House Planning Help Podcast

Bjørn Kierulf from Createrra explains how you can have the best of both worlds, using almost entirely natural materials to create a house that reaches the Passivhaus Standard.

Direct download: HPH089.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:27am UTC

Jay Shafer from Four Lights Tiny House Company gives us the lowdown of tiny house living. He explains why he initially made the choice, how different life has been since and why he has never looked back.

Jay also shares practical advice of what you need to know and do in order to transition to a smaller house.

Direct download: HPH088.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:58pm UTC

Andrew Peel from Peel Passive House Consulting explains why the quality assurance procedure is at the heart of the Passivhaus standard. He also feels the process can be useful to improve any building, even if not striving for the standard.

Direct download: HPH087.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:25am UTC

Dylan Lamar from Green Hammer explains how design ideas are communicated in various different ways, from sketches drawn by hand to sophisticated computer models. He also shares the design process at Green Hammer, and how and why house plans evolve.

Direct download: HPH086.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:09pm UTC

Sofie Pelsmakers, environmental architect and doctoral researcher at University College London (UCL), busts 10 common environmental design myths. This also serves as a good introduction to The Environmental Design Pocketbook.

Direct download: HPH085.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:02pm UTC

Clare Parry, Director of the Australian Passive House Association, explains what it means to work on Passivhaus projects in different climates. What, if anything, changes?

Direct download: HPH084.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:26pm UTC

Author Michael Mobbs reflects on what he’s learnt about sustainability over the last 20 years. From living without a car and bringing key services in-house (his home is not connected to mains water, mains electricity or mains drainage) to growing his own food and being careful how he spends his money, Michael considers how effective he has been.

Direct download: HPH083.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:41pm UTC

David Winterton from Sydney-based consultancy Ecological Design gives us a rundown of solar photovoltaic (solar PV). We find out how it works, what the key considerations are and why prices of PV panels always seem to be coming down!

Direct download: HPH082.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:11pm UTC

Cath Hassell from ech2o consultants explains what rainwater harvesting is, why it’s useful and how to get started.

If you haven’t heard our first podcast interview with Cath on the topic of saving water, check that one out first!

Direct download: HPH081.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am UTC