Build It Forward

Nick Falkoff and PRMEABL_
  • 5.0 (1)
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Build It Forward is about the people, ideas, and decisions shaping the future of high-performance residential construction. Hosted by Nick Falkoff, GM of Auburndale Builders, and produced by PRMEABL_, the name is a play on “pay it forward.” Conversations range from technical decisions and process to people, culture, history, and collaboration — exploring what’s working, what isn’t, and what might be interesting to try next. These conversations are worth having, and worth sharing, because the best buildings come from communities that share what they know and build forward together.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Legends Learn From Legends with Steve Baczek and Kohta Ueno

    Summer Camp started because Joe Lstiburek wanted his young staff to learn from the mentors who taught him. In the early years, that meant three days of Gus Handegord at the front of a lecture hall, with a crowd of about 150 people trying to keep up with the equations.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with two of BSC's earliest employees. Steve Baczek, an architect, joined in 1996 and calls himself the first employee. Kohta Ueno joined in 1998 after seeing Joe on an episode of NOVA, and today handles BSC's day-to-day consulting with Peter Baker. They share stories from the early years: a production builder asking which ventilation system to use in the 3,000 houses he's building next year, flow hoods made from grocery store cardboard boxes, a garden hose proving that brick leaks, and Kohta's three red flags for building failures. They also get into how Joe made sure his staff understood the problem before leaving a job site, what Betsy Pettit built behind the scenes, and why so much of BSC's research is free on buildingscience.com. Watch Can Buildings Make You Sick?, the NOVA episode that led Kohta to Building Science Corporation:https://archive.org/details/CanBuildingsMakeYouSick? Thank you to Betsy Pettit for graciously hosting us. Connect with Steve Baczek:https://stevenbaczekarchitect.com | IG: @stevenbaczekarchitect Connect with Kohta Ueno and Building Science Corporation:https://buildingscience.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kohta-ueno-472a4 Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better™ with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com 01:06 How Summer Camp started06:51 Theory meets builders who need real answers13:09 Gus Handegord and the best wall to build15:40 How Steve became BSC's first employee18:29 Kohta, NOVA, and a cold call20:29 Building America and production builders24:05 Why brick always leaks28:38 Red flags for building failures32:40 Knowing what questions to ask39:20 Betsy Pettit and the business behind BSC45:31 The future of Building Science Corporation Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8 Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #BuildingScienceCorporation #BuildingForensics #GreenBuilding #NetZero #SteveBaczek #KohtaUeno #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

  2. Oct 22

    What Building Science Misses About Healthy Homes with Ashley Murphree

    Ashley Murphree built herself a tiny house out of a shipping container using every good building science practice she knew. Something in it was still making her sick.It was not mold. She knew the building well enough to rule that out. But despite testing and doing everything right, the symptoms continued. That experience opened up a question she has been chasing ever since: what else are we not accounting for when we call a building healthy? In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with Ashley, a mechanical engineer and former general contractor who runs Alchemech Engineering in California and designs systems for high-performance homes. Ashley walks through what she has learned about sensitization and why an occupant who has already reacted to something needs a very different building than one who has not. She gets into the research of Dr. Robert Naviaux at UC San Diego on the mitochondria and the healing cycle, and why a so many different triggers can produce the same condition. She makes the case that we are still not putting large, well-sealed filters in the right places, and asks whether the portable air purifier sitting in the corner is now part of the architecture. The second half turns to mechanicals. Air to water monoblock heat pumps, thermal storage as a battery with no precious metals in it, and why chilled water gives you dehumidification options that refrigerant does not. It ends on an idea for an exposed, cleanable coil you could hang on a wall. Thank you to Betsy Pettit for hosting us. Watch Ashley's Summer Camp presentation - Healthy Living in Tight, Compact Homes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjxuDkuQCOQ Connect with Ashley Murphree and Alchemech Engineering:https://www.alchemech.com | IG: @alchemech.engineering Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better™ with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com 00:42 Who Ashley Murphree is03:26 How her own health changed her practice04:53 More building triggers than just mold06:42 Is the air purifier part of the architecture11:24 What a healthy home client actually needs12:50 Sensitization and why it changes the building17:20 Dr. Robert Naviaux and the healing cycle26:32 Why leaky is not the answer28:28 Filtering everything, MERV levels, and wildfire smoke33:36 Air to water heat pumps and thermal storage44:19 A cleanable coil you could hang on the wall Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8 Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #HealthyHomes #IndoorAirQuality #GreenBuilding #NetZero #AshleyMurphree #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

