Episode 379. Kathleen interviews Prudence Ferreira about the power of design and engineering to solve some of our country’s biggest housing and energy issues. Prudence serves on the PHIUS Board of Directors where she was previously president. She has consulted on over 30 passive design projects across seven different climate zones.
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PODCAST INFO:
Host: Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau
Website: https://www.thekathleensessions.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekathleensessions
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–Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Twitter
TIME STAMPS:
00:30 Passive design definition
00:35 A climate specific, cost optimized set of building science principles
00:55 A logical pathway to Net Zero
01:20 What constitutes passive design
2:45 Building as assets vs liabilities
04:25 Continuous insulation
04:35 Avoidance of thermal bridging
05:35 Energy recovery ventilation
09:36 It comes down to how we design and construct the building
10:10 Maintain comfortable temperatures reagardless what is going on outside in terms of extreme temps
10:35 Allows our homes to protect and shelter us regardless of what happens to the grid
11:45 It’s about paying amazing attention to design and then construction execution
12:41 Cost differentials to build with passive design methods
14:22 Scale – large projects like multifamily and dorms, drives down the costs and may even not add to the cost at all because of savings in other areas like mechanicals
14:30 Passive design certification
15:30 Scale and costs further explained
19:00 Large scale at a 1% cost premium for passive design, setting up a pathway to net zero buildings.
19:40 We have the technology, we have the building science know how to do net zero energy buildings that don’t cost any more than conventional buildigs
21:00 Less reliant on heating and cooling needs, thus financial savings once the building is operating
21:25 What kinds of energy reductions do we see with passive design and how does that equate to operating cost differentials?
23:15 Greatly reduced utility bills due to energy preservation. In a cold climate, the buildings heat themselves
23:35 Use and contain the heat thrown off from people, appliances, etc.
24:00 Not wasting any useful internal gains
24:15 How do energy reductions in passive design compare to conventional construction and other certifications like LEED
26:45 PHIUS – Sets passive house standards for North America
27:30 Climate specific passive house vs German passive house methods which are one size fits all
28:00 Why have we been slower in the United States to adopt this very basic, solid engineering approach?
30:40 The politics of energy. Not a left vs right thing, just solid engineering and building design.
34:00 Passive design and self reliance
34:30 Not dependent on the grid, energy independent
35:30 Not a political issue, an engineering issue. Engineering is above politics
36:00 Other barriers to passive design
36:15 Public misperception is that passive design is aesthetically unattractive. How do we overcome that barrier?
37:00 Early adopters, lessons learned.
37:30 Trump speech on passive house
38:00 Passive house can look like anything you want.
38:15 Passive house branding, and the word passive does not connect with people.
40:30 ‘Resilient’ as a better word than passive?
41:45 Passive design as a matter of national security.
42:30 The fragility and aging of our grid.
43:15 The Department of Defense, the Army Core of Engineers, Armed Forces
44:00 The state of Massachusetts, building code
44:15 Once local contractors have experience, things snowball
47:10 Once they go passive, they don’t go back
47:15 The builder gets to bring back a nobility to the trade.
47:30 Builders make a massive difference to the process
48:30 That contagious excitement and pride is contagious.
49:00 A noble, honorable trade
49:20 Experience as a solution
58:20 Book Recommendation: Transforming Design and Construction
