As a builder, I am committed to constantly learning and innovating in order to provide the best possible product to my clients
Sustainability in construction is about our choices.
The built environment presents an enormous opportunity to create a better world, and this is something I am committed to bringing to my projects. To me, sustainable construction has two fundamental elements:
Energy Performance
Also known as operational carbon means the energy that a building uses on a daily basis. This is essentially a combination of the efficiency of the buildings systems and the thermal performance of the building envelope. While mechanical system efficiency is largely a matter of technology and cost, envelope performance is much more a matter of designing functional building assemblies than provide high insulation values and air-tightness, while effectively managing moisture vapor and ventilation. Using cutting edge materials, practices and building science, this can be achieved in a fairly cost-effective way. With careful material selection and corresponding mechanical considerations, this also results in significantly increased indoor air-quality, which is quickly emerging as an urgent concern for occupant health in modern construction. Some techniques include:
- -Double stud wall framing
- -Exterior insulation assemblies
- -Careful air barrier design and detailing
- -Innovative vapor control with variable-permeability membranes
- -Wall-assembly condensation risk analysis
A high quality building envelope is the backbone of a durable, comfortable, healthy, and efficient home. As a Certified Passive House Tradesperson with years of high-performance construction experience, I can ensure that under the surface, your house is taking good care of you.
Embodied Carbon
Buildings are made of materials, and the embodied carbon is essentially the climate change impact of those materials. Sometimes achieving excellent energy performance comes at a high embodied carbon cost, and this is where design and material decisions can greatly impact the sustainability of a construction project.
Understanding this complex issue comes with years of experience and research, but also with the use of scientific tools for analyzing building emissions. I specifically use the BEAM tool, developed by Builders for Climate Action, which enables you to calculate the embodied carbon of a building, and analyze the associated impacts of different decisions. This analysis takes work, and is definitely not a good fit for every project, but for clients looking to go the extra mile it is a service I am excited to offer.
Sustainability means different things for every project, and we shouldn’t trick ourselves into thinking that the things we build have no impact. But finding the balance between human needs and desires and the health of the ecosystem requires expertise and thought, and this is something I am committed to helping my clients navigate.