Reducing thermal mass anxiety...
Podcasts, conference talks, and presentations on building physics
In this episode of the podcast, Jess sits down with Alex Slater, co-director of Building Physics Australia and Shared Space Architecture. While Alex is a master of the complex, numbers-heavy Passive House Planning Package (PHPP), his true superpower is looking past the data to find the human being at the center of the project. From comparing home health and human health, to breaking down the structural differences between NatHERS and Passive House, Alex shares why building a home is a deeply psychological journey. If you’ve ever felt trapped by rigid building codes or felt that modern design lacks a soul, this conversation will completely shift your perspective on what a healthy home can be.
The Northern Rivers is a humid climate. It is more energy efficient to close of the windows and ventilate mechanically (hello, Passivhaus) than it is to open windows and moderate the indoor environment afterwards. Through the use of emotive imagery, the explanation of a mouldy township and the humour in massive water drops, Alex explains why it is sensible to keep these windows closed and control the internal climate mechanically. We also touched on moisture management within the thermal envelope and how to make sure that condensation occurs at the outside of the thermal envelope and is adequately vented!
When a Mad Scientist becomes really excited about what they want to tell their clients, this is the kind of pattern which can happen… first we say something and show a graph… then we say something else and show another graph… and we keep going until the client has no idea what’s going on… and then a bit more. This prompted me to start working on something for my reports. It is called RePHorter. Imagine a report where I can copy and paste decent graphs into an A4 format in word and not have to recreate these again and again! This was the thought going through my mind which eventually took hundreds of hours to create graphs which are easy to read to the least sophisticated creative nerds… our clients, mainly the visual type.
Explores the ideas of what works and what does not. We myth bust and interrogate things like windows, form factor and shading! As with most (probably all) presentations, humour was used to teach and explain the crazy things we ought to believe because the Australian Design Culture!
Building Physics and Architecture in Perth! Plenty of double-brick here. Plenty of reason to be able to find a solution which works with the local material. Deep questions, fun answers, local insights. The presentation was kept clear and relevant and gave more to think about in the future.
Alex explores the idea of measuring building performance and being able to communicate this to relevant parties before construction so that the buildings are comfortable and healthy environments. New Zealand's biggest issue is humidity and this is explored by looking at New Zealand climate data through tools which have been created to understand Australia's Climate Data. What actually happens with humidity is a greater need to retain a completely separate, airtight internal environment. Opening windows just means there is greater energy consumption throughout the year because of heating, cooling and dehumidification. New Zealand, we've got you!
In this episode of Passive House Podcast, co-host Matthew Cutler-Welsh reconnects with Alex Slater from Shared Spaces to delve into the latest advancements and challenges in sustainable design. Alex shares his recent work on the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) and its application in compliance with Australian building regulations. They discuss the significance of energy efficiency, the impact of thermal mass in various climates, and the importance of education and humility in promoting sustainable practices. Alex also reflects on the recent Thrive24 conference, emphasizing the need for a collaborative approach to advancing Passive House standards in Australia.
Have you ever stopped in your tracks, wondering what you may be able to do with the information you have at your fingertips? This presentation is intended to provide you with several tricks you can use as a Certified Passivhaus Designer to assist with NCC compliance, NatHERS comparisons and determined curiosity! Be prepared to enter the grey area… where grey matter thrives! It is becoming much easier to use the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) to justify and inform other parties of the compliance and benefit of the outcomes attributed to a design. A particular interest is the use of a Performance Solution to prove effective design and compliance against the criteria in the NCC, part H601 (2022) and O2.6 (2019). Our typical strategy implements a hierarchy of priorities being Deemed-to-Satisfy and Performance Solution to justify variation and finally a Performance Solution to demonstrate compliance. The presentation aims to address all three paths and outline benefits and detriments. Drilling down into the PHPP data has been beneficial in creating other tools, particularly solar PV and battery calculations, window estimations and simplified reporting. These strategies have given the opportunity to prove the effectiveness of the Passivhaus Standard in Australia today.
Harmony is created when theory and nature align. Our work has seen a theory prioritisation with nature taking a backseat in recent times. The best way to make a comfortable environment is to look at the local conditions and moderate boundaries of influence. Tonight I used the example of goal setting in personal lives as an analogy for the creation of healthy building environments. A wonderful time with excellent questions.
Windows are the weakest point of the thermal envelope... and they need to be treated with that in mind. This presentation is about shifting the perspective of "bringing the outdoors in" to "focussing on the outdoor jewels through smaller apertures". Alex explores the idea of 'keeping up with the Jones's' (through humour and fun) and demonstrating how homes have come to evolve around external influences above internal compasses. The humble home does exist and this presentation seeks to employ thinking about being practical over thinking about being favourable.
Cohost Matthew Cutler-Welsh interviews Melbourne-based Alex Slater, architect at Shared Space Architecture, Passive House Designer, and NatHERS Assessor. Alex shares how he has combined building science and art in his professional work modeling and designing high-performance buildings; how his initial interest in the energy modeling engine behind Australia NatHERS rating system led naturally to an interest in the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) and Passive House more generally; and how building physics plays a central role in his practice, whether Passive House or not.
