Building the Future: Green Building in the New Millennium

Picking up where we left off last episode...today's electrification deep dive takes us inside the mind of a designer or contractor looking to swap out gas furnaces and water heaters for all-electric systems and appliances. But wait - there are a few things to consider before signing on the dotted line: insulation, ducts, and breaker boxes, just to name a few! Did you know that until just a few years ago it was actually illegal to build a home in CA without hooking up to natural gas?! What environmental, social, and public health benefits could we achieve with nationwide adoption of all-electric buildings? Listen to find out! Show Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.comContact Host - info@shfbuild.com Show Notes: Electrify Everything - https://www.vox.com/2016/9/19/12938086/electrify-everythingRedwood Energy - https://redwoodenergy.net/research/California Energy Commission (Title 24) - https://www.energy.ca.gov/media/3950DSIRE (State Incentives) - https://www.dsireusa.org/Clean Energy Connection - https://www.cleanenergyconnection.org/find-contractorEnergy + Environmental Economics (E3) - https://www.ethree.com/e3-quantifies-the-consumer-and-emissions-impacts-of-electrifying-california-homes/Electrify Everything FB Group - https://www.facebook.com/Electrify-Everything-482071985522368

Our first Season 2 "deep-dive" into the emerging practice of building with laminated, pre-fabricated beams and assemblies explains how engineered timber paves the way for much taller wood buildings to be constructed across the globe. Tune in to learn about all the environmental and sustainability benefits of swapping in structural wood in lieu of concrete and steel. Find out what's been holding things back in the US and how important sustainable forestry practices are if this building method truly ends up "catching fire". Oh, and what happens when "mass timber" structures actually do catch fire? Listen to the episode to find out...it's not what you think! Show Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com Show Notes: Bessie Surtees House - https://historicengland.org.uk/get-involved/visit/bessie-surtees-house/ River Beech Tower - https://perkinswill.com/project/river-beech-tower/ Forestry Stewardship Council - https://fsc.org/en Sustainable Forestry Initiative - https://www.forests.org/ Bruce King - https://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/projects/new-carbon-architecture Michael Green (T3) - http://mg-architecture.ca/work/t3-minneapolis/ Think Wood - https://www.thinkwood.com/mass-timber

Listen in as Susan Inglis and I talk about her organization’s mission to merge Health, Environment, and Profitability in the interior furnishings space. SFC advocates for eco-friendly products and educates consumers, retailers, and manufacturers about better practices in the industry. Other fun topics of conversation include: sustainable forestry, regenerative business practices, market-driven solutions to environmental toxins, and the circular economy. Why should we care about a circular economy? Hint: It can often save money! Episode Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com About Susan: Susan Inglis is Executive Director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, and resident expert with the organization she helped found in 2006. She has led SFC to work with industry leaders to establish criteria to gauge the sustainability of furniture products and practices; develop programs for educating all sectors of the industry; and attract hundreds of companies to membership. Inglis is also founder and owner of From The Mountain, a company that imports hand spun cashmere yarn from Afghanistan, providing safe income for over 100 women there. Inglis serves on the Board of the American Sustainable Business Council and was awarded a 2017 Visionary Leadership award by the NC Business Council. She lives in North Carolina. Show Notes: Sustainable Furnishings Council - https://sustainablefurnishings.org/ High Point Furniture Market - https://www.highpointmarket.org/ Forest Stewardship Council - https://fsc.org/en Sustainable Forestry Initiative - https://www.forests.org/ Architecture 2030 - https://architecture2030.org/

