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 interview discusses themes from Bruce’s new-at-the-time book Build Beyond Zero written along with friend and co-conspirator, Chris Magwood, and a host of superstars in the low carbon buildings space, to remind us that the very buildings we live and work in are currently poised to be “one of the most practical and affordable climate solutions instead of leading drivers of climate change.” We all have power and agency in the future of buildings and it benefits us to listen to folks like Bruce King to show us the way and motivate us to move forward. 

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Bruce King
Bruce King is the founder of the Ecological Building Network (EBNet), and a registered engineer with 35 years of worldwide experience in structural engineering and construction. He is the author of Buildings of Earth and Straw, Making Better Concrete, Design of Straw Bale Buildings, ASTM International E-2392, earthen building guidelines, and dozens of papers and articles for conferences and journals. He has organized three international conferences on ecological building, and is the founder of BuildWell Source, a user-based collection of low-carbon materials knowledge, and of the BuildWell Symposia. www.bruce-king.com www.ecobuildnetwork.org

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About Bruce’s Books
Build Beyond Zero

Authors Bruce King and Chris Magwood re-envision buildings as one of the most practical and affordable climate solutions instead of leading drivers of climate change. Build Beyond Zero provides a snapshot of a beginning and map towards a carbon-smart built environment that acts as a CO2 filter. Professional engineers, designers, and developers are invited to imaging the very real potential for our built environment to be a site of net carbon storage, a massive drawdown pool that could help to heal our climate. And if you have not yet read, or recently re-read his first book, please feel encouraged to do so!

New Carbon Architecture

Imagine a building made of sky. For the first time in history, we can build pretty much anything out of carbon that we coaxed from the air. We can structure any architectural style with wood, we can insulate with straw and mushrooms, we can make concrete - better concrete - with clay, microbes, smoke, and a careful look in the rear view mirror and the microscope.

All of these emerging technologies - and more - arrive in tandem with the growing understanding that the so-called embodied carbon of building materials matters a great deal more than anyone thought in the fight to halt and reverse climate change.

The built environment can switch from being a problem to a solution - much nicer places to occupy that just happen to pull carbon out of the air.

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Team

Hosted & Produced by Kristof Irwin
Engineered & Edited by Nico Mignardi
Produced by M. Walker