  3. Oct 22

    Building Plans Need Better Grammar with John Straube

    John Straube has spent a career breaking buildings on purpose and investigating the ones that failed by mistake.Test huts exist so that when the experiment goes wrong, nobody gets hurt. The forensic work is the other half. As John puts it, the experiments he could never ethically run himself get run for him, by architects and builders, on real projects. In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with John, a building scientist and engineer who teaches at the University of Waterloo and consults through RDH. John argues that most builders and designers never see enough failures to calibrate their own sense of risk, which is why they can walk along the edge of a canyon in the dark without knowing it. The conversation covers how he teaches people to read a detail, why a wall schedule should list what each layer does and not just what it is, the difference between an aesthetic mock-up and a performance mock-up, and why he thinks a code compliant building is the worst building you can legally build. It closes on what makes a great building scientist, which turns out to have less to do with physics than with actually cutting wood and pouring concrete yourself. Thank you to Betsy Pettit for graciously hosting us. Connect with John Straube:https://www.johnstraube.com Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better(TM) with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com 00:32 Who John Straube is and how he got here02:13 Why test huts exist and what forensics teaches05:29 Teaching students versus teaching professionals08:42 If it doesn't get wet, it won't leak11:18 Labeling what things do, not what they are19:07 Having the uncomfortable conversation21:29 Three kinds of mock-ups23:58 Solving material compatibility29:55 Why we are bad at judging risk41:30 Code is the worst building you can legally build49:26 What makes a great building scientist Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8 Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #BuildingScientist #GreenBuilding #NetZero #JohnStraube #BuildingEnclosure #BuildingScienceCorporation #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

  4. Oct 22

    Be the Developer, the Architect, and the Builder - Vertical Integration with Tim McDonald

    Become the developer. Become the architect. Become the builder. Tim McDonald didn't do this because it seemed like a good idea. He did it because he couldn't figure out any other way to build what he was trying to build.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at Tim's home on the North Shore of Boston, Nick Falkoff sits down with Tim, co-founder of Onion Flats Architecture, for a conversation that spans nearly 30 years of design-build development in Philadelphia. Tim talks about how he came to passive house in 2008, why he sees it as the only serious answer to what climate change demands of buildings, and how the New Gravity concept helped bring passive house into affordable housing funding applications across 40 states. The conversation also gets into where the work is headed: deep energy retrofits on existing multifamily buildings, panelized wall systems that wrap buildings from the outside while people are still living in them, and the case for why retrofitting existing buildings is more cost effective than tearing them down. Connect with Tim McDonald and Onion Flats Architecture:https://onionflatsarchitecture.com Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better™ with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com 00:31 Growing up inside a house being built02:01 Why architects should never hand off their ideas02:53 Japan and the design-build studio that changed everything05:13 The turn toward passive house09:32 Trial by fire and vertical integration16:03 The New Gravity concept and affordable housing policy25:39 Climate change as the new gravity28:17 Passive house as the answer to resilience32:26 Why existing buildings are the real opportunity33:47 Panelized retrofits and the Dutch model Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8 Made with @PRMEABL #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #OnionFlats #VerticalIntegration #DeepEnergyRetrofit #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

  5. Oct 21

    Builders: The Goalposts Just Moved with Florence McGregor

    NESEA just turned 50. And according to Florence McGregor, that's not a moment to celebrate and coast. It's a moment to ask what's next.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with Flo, Executive Director of NESEA, in the middle of the conference floor for a wide-ranging conversation about what the organization has become, where it still needs to go, and what it means to build a community that can hold both technical excellence and genuine human vulnerability at the same time. They get into NESEA's incoming strategic plan and the priorities Flo hopes carry forward, including the organization's commitment to becoming more just, more sustainable, and actively anti-racist. The conversation also covers what this year's record student attendance means for the future of the industry, why the skills you can only learn in a room with other people matter as much as anything in a technical session, and how the Dumpster Fire Patriarchy workshop changed the way Nick thinks about his role as a builder and a leader. The conversation ends a little abruptly -- conference duties called -- but not before covering a lot of ground worth watching. For resources on ICE preparedness and know your rights guidance, visit: studiohpdc.org/more/know-your-rights-immigration-enforcement-preparedness 00:42 Construction as a patriarchal industry01:26 What patriarchy costs the people who practice it02:40 Sharing mistakes and the NESEA culture of vulnerability03:24 NESEA's next five year strategic plan04:16 Climate justice, anti-racism, and the technical work05:00 Welcoming a record number of students this year06:02 What the keynote opened up07:20 The skills you can only learn in a room08:20 Orienting students to a professional community10:33 NESEA as an incubator -- growing your team Connect with Florence McGregor and NESEA:nesea.org | IG: @neseaorg Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.com Made with @PRMEABL #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #NESEA #BuildingCommunity #BuildingCulture #ClimateJustice