Jesse Russell, a "tiny home developer" in Bend, Oregon, and I discuss how efficiency and minimalism can go hand in hand when it comes to designing a space to live. Find out how many of the good ideas out there about smaller living are actually illegal and how Jesse was able to work within the system to create a one-of-a-kind community with shared interests and values. Fact: Smaller homes can help us reduce waste and embodied emissions while creating a space that encourages home-ownership and outdoor adventure! Episode Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com About Jesse: Jesse Russell grew up in Bend, OR and after spending some time working in the TV industry in Los Angeles and New York, he decided to sell most of his possessions, return to Bend, and focus on building a tiny house. Hiatus Homes started as Tongue and Groove Tiny Homes in 2015 when Jesse built the first “Hiatus” as a tiny home on wheels in a friend’s backyard. After participating in the Bend Design Conference, they had the dream to build an innovative community focused on small home design. Leading up to the launch of Hiatus Homes, the team at Tongue and Groove experimented with building tiny taverns on wheels, including two mini pubs for 10 Barrel Brewing Co. and a food truck and tavern for Brasada Ranch. After 3 years of hard work with the city, Jesse was the first to use the new cottage code which made the development of the first Hiatus Homes community project possible. A dream realized. Show Notes: Hiatus Homes - https://hiatushomes.com Ross Chapin - https://pocket-neighborhoods.net/thebook.html Phil Torchio & The Broomsmen - http://www.thebroomsmen.com/

No one in Los Angeles is tackling the affordable housing quite like Habitat for Humanity LA! Erin (CEO) & Darrell (SVP of Community Development) discuss their 20-year tenure with "green-building", LEED certification, and other innovations in the single-family and community development space. From denim insulation and drought-tolerant landscaping to new partnership initiatives with for-profit developers, you'll be impressed and encouraged by how HabitatLA has used sustainability to encourage lower energy costs for first-time homeowners as well as those needing renovation and weatherization of their existing homes. Episode Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com Erin Rank (President, CEO): Erin Rank began her service with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) as a volunteer in 1995 and became the affiliate’s first employee in 1998. When Erin began her tenure, the affiliate was building one or two homes a year. Since she became president and CEO, Habitat LA has built, renovated or repaired more than 900 homes. Her ability to develop and implement strategies for success and her ability to understand market trends and respond strategically has helped the affiliate maintain its production goals despite fluctuating economic and real estate markets over the years. She has served on Habitat for Humanity International’s U.S. Council, which oversees policy making for all U.S. affiliates of Habitat for Humanity, including the top position that can be held by an affiliate leader, Vice Chair. She has also served as the Chair of the Board of Housing CA. Her accolades include being named among the “Top 100 Irish Americans” by Irish American Magazine and she was named as “Alumni of the Year” by Pepperdine University in 2013. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Missouri and a Master of Arts from Pepperdine University. Darrell Simien (SVP of Community Development): Darrell Simien is the Senior Vice President of Community Development of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. Joining the Habitat LA team in 2010, Darrell has the responsibility of managing the construction, real estate, and forward planning efforts for the Affiliate. With over 20 years of experience in the construction and real estate industry, both in the public and private sector, Darrell has been responsible for the development and construction of over 1,000 affordable housing units in the Los Angeles County area. In addition, Darrell created and managed programs aimed to increase access and affordability for first time homebuyers while working for the City of Long Beach. A native of Los Angeles, Darrell holds a Bachelor’s degree with the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Master’s degreewith the University of Southern California. Show Notes: Habitat for Humanity LA: https://www.habitatla.org/ Habitat for Humanity International: https://www.habitat.org/

Kicking off Season 2 with Amber Richane, Senior Design Manager for the City of Santa Monica and the now-complete City Hall East - recently dubbed the "greenest" building in the world!!! We discuss the ins and outs of designing and building the first municipal "Living Building" in Southern California, including on-site water & energy systems, how to make a building "breathe", edible landscape design, and a deep dive into how sanitary foam-flush toilets can be! Episode Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com About Amber: Amber is a Senior Design Manager for the City of Santa Monica in the Architecture Services division of Public Works. She has over 20 years of experience in sustainability, wellness, and deep green projects. Currently she is the Project Manager for the City Services Building in Santa Monica that is seeking full Living Building Challenge certification with construction completed in April of this year. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and empowering women in the green building industry to reach new heights as well as designing and creating spaces that are beautiful and biophilic. Show Notes: Virtual Tour of SaMo City Hall East - https://youtu.be/W2Fvnyu6_PY International Living Future Institute - https://living-future.org/ Urban Land Institute - https://uli.org/

