The Kathleen Sessions

Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau

The Kathleen Sessions podcast features conversations about prolific and deep work, health, place (sustainability, design, resilience) and philosophy. A new season is launching next month. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau is a sustainable real estate developer, meditation advocate and podcast host. Kathleen and her work has been featured by media outlets worldwide including The New York Times, The Economist, the Financial Times, Oprah Magazine, Oprah Radio, USA Today, CNN and many more. She has interviewed great souls from Maya Angelou to Michael Pollan to Sir Ken Robinson. Kathleen also loves pickleball, basketball and yoga.

  1. 04/19/2023

    Dr. Phillip Tabb - The Relevance of Biophilia and Thin Places

    Episode 380. Kathleen interviews Dr. Phillip Tabb about biophilia and thin places and how to instill more qualities of both into the design of our cities, neighborhoods and every day lives. Dr. Tabb is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas A&M University, the land planner of Serenbe and the author of Serene Urbanism, Biophilic Urbanism, and the soon to be published Thin Places. LISTEN: PODCAST INFO: Host: Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Website: https://www.thekathleensessions.com Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekathleensessions To support this podcast, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and The Kathleen Sessions on your favorite podcast app. CONNECT: –Instagram –Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Twitter –Linked In TIME STAMPS: 0:00 – Intro 1:00 – Placemaking 2:25 – The first place 2:56 – Sacred/charged places 3:30 – What makes a village vital? 4:00 – Patterns in charged places 9:27 – English vs. U.S. villages 17:03 – Placelessness in U.S. 18:30 – Serenity and placemaking 20:30 – Streetscape in U.S. 26:30 – What is Biophilia? 30:57 – Land planning with biophilic design 36:06 – Criticalness of biophilic design 38:52 – Define thin places 42:48 – Why are thin places important? 49:08 – Everyday thin places 52:26 – Phill’s favorite thin places 55:31 – Thin places in Ireland 1:01:42 – Positive outcomes of thin places, biophilia, critical land use, and placemaking 1:03:13 – Pro-individual positive outcomes 1:04:21 – Pro-social positive outcomes 1:05:55 – Pro-environmental positive outcomes 1:07:12 – Expression of these concepts in Serenbe 1:10:58 – Themes in Serenbe 1:15:37 – Grateful for Dr. Tab’s work! 1:18:02 – What made Serenbe possible 1:19:12 – Dr. Tab’s book recommendation 1:21:42 – Conclusion

    1h 22m
  2. 03/09/2023

    Prudence Ferreira - Passive Design, Building Science and Creating Resilient Housing

    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. LISTEN: PODCAST INFO: Host: Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Website: https://www.thekathleensessions.com Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekathleensessions To support this podcast, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and The Kathleen Sessions on your favorite podcast app. CONNECT: –Instagram –Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Twitter –Linked In 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 05:50 Air sealing 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 45:15 Train the trades 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 50:10 Personal journey 53:30 Thornton Tomasetti   58:20 Book Recommendation: Transforming Design and Construction

    1h 3m
  3. 02/23/2023

    Meditation - Questions and Answers

    Episode 378. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau answers listener questions and comments about meditation. Although there are many ways to approach meditation and to answer these questions, Kathleen responds directly from her personal experience and a practical approach. PODCAST INFO: Host: Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Website: https://www.thekathleensessions.com Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekathleensessions To support this podcast, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and The Kathleen Sessions on your favorite podcast app. CONNECT: –Instagram –Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Twitter –Linked In TIME STAMPS: 00:00 Why Meditation? 00:43 See the Fiction, Drop the fiction 01:20 “I have tried meditation, but I am bad at it. I can’t sit still. 02:04 We practice meditation, we practice. That is how we become skillful. 02:30 Basketball analogy 03:11 “I play guitar. Isn’t this a form of meditation?” 03:30 Pilot/Fighter Jet 04:45 Meditation – 3 Skills 08:16 “How often should I meditate and how long should I do it?” 09:35 “Why focus on the breath? The breath feels vague to me.” 12:20 “I know that meditation would help me, but I do not have the time to do it.” 14:00 “I love meditation because it is a time I can solve my work problems.” 16:20 “I am religious and not sure how meditation fits into that.” 18:10 “The transition from the calm of meditation back to the reality of my day feels jolting. Any suggestions?” 20:55 “My back hurts when I try to sit in the meditation posture.” 23:00 The side benefit of meditation —the physical benefits. Please subscribe to The Kathleen Sessions on our YouTube channel and your favorite podcast app.

    25 min
  4. 01/26/2023

    Christopher Locke: Architects, Architectural Design and Influence

    Episode 376. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau interviews architect Christopher Locke about his perspectives on the current state of architectural design and the influence that buildings, and who designs them, has on individuals and society at large. Watch this episode on YouTube. Links to Christopher Locke: Design in Color, Steinberg Hart   PODCAST INFO: Host: Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Website: https://www.thekathleensessions.com Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekathleensessions To support this podcast, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and The Kathleen Sessions on your favorite podcast app. CONNECT: –Instagram –Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau Twitter –Linked In TIME STAMPS: :28 The current state of architecture 1:37 Who do architects serve? 2:09 Architecture in response to people, the times and politics 2:48 Diversification 2:58 Inherent tension/challenges of architecture 4:20 What makes for great building design? 6:11 Buildings as part of the public realm 7:21 Architecture as product 9:45 Product vs process 10:10 The politics of space 10:25 It takes strong leaders 10:37 The financial component how projects get funded 10:57 What drew Christopher to architecture 11:51 Architecture as lasting legacy 12:06 Architecture as stewardship 12:22 Righting the wrongs and amplifying voices 13:29 The positives of architecture are infectious 14:30 Architecture school, educational journey 14:47 Design in Color 16:49 Architecture and identity 19:12 A cross section of architecture 20:36 Roadblocks and springboards 21:00 A lack of black and brown architects 22:50 How do we solve for a lack of diversity in architecture? 24:23 Revisiting apprenticeship in architecture 26:33 Moving beyond quotas and token employees 29:38 What do you wish more young people knew? Please subscribe to The Kathleen Sessions on our YouTube channel and your favorite podcast app.

    33 min
5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

The Kathleen Sessions podcast features conversations about prolific and deep work, health, place (sustainability, design, resilience) and philosophy. A new season is launching next month. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau is a sustainable real estate developer, meditation advocate and podcast host. Kathleen and her work has been featured by media outlets worldwide including The New York Times, The Economist, the Financial Times, Oprah Magazine, Oprah Radio, USA Today, CNN and many more. She has interviewed great souls from Maya Angelou to Michael Pollan to Sir Ken Robinson. Kathleen also loves pickleball, basketball and yoga.