  6. Oct 21

    New Skills Builders Need Now with Ace McArleton

    The building industry has always demanded a wide range of skills. Ace McArleton thinks it's time to widen the circle a little further.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, Nick Falkoff is joined by Ace McArleton, co-founder of New Frameworks, a Vermont-based natural building and high-performance construction company approaching its 20th year. Also at the table is Amy Lieb, Executive Director of Studio HPDC, a nonprofit working to connect emerging building science and technology with the businesses and workers who need to use it. That includes the NESEA community itself, how it functions as an incubator for both technical and cultural ideas, and how it has shaped both New Frameworks and Studio HPDC over the years. It also includes something newer: what happens when ICE shows up at a job site, and how builders can prepare their teams practically, legally, and emotionally. Ace draws a direct line between embodied training in carpentry and embodied training for high-stakes encounters with law enforcement. Practice until it's in your body. Know your role before the moment arrives. The conversation also gets into what technology really is, who it serves, praxis as a framework for building better, and why the NESEA community keeps pulling people back year after year. For resources on ICE preparedness and know your rights guidance, visit: studiohpdc.org/more/know-your-rights-immigration-enforcement-preparedness 00:37 What is NESEA and how long have you been part of it02:40 New Frameworks turns 2002:58 Amy Lieb origin story -- a business card in the lunch line05:30 What makes the NESEA community different06:25 How NESEA has shaped New Frameworks07:06 Technology, praxis, and what we make with our hands08:04 What embodied training means in the building trades10:06 When ICE shows up at your job site13:49 Building a safe community to practice hard things15:20 Empowerment, disempowerment, and drawing the circle16:45 What high performance means now Connect with Ace McArleton:newframeworks.com Learn more about New Frameworks:newframeworks.com | IG: @newframeworks Connect with Amy Lieb and Studio HPDC:studiohpdc.org | IG: @studiohpdc Learn more about NESEA:nesea.org | IG: @neseaorg Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.com Made with @PRMEABL #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #WorkforceDevelopment #NewFrameworks #StudioHPDC #NESEA #StrawBaleBuilding

  7. Oct 21

    Teaching Kids to Use Power Tools with Mason Lord

    Most kids never get the chance to hold a tool before someone tells them it's not for them. Mason Lord is trying to change that.Mason is the founder of TradesUp and owner of Hudson Valley Preservation, a design-build company in Kent, Connecticut with 35 years of preservation and high-performance remodeling work behind it. His path into the trades started at age seven, in a neighbor's basement workshop, after losing his father in first grade. That early spark is the entire philosophy behind what he's building next with TradesUp. The conversation moves through how a small idea, inviting local kids to a job site for a day, became an annual event drawing 500 people, where tradespeople set up hands-on experiences for kids ages 5 to 12. Why that age range matters. Why middle schoolers hesitate and little kids jump right in. Why the tradespeople keep showing up, year after year, without being asked twice. And what Mason sees as the real opportunity: not just recruiting for the trades, but putting kids at the top of a funnel so that even the ones who don't become carpenters grow up knowing how to walk into a lumberyard without flinching. This conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, also gets into the trades training center Mason is developing on the campus of the Eric Sloan Museum in Kent, the idea of building as something close to human instinct, and why the desire to work with your hands hasn't gone away just because shop class has. 00:44 Hudson Valley Preservation and how NESEA changed things02:31 Starting a workforce development initiative03:24 The Spark event -- 500 people, ages 5 to 1205:09 Where Mason's spark started05:43 TradesUp as the top of the funnel06:42 Workshops, community events, and what's next07:06 Building a trades training center at the Eric Sloan Museum08:30 The desire to build hasn't gone away15:11 What builders remember first16:01 Planning for Play and the case for raw materials17:57 What shop class took with it -- and what it didn't Connect with Mason Lord:IG: @masontheelder Learn more about Hudson Valley Preservation:hvpcorp.com | IG: @hudsonvalleypreservation Get involved with TradesUp:tradesup.org | IG: @tradesuporg Learn more about NESEA:nesea.org | IG: @neseaorg Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.com Made with @PRMEABL #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #WorkforceDevelopment #Trades #TradesUp #HudsonValleyPreservation #NESEA