From Triple Bottom-Line Accounting to Human-centered and nature-inspired (biophilic) principles in design to Indoor Air Quality and Embodied Carbon, this Season Finale is a look back at all we've learned and a look forward at where the built environment is headed when it comes to prioritizing Sustainable solutions to environmental and social justice. We (still) strongly believe that collaboration is the key to inspiring future innovation in the Design/Build space. Join the conversation today! YouTube link: https://youtu.be/VZ6qXsByD_4 About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape. Season Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com

How do you design a sustainable single-family home for a luxury market? Just bump into a sustainable architect at your local Starbucks! Listen in as Drew Pedrick, Ginger Matthews, and I delve into project specs on energy modeling, passive heating/cooling, triple-pane windows, greywater recycling, rain screen technology, home automation, stone selection, carbon and more! Fact: You can have a team of highly-skilled experts with analytical minds and great ideas and you'll still run into some problems along the way. How you learn from those mistakes and adapt to site and project environment will ultimately determine your level of success. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hXy0XlKTFWQ Episode Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com Show Notes: Project Specs - www.shfbuild.com/currentprojects/ About Ginger: As CEO and founder of Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ginger's goal is to produce the finest examples of innovative sustainable architecture combined with the most futuristic engineering and construction standards to produce a truly Sustainable Home of the Future. With our Podcasts and YouTube Channel’s instructional materials, we are dedicated to inspiring current and future builders to design and construct in a way that is sustainable for our planet. Ginger has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and has worked in the Real Estate and Technology fields for over 15 years. About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape.

Basically a primer on the different certification options out there, we use this episode to discuss the history, how-to, and pros/cons of our Top 5 programs (in no particular order): LEED, EnergyStar, PassiveHaus, Living Building Challenge, and WELL. Hint: It should be no surprise that a good project team and integrated approach to design yield the best results no matter which program you choose!!! Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hTaW6tmRCaE Season Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com About Ginger: As CEO and founder of Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ginger's goal is to produce the finest examples of innovative sustainable architecture combined with the most futuristic engineering and construction standards to produce a truly Sustainable Home of the Future. With our Podcasts and YouTube Channel’s instructional materials, we are dedicated to inspiring current and future builders to design and construct in a way that is sustainable for our planet. Ginger has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and has worked in the Real Estate and Technology fields for over 15 years. About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape. Show Notes: LEED - https://www.usgbc.org/leed EnergyStar - https://www.energystar.gov/ Passive House US - https://www.phius.org/home-page Living Building Challenge - https://living-future.org/lbc/ WELL - https://www.wellcertified.com/

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) matters quite a bit for encouraging productivity, ecological sustainability, and human health. How do we get there? By focusing design efforts not only on the materials inside our buildings but the materials that we actually use to build! We highlight design tools and processes that can help us build with healthier materials, better manufacturing, and a lighter carbon footprint. Season Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com Show Notes: Red List - https://living-future.org/declare/declare-about/red-list/ Mindful Materials - http://www.mindfulmaterials.com/ About Ginger: As CEO and founder of Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ginger's goal is to produce the finest examples of innovative sustainable architecture combined with the most futuristic engineering and construction standards to produce a truly Sustainable Home of the Future. With our Podcasts and YouTube Channel’s instructional materials, we are dedicated to inspiring current and future builders to design and construct in a way that is sustainable for our planet. Ginger has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and has worked in the Real Estate and Technology fields for over 15 years. About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape.

