily products. The construction industry is no different - many building products are chock full of chemicals that are known health hazards to humans. As the body of scientific knowledge about these chemicals and their heal

Zen & The Art of Continuous IAQ Monitoring
The world of indoor air quality monitoring can feel like the Wild West and it’s high time we sort it out. Join Kristof as he interviews Stanton Wong, President of RESET Standard, about the landscape of sensor technology, accuracy, data reliability, how SARS2 moves around public spaces, and a range of other indoor air quality topics. You may be surprised by how deep this field of applied science ca

To Grow A Home, To Grow A Future
Industrial hemp is poised to proliferate across many verticals in the construction materials marketplace. It’s a raw material with an unfortunately politicized history and so many potential applications it’ll make your head spin. Join Kristof and Miguel in conversation with Mattie Mead and Henry Valles as we explore the many intersections of industrial hemp and the built environment. TeamHosted by

One Wheel Down and The Axle Dragging: The Texas Grid Failure Explained
Valentines Day 2021 began a hellacious week for Texans as not one, but multiple critical infrastructure grids failed amidst prolonged record low temps. Join Kristof as he interviews Dr. Joshua Rhodes and Dr. Charles Upshaw, of IdeaSmiths (and of Positive Energy if you don't mind the bragging). In this episode we discuss what happened in Texas, separating myth from fact and understanding the role o

Indoor Data Quality
We’ve talked a lot about indoor environmental quality on this show, but what how do we measure that and how do we know that our measurements were consistent and accurate? Turns out, data quality in the built world can be quite opaque and challenging to reign in. But there’s hope. Join Kristof as he interviews Anjanette Green, Director of standards at RESET about the nature of data quality in the b

What Would This Old House Say?
This Old House has been the gateway experience for countless numbers of building science enthusiasts and we’d wager many of you listeners have intersected with the show at some point in your life and career. Media, whether television or podcasting, is about so much more than sharing information - it’s about telling stories. And the important stories are the ones that change paradigms and facilitat

"Faster Horses" & The Future Of HVAC
When Ken Gehring began his career servicing dairy equipment, who would have guessed that he would go on to pioneer some of the most important equipment to hit the HVAC market? But that’s exactly what he did, leading the charge in the development and creation of the Therma-stor product lines, which include the Santa Fe and Ultra-Aire dehumidifiers that you’ve heard us talk about many times. Join Kr

Through The Looking Glass Of High Performance Windows
What do we actually know and have available to us in the United States market when it comes to high performance windows? The answers may surprise you. Join Kristof as he interviews Sam McAfee of Zola Windows in a wide ranging conversation of window performance, market dynamics, and the future of high performance windows.Sam MacAfeeSam McAfee has been a student of green building ever since buying h

Ventilation & Virus Transmission Prevention (And Other Topics Too)
How well do we understand the behavior of the novel coronavirus in our homes? What can we do to make our homes healthier? What is a CERV? These questions open the door to a rich exploration of the role of ventilation in healthy indoor environments. And you’ll be surprised to find how intimately connected ventilation is to a future powered by solar PV. Join Kristof as he interviews Ty Newell in a b

The Westford Summer Camp Blues
For the first time in its 24 year history, the Westford Symposium on Building Science was forced to take a hiatus by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (it would have began as of the release of this episode). If you’ve never heard of this conference, you’ve been missing out. It’s one of the most incredible hubs of building science knowledge exchange and community building in North America. Obviously, we were

Obsessed With Humidity
The world’s climate is changing and so the way we think about design needs to change with it. But before we know what that looks like, let’s dig into the science and understand how it might change. And as we think about expanding humid climate zones in the era of climate change, what does the cutting edge dehumidification technology look like? You’re going to find out. Join us as Kristof interview

Constructal Law Meets Building Science - Flow Systems Are Everywhere
It’s not often that you get to have a discussion with someone who has uncovered a fundamental physical law of the universe, but that’s exactly what we got to do in this unmissable episode. In a very entertaining and fascinating departure from our usual discussion of building science, we dive deeply into the concepts underlying Contstructal Law with its discoverer, Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke Un

Stewardship & The Future of Engineering
Engineers can fulfill a vital role in their communities through civic activism, proactive engagement in shaping public policy and leading in the civic realm. This segment of the Ideas Institute will explore the future of civic activism and leadership in the public realm for engineers. It is time for the engineering community to contribute to this re-examination in the spirit of technological and e

Passive House Accelerator
Join Kristof as he interviews Zack Semke and Michael Ingui of Passive House Accelerator on all the great work they’re doing to build community in the building science field.Passive House AcceleratorMissionTogether we can make a difference! We have seen the power of collaboration.The Passive House Community is creative, driven, and Collaborative. Passive House Accelerator has been created to make i

A House Needs To Breathe... Or Does It?
Allison Bailes is writing a book! Allison writes the popular Energy Vanguard Blog. With a PhD in physics and thousands of hours spent in attics and crawl spaces, he knows a thing or two about houses. Join Kristof in a discussion with his old friend and colleague as they explore common myths about houses and talk about your next book purchase.Dr. Allison Bailes IIIWith a background in physics and n
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