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PODCAST

The Building Science Podcast

Positive Energy

The Building Science Podcast is a show hosted by MEP engineering firm Positive Energy principal Kristof Irwin. The show covers everything from the basics of building science to adjacent scientific disciplines to more fully understand how the built environment shapes our lives as human beings on planet earth.

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All Episodes

1:01:15

Cementing Carbon

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/10/31

This is a crossover episode with the Spring Street Passive House education and advocacy series.Welcome to a pivotal conversation on the future of our built world. The concrete industry, indispensable for modern infrastructure, is facing an urgent mandate: reconcile its foundational role (pun) with its role as a source of environmental pollution. The scale of the emissions are staggering - if global concrete manufacturing were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter, behind only China and the

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1:24:31

Systems Thinking to Save the World - 50 years of...

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/10/21

This may be the ultimate systems thinking interview. Beyond building science at the site scale, this is systems thinking to save the world.Gail Vittori and Pliny Fisk III have their fingerprints all over the structural ideologies for ways of thinking that underlie what we now think of as the fields of sustainability, greenbuilding, indoor health and well-being and more.Enjoy this thoughtful unpacking of ideas that span from systems thinking at the scale of the planet to human society to industry,

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1:07:39

Navigating the Path to Passive

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/09/27

This is a crossover episode with the Spring Street Passive House education and advocacy series.How do Passive House enclosure decisions actually happen? There’s a stubborn storyline that passive house designs go “too far” and result in a wholly different, and painful, design and construction process. The reality is that designing and building a Passive House is not all the different from building any project. In both cases you are working with a blend of the rigor of building science, the skill and

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Blurring the Edges Between Inside and Out

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/08/18

Why do we design indoor spaces the way we do? What are the unseen socio-cultural impacts involved and how do they impact other aspects of the indoor environment that we can not see? Today, we're unpacking the idea that our indoor environments are not just passive shelters - they are complex, multifaceted situations with competing goals and perspectives. As our guest, Dr. Liz McCormick shares, our relationship with indoor space is a rich, interdependent web of circumstances that stretches well beyond

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1:14:31

Commissioning Matters

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/08/04

Commissioning Matter - Establishing a Culture of CollaborationWho on the AEC team can deliver strategic guidance, direction, and leadership for the functional aspects of homes and buildings? This is the role of a Commissioning Agent (CxA) and it’s a role that matters now more than ever. The term "commissioning" itself means to "entrust into the safekeeping of someone", with its origins dating back to the mid-14th century, signifying "authority entrusted to someone, delegated authority or power"

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1:17:23

Architectural Epidemiology

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/07/07

How do we expand the positive impacts of our buildings? Now is the time.The building sector is looking at a once-in-a-generation opportunity to flip from being a major contributor to both chronic disease and climate disruption to becoming one of the primary solutions. The key is provide training and perspective to the professionals involved. Why is it that so few architects base design decisions on the known health impacts of buildings at both the personal and community levels? Similarly, why is it

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1:04:26

Design Matters: Aesthetics, Ethics and Architectural...

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/05/29

“It’s time to rethink the idea that architecture does not sully itself with social or ecological ills.”Jonathan Feldman (in conversation w/ KI)The practice of architecture is a place where ethics and aesthetics converge. We make decisions and lead our lives based on ethics. As such ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society. Aesthetics is a set of principles that are involved with the nature and appreciation of beauty - the aspect of an object that makes it pleasurable to

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1:06:41

Architecture of Risk: Managing Liability &...

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/04/30

Risk is real in the AEC. True risk management isn't about avoidance, but about informed engagement.Homes and buildings today measure success in many ways, each of these represent a potential failure mode. Managing risk means recognizing and embracing it, this is a core message from our guest today. Joe Basham is a seasoned construction industry attorney with decades of experience, a keen mind, clever wit and the ability to cut to the heart of the matter.Join Kristof and Joe as they delve into the

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1:01:01

Building the Movement

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/04/10

In this special episode of the Building Science Podcast Kristof is joined by Ilka Cassidy of Passive House at NESEA's BuildingEnergy Boston '25.Ilka and Kristof are joined by the following inspiring speakers and organizers of NESEA 25:Jacob Deva Racusin, New Frameworks Natural Design/BuildAndrew Himes, Carbon Leadership ForumLaura Bailey, Vermont Council On Rural DevelopmentHeather Ferrell, Prism Design LabThey dive in to the conferences main take aways, lessons learned, and calls to action.