  8. Oct 20

    How Passive House Became the Gold Standard in America with Katrin Klingenberg

    Katrin Klingenberg didn't set out to build a movement. She was finishing her own home in Champaign-Urbana when a persistent phone call pulled her into a room full of building science legends and nothing was the same after that.Recorded live at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, this conversation on Build It Forward has Nick and Katrin tracing the origin of Phius, the early debates about whether European passive house standards could work in American climates, and the long road to developing a climate-specific standard that actually fits how we build here. They get into workforce development, the role of training and credentials, and what it looks like to think about passive house not just as a building standard but as a market transformation tool, one that Katrin believes should eventually make itself obsolete. This is a conversation about what it takes to shift an industry and what comes next. 00:00:55 One Phone Call That Changed Everything00:01:18 Building America's First Passive House00:03:26 How Phius Came to Be00:06:05 Finding the Community Already Cooking00:07:06 Why the European Standard Didn't Translate00:11:00 Turning a Building Method into a Movement00:19:00 The Workforce Gap Holding the Industry Back00:27:00 What a National Training Strategy Actually Looks Like00:34:14 When Passive House Becomes Second Nature Connect with Katrin Klingenberg and Phius:phius.org | IG: @phius_official Learn more about NESEA:nesea.org |IG: @neseaorg Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.com Made with @PRMEABL #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #Phius #NESEA #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #WorkforceDevelopment #BuildingEnergy #PassiveBuilding #KatrinKlingenberg

  9. Oct 20

    What's Missing in HVAC Today with Ross Trethewey

    In this conversation on Build It Forward, Nick Falkoff of Auburndale Builders sits down with Ross Trethewey of TE2 Engineering and This Old House to talk about where HVAC systems are heading, and why that future looks different from what most builders are used to today.They start with the Studio HPDC barn as a real-world testing lab and how it can function as a community mechanical room, then get into what's driving change in the industry. From rising energy costs to the limits of traditional systems, they discuss why air-to-water heat pumps are gaining traction in the US and what still stands in the way. Ross explains why lab data and energy models only tell part of the story, and why measuring real-world performance is important to fill in the gaps. That leads into predictive controls, system behavior over time, and how thermal storage and phase change materials could reshape how buildings use energy. The back half focuses on what this means in practice. Where do these systems make sense today? How do trades adapt? And how do we move from "high-performance" as a concept to something we can actually implement? Chapters00:21 – The Studio HPDC barn as a high-performance learning lab02:53 – Air-to-water heat pumps and the U.S. market shift04:33 – How energy costs and market forces drive adoption09:39 – Why real-world data matters more than lab data15:50 – Predictive controls and system behavior over time17:10 – Thermal storage and phase change materials explained26:20 – Where air-to-water systems fit today32:15 – Retrofit strategies and hybrid system approaches36:18 – Measuring performance and where the industry is heading Connect with:Ross Trethewey, TE2 EngineeringIG: @rosstretheweyhttps://www.te2engineering.com Studio HPDCIG: @studiohpdcwww.studiohpdc.org Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music"Welcome to the Johnsons" from the album Bird Modeby E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.com Made with PRMEABL_ #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #HVACDesign #HeatPumps #AirToWater #Electrification #HomePerformance #MechanicalSystems #PassiveHouse #ThisOldHouse #BostonMA #CambridgeMA

  10. Oct 20

    Building a Culture of Asking Questions with Steve Baczek

    In this conversation on Build It Forward, Nick Falkoff of Auburndale Builders sits down with Steven Baczek, Architect, and Amy Lieb, Executive Director of Studio HPDC, to talk about carpentry training, learning culture, and how people actually grow in the trades over the course of a career.The conversation explores how carpenters and builders learn on the job, why mentorship and asking good questions matter more than memorizing answers, and how training programs can help accelerate learning without replacing real-world experience. Steve draws on his background in the trades, architecture, and building science to explain why teaching the right questions is often more important than providing solutions. This episode also looks at the cultural side of construction, from how builders and architects communicate to how crews develop confidence, discipline, and responsibility over time. It's a real, practical conversation about what it takes to keep learning in an industry that should never stop changing. #LongLiveOurBuildings Chapters00:00 – Introduction01:00 – Steve's path from the trades to architecture04:00 – Teaching trades and teaching culture07:30 – Learning by asking better questions11:00 – Why information is not the same as training15:00 – Creating safe spaces to learn and ask questions18:30 – Architects, builders, and responsibility23:00 – Training as an investment, not a cost27:30 – Learning never stops32:00 – Closing thoughts This episode was filmed at Studio HPDC's 200-year-old Passive House teaching barn.www.studiohpdc.org Connect with:Steven Baczek, ArchitectInstagram: @stevenbazcekarchitectwww.stevenbaczekarchitect.com Amy LiebStudio for High Performance Design and ConstructionInstagram: @studiohpdcwww.studiohpdc.org Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:"Welcome to the Johnsons" from the album Bird Modeby E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBdistrokid.com/hyperfollow/elightning/bird-mode-2 Made with PRMEABL_ #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #TradesEducation #CarpentryTraining #StudioHPDC #PassiveHouse #StevenBaczek

