Zero Ambitions Podcast

In the midst of a weirdly warm October for this part of the work, we're talking about thermal comfort in building design with Huda Elsherif and Andy Simmonds about a project they've been collaborating on in Tanzania.

While the lessons we can learn from it might not be immediately obvious, there are plenty of them there to be had as our climate grows warmer. In terms of building design it's already clear that we should be thinking ahead, planning for today's needs and building with one eye on future adaptation.

Air conditioning is an incredibly convenient solution in the global north, but it's very fragile, and a reliance on it does not lead to an adequate supply of resilient building stock if we're designing for a climate with higher temperatures. The overuse of air condition has appalling implications when we consider its inefficient use of energy, implicit challenges in generating enough energy to meet demand (already a problem in California), and big problems down the line when buildings designed for air conditioning can't use it.

We also get to touch on cultural difference in building design and the impact that can have, wherever we are, the inadequacy of the assumptions made in standardised guidelines (i.e. the deficiencies in SAP or DEAP), and a few mosquito facts.

Notes from the show

Retrofit Reimagined
If you're nearby, go! More Retrofit Reimagined 2023 is happening in Machynlleth (Centre for Alternative Technology, 21-22 October), and Glasgow (11 November).


**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.


**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