We are joined by Ian Pritchett of Greencore Homes to talk about his science-based approach to green building and the work that has led him from developing green building materials becoming the co-founder of a vertically-integrated developer and house builder.

There's a lot of history and legacy to cover because Ian has been in the green building game for decades and it's this that has informed the approach being taken right now.

Greencore is also challenging the Passive House Institute about the accuracy of its PHPP (passive house planning package) modelling software because their homes outperform the model's predictions because of their use of phase-change materials.

Be warned, this is nerd business—Jeff gets to interrogate the build up specification—but it doesn't get too technical to be able to follow the thread.

Notes from the show

• The Greencore Homes website 
• Ian Pritchett on LinkedIn 
• A PH+ article about Neil May

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

We take a look at the state of the green building sector through the lens of itss biggest dedicated show in the UK, Futurebuild.

It on 12–14 May this year and you can sign up here.

Helping us to peek behind the curtain is the event's director, Martin Hurn, a man who is, ultimately, responsible for it all.

It seemed with a conversation because this year Futurebuild was acquired by a new owner and repackaged to become a super event. The green building great big networking event has merged with UK Construction Week and the Stone and Surfaces Show.

In light of this we get into the history of Futurebuild that sheds a little light on how the impact of changes that it’s going through right now are a little more like a return to its roots.

The episode has a bit of a long wind up because we’ve included a chunk of preamble in which Jeff explains his background to Martin which wasn’t intended for the episode but it ended up revealing similarities, and differences, in their backgrounds that felt worth including.

Both Martin and Jeff have been in this working within the business of the built environment for about the same amount of time (early 00s), and both coming from publishing backgrounds. They’ve seen the heydays, boom times, and catastrophes created by the Celtic Tiger and the UK’s solar subsidisation and feed-in tariffs.

Consequently, the pair of them are able to offer a some illuminating and interesting perspectives on where they see the sector at this strange point in time.

We also let Martin plug the show.

And, at the end we do get around to asking ‘how sustainable are events?’

Notes from the show

• Register with Futurebuild 2026 for your event pass
• The Futurebuild website 
• Martin Hurn on LinkedIn 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

What is social value? It's a messy, ill-defined beast that's increasingly a core component of public procurement, and it's something that we worked on recently so it's been front of our minds.

We invited Michael McLaughlin (LHC Procurement Group) onto the show to talk through what he thinks about social value, and what he thinks it could be if the sector was able to organise itself better.

No shade intended and we're not suggesting that it's easy to fix things, but we have looked into it. While there's a lot of great work being done there are an unconscionable number of opportunities being wasted, and not for want of trying.

Notes from the show

• Michael McLaughlin on LinkedIn
• The LHC Procurement Group website 
• LHC on LinkedIn 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

Lucy Lyons of Kestrix joins us this week to talk about their use of drones, infrared imaging, and AI to quicken the pace of retrofit surveying. Specifically, with regard to a case study detailing their work with Peabody housing association.

Kestrix is a software company that works with landlords to assess their building stock in terms of which homes need help and whether the retrofit works that have been carried out are performing. 

They use their sophisticated broad-brush surveys and image analysis is is designed to help asset owners get the greatest value out of stretched budgets and capacity, investing time wisely and proving value for money.

Notes from the show

• Lucy Lyons on LinkedIn
• Kestrix on LinkedIn 
• The Kestrix website 
• The Kestrix & Peabody case study that we refer to
• National Audit Office report of retrofit performance: Energy efficiency installations under ECO
• NHMF award 'Best Warm Home Initiative' 2026
• New Study Suggests Using AI Made Doctors Less Skilled at Spotting Cancer

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

Baz Iyer (Vulcan) and Stephen Lloyd (Savills Earth) join us to talk about the likely impact of the UK's long-awaited Future Homes Standard (FHS) and, perhaps more importantly, the Home Energy Model (HEM).

HEM is the new model that will inform the UK's Energy Performance Certification (EPC) rating system. It's much more detailed in terms of the information that it demands about the buildings it is being used to rate, and therefore much more demanding of the assessors.

But this means that it can be much more useful for modelling the energy performance of buildings because it will better reflect how the building will be experienced by its users.  It won't be perfect but the level of detail that it demands means that homeowners may be able to use EPCs to make meaningful decisions about how to improve the buildings in which they live. 

This also means that, in time, it is conceivable that HEM can become a design tool in the same way designers use PHPP to predict performance and calibrate design. That's certainly what Baz is planning and why he and Stephen have been interrogating the place HEM will occupy in the UK construction sector, the impact it might have on its culture, and the opportunity that its adoption will open up.

If anyone needs some help getting to grips with this I'd recommend they connect with Baz, he's very friendly and well-informed.

Notes from the show

• Baz Iyer on LinkedIn
• Stephen Lloyd on LinkedIn 
• The Vulcan website
• The Savills Earth website
• Vulcan on LinkedIn
• Old ZAP #1 - 'Incompetence still reigns supreme' in energy ratings: DPE certification, EPCs, BERs, and a little bit of ESG
• Old ZAP #2 - ZAP Shady business #1 – overheating, and Camden: we should think about solar gain all year round, with Zoe De Grussa (BBSA)

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

We sat down with Anna Moore, CEO of Domna Group, to talk about its approach to the business of retrofit, pragmatic retrofit strategy, and long-term asset management for landlords. All underpinned by a layer of data collation and machine learning.

