passivhaus

In this first BE-ST Fest 22 interview we spoke with Chris Stark, CEO of the Climate Change Committee (or Committee on Climate change, both names appear to be out there), and returning guest Stephen Good, CEO of BE-ST to discuss the journey to net zero as well as touching upon the BE-ST Fest Summit itself.

Chris was there to give the opening keynote address, discussing the role of the built environment in addressing climate change. After the main event he and Stephen offered us a few more of their thoughts on why the journey to net zero is tremendously exciting but requires more ambition, more imagination, and perhaps taking some inspiration from the Victorian's infrastructure investment programmes.

ICYMI - BE-ST Fest 2022 was a day of inspiring speakers, expo, demos, workshops, and other activities, aimed at promoting and advancing our journey to a zero carbon built environment.

Some references from the show

• Chris Stark
• Stephen Good
• Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST)
• BE-ST Fest 2022 programme

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Last week, we went to BE-ST Fest 2022, we've definitely mentioned it before. We mention it again because while we were there we took an opportunity to catch up with some of the speakers and some friends of the show. 

So, we have a little episode with Sara, Alex, and Jeff to set the scene and introduce the series, as well as offering a little of their experiences having been there as host, panelist, and interviewer. 

In this friendly natter we also discussed lighter topics including: 

• Did Jeff waffle on for 7 minutes, or was it 10? 
• The unexpected role the podcast had to play at BE-ST Fest 
• How pleased we were to have our first ever in-person podcast audience 
• What should they call next year's BE-ST Fest?

ICYMI - BE-ST Fest 2022 was a day of inspiring speakers, expo, demos, workshops, and other activities, aimed at promoting and advancing our journey to a zero carbon built environment.

Some references from the show

• Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST)
• BE-ST Fest 2022 programme

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

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We caught up with friend of the show, Robbie McGrath, Head of Sustainability at D/RES Properties in Ireland. He's a mechanical engineer who meandered his way into sustainability, working as a sustainability consultant with corporate asset managers in the nordics and (bizarrely,) the British Embassy in Finland.

We talked about loads of stuff. He's really interesting.

Some of the references from the show

• Silken Park, Ireland's largest commercial Passivhaus development, as featured in Passive House Plus, as well as D/RES's own case study. 
• D/RES's Tinakilly Park, the recent development that we discuss, that featured heavily in a recent issue of the magazine*.
• The GRESB website. Bizarrely, I couldn't find an explanation of the acronym anywhere on there; I'm sure that Robbie explains it at one point. Otherwise, it seems like a really good scheme.
• That story about rushing foundations to beat building regs in the UK.
• Ireland's Building Energy Rating (BER) system for judging A1 on homes.
• Polar Night Energy, the Finnish company that heats up sandpits.

*"The magazine" is always Passive House Plus.

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

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Part two of our long, rambling chat with Tania Jennings about delivering public sector projects including an Energiesprong scheme. She has experience that wraps in collective procurement as well as keeping the momentum up throughout lockdown. 

Tania has a keen insight into the many opportunities, as well as the difficulties, in trying to make our homes safer, warmer, and more efficient. 

Some of the references from the show.

• BE-ST Fest 2020
• Energiesprong in the UK
• Retrofit Reimagined
• Energiesprong in a day  
• That 2040 documentary
• The West London Alliance, the public sector partnership between seven West London local authorities of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, and Hounslow. 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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. 

• A link to the BE-ST Fest 2022 web page.
• Jan Rosenow's article 'Is heating homes with hydrogen all but a pipe dream? An evidence review'.
• That Richard Seymour book: The Disenchanted Earth: Reflections on Ecosocialism & Barbarism (it's really good and a very easy read).
• Ryan Philip's blog 'Heat Pumps are not the Answer'.
• That Guardian article about how the Scottish rent cap will affect social housing.
• The white paper we wrote about how social housing could be a catalyst for the retrofit industry.
• We'll add a link to some photos of Alex's shed. Keep an eye on his LinkedIn profile.

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

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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**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

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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**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

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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**
(We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs)
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
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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.

The CIH podcast can be found on the CIH website, Spotify, and the usual other apps.

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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
Common Weal website
Common Weal's Green New Deal for Scotland
Common Weal t-shirts
La Haine, "so far, so good" clip
Do watch the whole film though, La Haine
Tales from the Mall, by Ewan Morrison 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.

• Join the AECB 
• Join ACAN
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Email Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User Experience)

**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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
https://parityprojects.com
https://retrofitworks.co.uk
https://cosyhomesoxfordshire.org

**OUR OWN SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
(We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs)
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
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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):
1. Systemic Challenges and Opportunities
2. Existing and Emerging Practice

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
(We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs)
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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**
(We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs)
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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**
(We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs)
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Links to other things that we mentioned
Common Weal website
Common Weal's Green New Deal for Scotland
Common Weal t-shirts
La Haine, "so far, so good" clip
Do watch the whole film though, La Haine
Tales from the Mall, by Ewan Morrison 

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**
Join the AECB
Join ACAN
Advertise or subscribe with Passive House Plus (UK edition here)
Speak to Alex and Dan about websites, branding, and communications (Everything is User Experience)
**END OF 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
Common Weal website
Common Weal t-shirts
La Haine, "so far, so good" clip
Do watch the whole film though, La Haine

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:
bit.ly/RetrofitReimagined22
https://civicsquare.cc/
https://www.architectscan.org/
https://darkmatterlabs.org/Team