The Building Science Podcast

To support the 2030 Challenge, the American Institute of Architects created the 2030 Commitment Program, aimed at transforming the practice of architecture to respond to the climate crisis in a way that is holistic, firm-wide, project-based, and data-driven. Over 400 A/E/P firms have adopted the 2030 Commitment, and firms from all over the country have been tracking and reporting projects since 2010, with over 2.7 billion ft2 of project work reported in 2016 alone. Join Kristof as he interviews Nathan Kipnis of Kipnis Architecture + Planning as they discuss the 2030 Commitment and all topics in-between.

What do heat pump water heaters, ERVs, and low static VRF systems have in common? You’re picturing them and we’re talking about them! Join Kristof in a wide-ranging discussion of building science topics with consultant John Semmelhack of Think Little.  John Semmelhack is the owner of Think Little. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, a member of the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) Technical Committee, and is a PHIUS Trainer for the Certified Passive House Consultant and PHIUS+ Rater training programs. He sits on the boards of the Passive House Alliance U.S. (PHAUS) and the Passive House Alliance U.S. – Capital Chapter. John is also a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater, a Technical Advisor to builders in the EarthCraft House Virginia green building program, and a BPI-certified Building Analyst. He is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business (no, not that “LEED”) at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Let’s face it - most people can’t build custom homes just like most people can’t afford a Lamborghini. It’s just not a financial reality for so many of us. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want a car that doesn’t work well and it doesn’t mean we don’t want a high quality home to live in. It sure as hell doesn’t mean we don’t want a healthy environment for ourselves and our families. So what are the economic drivers of a healthy, high quality, affordable home? Join Kristof as he interviews Ben Broughton about the trends in construction economics, job site processes, market dynamics, and the ins-and-outs of quality.

Kristof interviews Duane Jonlin from The City of Seattle about their visionary commercial building air tightness code requirements.

This week’s episode features an interview with Corbett Lunsford on the HOMEChem experiments that were being conducted alongside the filming of a brand new, building science focused show called Home Diagnosis TV (be on the lookout for that). Of course, we're really excited about the potential of Indoor Air Quality education coming to the masses. It's the future fulcrum point of housing and health care. The HOMEChem experiment (House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry) took place in the month of June 2018, incorporating measurements from over 15 research groups from 9 universities to identify the most important aspects of the chemistry that controls the indoor environment. The HOMEChem field study is expected to kick-start and energize the Chemistry of Indoor Environments community of scientists, while also answering interesting preliminary science questions on the chemistry of indoor environments in a real-world experimental setting. This brings an excellent opportunity for outreach to the broader scientific community and other stakeholders, such as other funding agencies, the local and national media, and the public.

There are myriad known and emerging contaminants that negatively impact occupants. This episode will break this complex and daunting topic down into 5 clear and actionable principles. The 5 Principles Of A Healthy Home: (1) Start with a good enclosure (2) Minimize indoor emissions (3) Keep it dry (4) Effectively capture particles (5) Ventilate

1. How energy is a technology, not just a fuel, 2. Air filters can be a poignant moment in life! 3. How “health is the new green”

Kristof is away in Europe visiting his family so today you get me - your ever faithful producer Miguel. I’ve got a treat for you today - a surprise, bonus if you will, short episode of the podcast.

Here at The Building Science Podcast, we're dedicated to continuing to broaden the horizon of our systems thinking beyond just the enclosure and climate to consider and critically evaluate the other systems that deliver conditioned space to society. In that spirit, it's easy to see how much the perspectives of each team member in construction matter - especially when we're striving to integrate our processes and delivery efforts. One voice that's often missing from the conversation is the voice of the HVAC contractor. So we decided to give a little love to our HVAC contractor compadres and interviewed two of the best in Central Texas. Explore the inner workings of two excellent HVAC contractor's challenges, joys, business realities, and aspirations for the future of the industry. Kristof interviews Patrick Wilks of Wilks Heating & Air in San Antonio, TX and Nacho Moreno of New Results in Austin, TX. The conversation is broad ranging and insightful. 

In this episode of the podcast, we interview Brad King of Earthbound Builders in Austin, TX. Brad is the brains and brawns behind applications of locally abundant, natural, minimally processed, low embodied energy building materials.

The Building Science Podcast got a couple of Press Passes and went to New York City last week for the AIA Conference on Architecture, 2018. One of the most thoughtful conversations we had was with Corey Squire and Tate Walker about the new Committee On The Environment's new Toolkit. It's a resource-rich document that helps firms and projects of any kind measure their progress against benchmarks of sustainability without restrictive prescription pathways, while keeping outcomes at the central focus.

Strap in, y'all - this is one is... technical. Capturing particles, even and especially the ones too small for you to see, are where the rubber meets the road for IAQ. This all-important task is the role of the often-overlooked air filter. Today we talk about one of the most important building science topics that many folks don't know enough about - air filtration. Who knew there was so many important considerations for this often overlooked and ignored component of our industry.

When we think about building science, we're thinking about systems and the unseen forces that contribute to the success or failure of a building. Some of the largest and most complicated systems and unseen forces in the AEC industry are the contracts that make or break a project. Join Kristof as he interviews construction attorney, Joe Basham, on all things funky and legal in the AEC industry.

In this episode, Kristof interviews Trevor Brown, the Quality Control Manager of JE Dunn Construction to discuss war stories and the inside baseball of commercial construction.

The heat exchanger coil in our HVAC system is where the magic of heat transfer happens - this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to "conditioning" air. If the word "coil" is not connecting to a mental image, you can think of the radiator in your car. Just as in a car, when it's working you don't give your radiator much thought - we often ignore our HVAC coils, and at our peril. All of the indoor air we heat and cool flows through our HVAC coil. Unfortunately sometimes our magic, all-powerful coils are coated with a smelly, gelatinous, living glop in the form of an unwanted biofilm.