Sean, a cost-efficiency expert and self-proclaimed climate activist, joins the podcast to talk about all-electric construction and the endemic problems with natural gas infrastructure here in California. He shares a very moving story about the personal ramifications of decades of fossil fuel use (thank you Sean!) and we eventually get around to brainstorming some ways to fix what's broken by focusing on universal goals like human health and building efficiency. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IGx_ZwdZrpg Episode Sponsor: www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host: info@shfbuild.com Sean Armstrong taught net-zero design at a demonstration house at Humboldt State University from 1999-2002, and has 12,000+ hours of experience as staff Project Manager with affordable housing developers The Pacific Companies, Danco Communities, and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Arcata. Sean was the first developer to use the California Utility Allowance Calculator (CUAC). Since his start in development in 2004, he has led the design of 6000 residences in more than 200 developments, focusing on all-electric, 100% solar offset design. All-electric cuts costs, and adding solar has a 4-8 year payback, hence the rapid uptake of Zero Net Energy by the market--it's profitable. It's a challenge, but so is all the rest of building a development. Sean and his business partner, Michael Winkler, won the Grand Prize awards from the United Nations in 2017 and the PCBC Gold Nuggets in 2016, but he is perhaps most proud of the award from the Southern California Building Industry Association--they are unapologetically business-minded, and recognized Redwood with their first Sustainability Award in 2017 because their work to end fossil fuel use in buildings also happens to lower construction costs, and increase profits. Sean delights in ruthless capitalists realizing that fossil fuel infrastructure is an additional cost, and not at all "cheap." Show Notes: All-Electric Research/Publications - https://www.redwoodenergy.tech/research/

Join in as we discuss Energy-saving (and cost-saving) design strategies, a necessary follow-up to our last episode on water conservation. As long as the building industry remains addicted to fossil fuels there are few ways to avoid the ongoing damage done to our waterways and other "renewable" natural resources. We need to learn to design buildings with energy-efficiency as our top priority and advocate for an energy-positive future. Translation: It's not enough to just slap solar panels on the roof and call that building "green". It takes a lot of work on the design side to ensure a building is designed to integrate solar panels with a smart, NetZero-ready design. Show Notes: Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WYHiPJ2Ts7I EnergyStar - www.energystar.gov ZEB White Paper - https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy06osti/39833.pdf Season Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com About Ginger: As CEO and founder of Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ginger's goal is to produce the finest examples of innovative sustainable architecture combined with the most futuristic engineering and construction standards to produce a truly Sustainable Home of the Future. With our Podcasts and YouTube Channel’s instructional materials, we are dedicated to inspiring current and future builders to design and construct in a way that is sustainable for our planet. Ginger has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and has worked in the Real Estate and Technology fields for over 15 years. About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape.

NEWS FLASH: Water is the lifeblood of our planet!!! Despite being close to 80% water, only 1% of the Earth's water is drinkable. We use this episode to discuss where that water comes from, what it's used for, and where it goes after we use it. There are many ways to conserve water...but to truly guarantee this all-important natural resource is protected will require a shift from centralized infrastructure to on-site water systems. We lay out some basic water-use principles anyone can follow, and we focus on innovation and integration when it comes to water recycling and re-use. Show Notes: Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XyvUqK1JIac WaterSense - www.epa.gov/watersense Season Sponsor - www.sustainablehomesofthefuture.com Contact Host - info@shfbuild.com About Ginger: As CEO and founder of Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ginger's goal is to produce the finest examples of innovative sustainable architecture combined with the most futuristic engineering and construction standards to produce a truly Sustainable Home of the Future. With our Podcasts and YouTube Channel’s instructional materials, we are dedicated to inspiring current and future builders to design and construct in a way that is sustainable for our planet. Ginger has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and has worked in the Real Estate and Technology fields for over 15 years. About Ian: As the Managing Director of Development at Sustainable Homes of the Future, Ian has had the opportunity to break new creative and technical ground and learn the necessary skills to manage each project with an integrative, design-centered approach. He has an extensive creative background from a decade of working in marketing, communications, sales and the not-for-profit space, and loves bringing passion and collaborative expertise to the sustainable building landscape.