  11. Oct 19

    Building Community in High-Performance Construction with Ben Bogie

    In this first episode of Build It Forward, Nick Falkoff, General Manager of Auburndale Builders, sits down with Ben Bogie, Director of Building Science at Building Performance Cooperative, and Amy Lieb, Executive Director of the Studio for High Performance Design and Construction, to talk about why community plays such a critical role in advancing high-performance building.Rather than focusing on a single product or system, this conversation zooms out to look at how builders, designers, educators, and tradespeople actually learn, grow, and improve over time. From local meetups and trade school partnerships to national networks like BS*+beer, the group explores how shared knowledge, hands-on learning, and personal relationships help people navigate an increasingly complex building industry. The discussion also touches on workforce development, the gap between online information and real-world experience, and why creating welcoming, in-person spaces matters just as much as technical expertise. Chapters00:00 – Introduction01:00 – Inside the Studio HPDC High-Performance Barn03:00 – Why Community Matters in High-Performance Building05:00 – Making Building Science Approachable08:30 – Learning Through Hands-On Experience11:00 – The Origins of BS*+beer14:30 – Scaling Community Without Losing What Works18:00 – Workforce Development and Trade Schools22:00 – Teaching Core Concepts Without Overwhelm27:00 – Where High-Performance Communities Go Next33:30 – Monitoring, data, and making the invisible visible38:00 – Closing thoughts This episode was filmed at Studio HPDC's 200-year-old Passive House teaching barn in Newton, MA.www.studiohpdc.org Connect with:Ben Bogie, Building Performance CooperativeIG: @benbogiehttps://www.bpcgreenbuilders.com Amy Lieb, Studio HPDCIG: @studiohpdcwww.studiohpdc.org Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com Music:"Welcome to the Johnsons" from the album Bird Modeby E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHB, CPHC, CPHVelightning.bandcamp.com Made with PRMEABL_

  12. Oct 17

    Quality Building Is High-Performance Building with Josh Salinger

    Josh Salinger doesn't see any daylight between quality building and high-performance building. Design it well, use the right materials for the project, install them correctly, and test it when you're done. To Josh, that's just quality, and it gets you a building that lasts longer, is healthier, more resilient, more comfortable, and naturally energy efficient. In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with Josh, who runs Birdsmouth Design-Build in Portland, Oregon, and teaches the PHIUS builder training across North America. It's a fitting place for it. Josh got into building through the carpenters who moved into his rental house and the customers across the bar who asked if he'd build them a fence. Years later, a conversation in this Test Hut led to writing for Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor, and he traces his career back to the spot where he was standing. Josh and Nick also get into how Birdsmouth Design-Build approaches retrofits, balanced ventilation in a leaky old house, why the firm went design-build, what's changed in the PHIUS builder training, and why giving away everything he's learned has only helped his business. Thank you to Betsy Pettit for graciously hosting us. Connect with Josh Salinger and Birdsmouth Design-Build:https://birdsmouthpdx.com | IG: @birdsmouthpdx Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better™ with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:vision@auburndalebuilders.com 00:24 The Test Hut and what it was built for01:29 The passive house tour that changed his path06:56 From bartender to builder09:35 The Test Hut conversation that changed his career15:06 Speaking up when something isn't right19:03 Why Josh went design-build24:36 What's changed in the PHIUS builder training29:00 Where to start on a leaky old house35:19 Building a retrofit report around client goals42:16 Giving away everything you've learned48:45 Quality building is high-performance building Music:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8 Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut #BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #DesignBuild #Retrofit #GreenBuilding #NetZero #JoshSalinger #BirdsmouthDesignBuild #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

  • 12 Episodes

About

Build It Forward is about the people, ideas, and decisions shaping the future of high-performance residential construction. Hosted by Nick Falkoff, GM of Auburndale Builders, and produced by PRMEABL_, the name is a play on “pay it forward.” Conversations range from technical decisions and process to people, culture, history, and collaboration — exploring what’s working, what isn’t, and what might be interesting to try next. These conversations are worth having, and worth sharing, because the best buildings come from communities that share what they know and build forward together.

Information

  • Creator
    Nick Falkoff and PRMEABL_
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2026 Auburndale Builders
  • Show Website
    Build It Forward

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