Domna is currently retrofitting around 10,000 homes per year through grant-funded and self-funded programmes, using an integrated asset management—strategy to: deliver impact and savings through a mix of strategy, support on funding, management of delivery, and quality assurance.

Importantly, Anna knows her stuff and she is fun, too.

Notes from the show

• Anna Moore on LinkedIn
• Domna Group on LinkedIn 
• The Domna website (sign up in the footer)

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

We're back! And we’re talking about the value of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) with Tom Robins and Leigh Fairbrother of Switchee.

Their business is POE for landlords that’s intended to improve the quality of life for the residents that they rely on. Capturing sensor data, analysing it, and synthesising that into something their clients can use.

Essentially, this means validating the quality of fabric, the impact of retrofit works, and anticipating car crashes—metaphorical ones.

We get a really helpful explanation of Awaab’s Law around 25–30 minutes in, too. (Thank you Leigh.)

Notes from the show

• Tom Robins on LinkedIn
• Leigh Fairbrother on LinkedIn 
• The Switchee website (sign up in the footer)
• Switchee on LinkedIn
• PH+ coverage of that early work in Thamesmead (the Clockwork Orange estate) 

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

In this episode, we are joined by Attzaz Rashid (Barratt London) and Joel Callow (Beyond Carbon) to talk about Barratt London's move into Passive House.

It was a chance to get into what attracted Barratt to developing this Lo-E homes proposition and how they came to feel confident about committing to deliver certified Passive House apartments, the team effort that's been employed to make it work, and the way this change has brought about a renewed enthusiasm for the job in some of the project's participants.

It's a really interesting exploration of how the rigour and challenges of Passive House has affected Barratt's approach to high-density building, and how the Passive House approach has come to be recognised as advantageous to Barratt, in all sorts of ways. 

Finally, the critique of M&E design that's made late on in the episode is not a Barratt critique—as Az makes abundantly clear—this is one founded in Joel’s experience of inheriting issues that require Beyond Carbon’s expertise for their resolution.

Notes from the show

• Attzaz Rashid on LinkedIn
• Joel Callow on LinkedIn 
• The Barratt London website
• The Beyond Carbon website
• District heating and passive house - are they compatible? from the pages of Passive House Plus
• Barratt launches record passive house scheme also from the pages of Passive House Plus

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

Is there a collaboration problem in retrofit within the social housing sector? That was the premise for this conversation with Rafe Bertram, an architect and retrofit expert—appearing in a personal capacity—who was very surprised when I posed the question because he's found collaboration to be a strength in the sector, at least in London.

In the end it led to a conversation about what he's learned from the experiences he's had working on retrofits in the social housing sector, in his community, and even doing big flashy Apple stores.

The most interesting bit though is the strategy he's using to reduce the cost of retrofit, with his theory of reactive planning. It's an approach that takes a systematic integrated asset management approach and adds strategic opportunism into the mix in a way that enables him to piggyback essential works, like roof replacement, and use them as a catalyst for getting into a building to do the sustainability stuff that's usually a lower priority.

Notes from the show

• Rafe Bertram on Linkedin
• Retrofit Kentish Town 
• The Good Homes Alliance website
• Rafe's finance report for the Good Homes Alliance — “The Green Shift – The existing financial incentives for higher environmental performance of new homes” (October 2023) 

More links to articles about green building, favourable finance, and better valuations:

• Homebuyers pay a ‘green premium’ of up to £40,000 for the most energy efficient properties (September 2021)—Lloyds Banking Group
• Halifax includes EPC ratings in maximum lending calculations
• Halifax to use EPC rating in affordability calculations
• Octopus reducing interest rates for finance capital: 4 criteria = 1.25% discount, 6+ criteria = 2.00% discount

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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

This episode is all about case study in circularity and a group of people turning waste into useful materials for the built environment. Daniel Dinizo and Charmaine Cu-Unjieng of NaturLoop are bringing a new bio-based product to market that transforms waste coconut husk into a material that's something between MDF and a particle board.

For us, this presented a chance to talk about how sustainable materials are developed, the challenges of bringing them to market and how responsible businesses can approach supply chain development (the big challenge now).

As professionals who work with LCAs, EPDs, and carbon calcs all the time it was refreshing to get into a product that will have an impact that can be accounted for in human terms, as well as the usual economic and environmental terms.

They're also fundraising right now, so here's the pitch from Charmaine.

NaturLoop at the Final Stage of Pre-Seed Funding
"NaturLoop, the Swiss–Philippine climate-tech startup behind Cocoboard, is at the final stage of its pre-seed round. Cocoboard is the first industry-ready fibreboard made entirely from coconut husk waste and natural adhesives—a truly biocircular material. Featured at Interzum Cologne 2025, Cocoboard embodies the shift in construction and furniture toward biocircularity—no longer a trend but the future of materials. Europe’s sustainable furniture market is set to more than double to $42.6 bn by 2032, with consumers paying around 10% more for sustainable products. NaturLoop is closing its round soon, inviting strategic investors to co-build a climate-positive business that reduces deforestation and uplifts poor coconut farmers—making the industry more future-proof."

Notes from the show

• Charmaine Cu-Unjieng on Linkedin
• Daniel Dinizo on Linkedin 
• NaturLoop on Linkedin 
• The NaturLoop website
• A short film about Cocoboard®
• An investor CTA from Charmaine
• An example of Cocoboard in use as a speaker box for a Schwab System

**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

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

• Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
• Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
• Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
• Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
• Join ACAN
• Join the AECB 
• Join the IGBC
• Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women

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