Zero Ambitions Podcast

In this episode we're talking about Zero Bills Homes, so we welcome back Nigel Banks, this time accompanied by his Octopus colleague Emma Fletcher*.

We're not directly talking Fabric Fifth again but the concept is central to the Octopus zero bills strategy i.e. prioritising decarbonising energy use and reducing the cost of energy use rather than focusing on reducing energy demand through fabric measures. As before, basic fabric standards are required in order to make the proposition financially viable.

As you might imagine, Jeff was keen to dig into the technical and performance side, so Nigel explains what’s going on in the standard and what they know about how well it’s functioning and Emma fills us in on how it's shaping up to evolve into a building standard in its own right. 

We're particularly keen because—although we might be sceptical, which we discuss—the action that Octopus is initiating will raise standards and will shape expectations that will influence the whole residential construction sector, and could go some way to catalysing the bridging of the skills gap.


*She, too, works at Octopus Energy—she is not an actual octopus.


Notes from the show



**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 page (we still don't have a proper website)
  • Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
  • Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
  • Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
  • Join ACAN
  • Join the AECB 
  • Join the IGBC
  • Check out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women



**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**


What is Zero Ambitions Podcast?

Zero Ambitions is a consultancy and weekly podcast about sustainability and the built environment.

We find interesting and experienced guests who know what they're talking about, usually to discuss how we navigate the complexity of decarbonisation and sustainability in the built environment and its many related sectors.

Hosted by Jeff Colley and Dan Hyde, publishers of Passive House Plus magazine (UK and Ireland), the podcast has now grow into a consultancy, Zero Ambitions Partners.

The consultancy specialises in defensible sustainability communications. We create the strategy that makes built environment leaders stand out, enabling them to occupy positions that are distinct and defensible.

As with the podcast itself, we help organisations to communicate about what they do and the value that they offer. Usually, this means strategies to change a conversation from price to value and how to futureproof an offer with evidence that makes its claims watertight.

If you're a leader, or want to become one, we help you to make sense of where you stand in your sector, how to improve your positioning, how to communicate this to the market you operate in, and how to highlight the difference between you and your peer group.

If you can engage your value chain by speaking about what matters to them, you can educate your key stakeholders and turn them into evangelists for your cause.

Book a ‘ZAP Defensibility Audit’, but brace yourself
- Uncover value and opportunities that you may 
not have recognised
- Find out if your sustainability claims are defensible
- Find out if your claims are too meek
- Change the conversation from price to value