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1:28:32

Sustainability & Climate Wordcraft

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/03/20

Understanding climate action through the words we useKeep an ear out for an easter egg after the outro on this one.The words we use matter. Terms like "sustainability”, “net zero” and “resilience” signify our industry's evolving priorities and concerns. These “buzzwords” reflect current cultural circumstances within the AEC industry and larger society while also actively shaping how we approach and address these issues.In this episode will be exploring the meanings and relationships between many of

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1:15:55

Telling Better Stories

The Building Science Podcast ·

2025/02/26

“The world is not made of atoms, the world is made of stories”Muriel Rukeyser“Where do buildings come from?” is a question that comes with a story. Less often asked, “Where do buildings go?”. The evolving story human society tells itself in answer to those questions is worth unpacking thoughtfully. That’s what happens in this episode. Join Kristof as he shares a conversation with Greg Esparza on the power of storytelling and the connection between stories and the materiality of buildings. The power

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1:15:01

Architecture Out of Balance

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/12/07

The tension between aesthetics and performance in architecture is a critical and complex issue in contemporary design. Architects are increasingly and appropriately being tasked with designing buildings that are not only beautiful but also functional in terms of impacts on owners, occupants, resources, and planetary ecosystems. The contrasting view, one where architecture is principally form-making comes at its peril. As Juhani Pallasmaa cautions, following this path “The world becomes a hedonistic

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1:14:58

An Architectural Optimist Wrote a Book - Part 3,...

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/11/19

Join Kristof and Corey Squire in this third and final installment of their interview series discussing Corey’s book People Planet Design. In Part 1, they opened the discussion at the logical starting place of the important Why questions. Why design matters to society and Why architecture is the place to address so many important issues we face today. Part 2 addressed How to make good design happen by focusing on often overlooked dimensions of the design process. These include company culture,

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1:06:03

Designer Desiccants, Molecular Filters, and the...

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/11/04

What is the future of dehumidification? Turns out this simple question opens up an exciting view of the future of IAQ generally. The goal of a low energy method for removing water molecules from a flowing airstream boils down to some way of identifying, grabbing and holding onto them. Essentially we are talking about a designer desiccant or molecular filter that lets the air pass through while it filters out water molecules.If we can do this, the next logical question is “Why stop there?” Why not

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1:14:49

Unlocking Electrification with Passive Buildings

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/10/09

Passive house has become synonymous with the rapidly arriving new normal for our homes and buildings and offers layers of positive outcomes. Thermal comfort, IAQ/IEQ, durability, and low energy use are typically the incentives for owners, architects, builders and trades. As it turns out, there may be broader societal benefits tied to thoughtfully managing heat flows in and out of a building as well. Good ol’ thermodynamics isn’t getting the flashy attention of solar PV, wind turbines and batteries,

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1:25:21

More Influence, More Impact, More Satisfaction

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/09/08

Empowering the practice of architecture to achieve consistent, predictable, positive impacts on human well-being and planetary health is perhaps one of the most pressing topics in the AEC today. Starting with a review of the history of the search for Bioclimatic Law, this conversation with Dr Bill Braham, FAIA is an invitation to architects to reclaim their power.Bioclimatic Law is the relationship between architecture and life. In practice “life” is more narrowly defined by architecture as

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1:19:35

Tools For a Habitable Future

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/08/16

The work of the AEC is broader than buildings. On a daily basis we, collectively and individually, make decisions that have broad and lasting impacts on our lives, our health, and our world. These impacts can be either positive or negative; the choice is ours. This is the perspective of Gina Ciganik and her brilliant and motivated team at Habitable.Armed with powerful minds and compelling data, they are working to help society rethink material supply chains altogether. Formerly the Healthy Building

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0:48:01

Rethinking The Wood Supply Chain

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/07/29

How can we build better supply chains for the built world? When it comes to the inconceivably vast amount of wood we use in our buildings, one “simple” way is to use less virgin material and use more wood that would otherwise not make it to market. Instead it would be destined to decompose and emit its carbon into the sky. What if, instead, the forgotten trees were salvaged and turned into valuable, usable lumber?This is a big idea whose time has come. Still, having a powerful idea is only the first

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0:46:35

Modular Part 2 - Working Skillfully Within Constraint

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/07/09

Today we’re continuing the conversation on modular construction w/ Rommel Sulit and Chris Krager. Buckle up for some quotable quotes and impactful ideas in this episode. A recurring theme from part 1 is present here. Could it be the case that because modular delivery must rethink basic assumptions, it may be the first area of the AEC to do what the rest of the AEC is not. At core, the role of architecture is to create the link between design intent and what is actually built. This is not easy, nor

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0:52:24

Modular: It doesn't have to be so *$%! Hard!

The Building Science Podcast ·

2024/07/02

How often do you think about modular construction? Is it an idea whose time has come? There are those who view it as the only path forward that realistically checks all the boxes - are they right?The potential is clear, modular project delivery can save time, save money, and positively impact our current and looming labor and skills crunch on the construction side of the AEC. There is no doubt that relative to the current norm, the “holy triumvirate” of owner, architect builder*, modular delivery

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152 results

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