Zero Ambitions Podcast Jeff, Dan, and Alex

Jeff and Dan are joined by Dr. Peter Rickaby again. We were due a catch up so we recorded the conversation because he's always interesting. 
Peter should need little introduction, so we'll just say he's our favourite retrofit expert (sorry everyone else) and our most frequent guest on the show. 
He's only returned to the pod, not to the UK. In principle he's migrated to South Africa and is supposed to be retiring, but that's not exactly worked out so far. He has made it to Johannesburg though. 
Bu, if you haven't encountered him before Peter is one of the heads behind PAS 2035 and Ireland's BER system, amongst many other achievements. Go back and check the earlier episodes too.
We had planned to talk about his experiences with the energy situation in South Africa and what we might learn from it but, as ever, we meandered all over the shop covering all sorts: retrofit, natural building materials, heat pumps, fabric first, fabric fifth, novel recycling, embodied carbon etc.
Past appearances
Retrofit - Who do you trust? With Dr. Peter Rickaby (May 2023)Dr Peter Rickaby (part 1) on Retrofit, Heat Pumps, EPCs, PAS 2035, LADs, Climate Change, and everything in-between (June 2022)Dr Peter Rickaby (part 2) on Retrofit, Heat Pumps, EPCs, PAS 2035, LADs, Climate Change, and everything in-between (June 2022)The Retrofit Challenge and PAS 2035 with Dr Peter Rickaby (September 2021)


**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

This week we're joined by Nesta's Deputy Mission Director, Andrew Sissons, to discuss his take on why the UK has such a weird relationship with heat pumps.
It was inspired by an excellent Twitter thread on the subject that gained quite a bit of attention the other week.
We talk through it all so you might as well listen, or just take a look at the thread, either way it should be interesting.
Notes from the show
Andrew Sissons on LinkedInNesta's websiteThe Twitter thread: Why have heat pumps become a bit of a contentious topic in the UK? 
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

The other week we had a chance to have a conversation with Cypren Edmunds, President of the European Straw Building Association about building with straw, experiences in retrofit, and the meandering path that led him to the green building trade.
For us, it was a really interesting chat because we got to talk about how he got into greed building via sport, the music industry, and playing an active role in his community. The wasn't a built environment professional embarking on a curious diversion in a construction career, it's someone who did something else first and found their way into the building trade later in life, led by interest and making the most of the breadth of their experience.
And we got to talk about music for a while, but we cut most of that out because we thought most of our listeners wouldn't be too into it.
Notes from the show
Cypren Edmunds on LinkedInThe European Straw Building Association (ESBA) website The European Straw Building Association (ESBA) on LinkedInThe Association of Straw Bale Building UK (SBUK) websiteThe SBUK Members Directory The SBUK on LinkedInThat 80s Loadsamoney character on TVA map of straw buildings in the UK (database)A straw construction technical guide from The School of Natural BuildingStraw BIM
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

The Recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is now enshrined in EU law, which has big implications for the built environment everywhere. Even the South East of England.
To mark the occasion and get the lowdown on what this all means, we invited friend of the show Ciarán Cuffe back on to talk about it.
For those who might not remember, he's the Irish Green Party MEP and Rapporteur to the EU who has been deeply involved in driving it through. And, as a qualified planner and architect he's a politician who really understands his brief.
Notes from the show
Ciarán Cuffe on LinkedInCiarán's own websiteA summary of the EPBDThe Green Party and EFA's promo on the new law Ciarán's current slideshow on the law (on LinkedIn)  His appearance on Zero Ambitions Podcast last year**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Kate Crawford is a building nerd who is obsessed with measuring performance. She's currently, Technical Director at KLH Sustainability, a multidisciplinary consultancy working in the built environment.
Kate has a very interesting background in terms of her experience and she's now working on a very fascinating project in which she's researching and developing a "Smart Meter Enabled Thermal Energy Rating (SMETER)" system that uses a new approach to measuring building performance and a different kind of metric for assessing it.
The result has been something that they call "the snug factor", which is the heat-transfer coefficient of the building (Kate explains it all in the episode). The way they generate their heat-transfer coefficient has led to incredibly accurate estimations for energy use in a home. 
Notes from the show
Kate Crawford on LinkedInKLH Sustainability's websiteThe research Jeff mentions about low pressure showers using more waterReal performance and the HEMReal performance and the SAPKate's little (and excellent) graphic novel on her experience of aid work**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

This week we're talking about modular construction and Natural Building Systems with MD Chloe Donovan.
Chloe is a really interesting character with a fascinating product that she's bringing to market. Unusually, she's a farmer who got into building and then found herself as an entrepreneur in the febrile world of modular building and MMC.
We talk about all sorts, from the challenges of propagating a biogenic supply chain to the ever-contentious subject of calculating embodied carbon, and a little about what's going on in MMC.
Notes from the show
Chloe Donovan on LinkedInNatural Building Systems websiteNatural Building Systems on LinkedIn**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote our day jobs.
Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn pageJeff, Alex, and Dan about websites, branding, and communications - zap@eiux.agency; Everything is User ExperienceSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women (but not in a patronizing way)**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**