Build It Forward

The building industry has always demanded a wide range of skills. Ace McArleton thinks it's time to widen the circle a little further.

In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, Nick Falkoff is joined by Ace McArleton, co-founder of New Frameworks, a Vermont-based natural building and high-performance construction company approaching its 20th year. Also at the table is Amy Lieb, Executive Director of Studio HPDC, a nonprofit working to connect emerging building science and technology with the businesses and workers who need to use it.

That includes the NESEA community itself, how it functions as an incubator for both technical and cultural ideas, and how it has shaped both New Frameworks and Studio HPDC over the years. It also includes something newer: what happens when ICE shows up at a job site, and how builders can prepare their teams practically, legally, and emotionally. Ace draws a direct line between embodied training in carpentry and embodied training for high-stakes encounters with law enforcement. Practice until it's in your body. Know your role before the moment arrives.

The conversation also gets into what technology really is, who it serves, praxis as a framework for building better, and why the NESEA community keeps pulling people back year after year.

For resources on ICE preparedness and know your rights guidance, visit: studiohpdc.org/more/know-your-rights-immigration-enforcement-preparedness

00:37 What is NESEA and how long have you been part of it
02:40 New Frameworks turns 20
02:58 Amy Lieb origin story -- a business card in the lunch line
05:30 What makes the NESEA community different
06:25 How NESEA has shaped New Frameworks
07:06 Technology, praxis, and what we make with our hands
08:04 What embodied training means in the building trades
10:06 When ICE shows up at your job site
13:49 Building a safe community to practice hard things
15:20 Empowerment, disempowerment, and drawing the circle
16:45 What high performance means now

Connect with Ace McArleton:
newframeworks.com

Learn more about New Frameworks:
newframeworks.com | IG: @newframeworks

Connect with Amy Lieb and Studio HPDC:
studiohpdc.org | IG: @studiohpdc

Learn more about NESEA:
nesea.org | IG: @neseaorg

Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:
vision@auburndalebuilders.com

Music:
Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHB
elightning.bandcamp.com

Made with @PRMEABL

#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #WorkforceDevelopment #NewFrameworks #StudioHPDC #NESEA #StrawBaleBuilding

What is Build It Forward?

Build It Forward is about the people, ideas, and decisions shaping the future of high-performance residential construction. Hosted by Nick Falkoff, GM of Auburndale Builders, and produced by PRMEABL_, the name is a play on “pay it forward.”

Conversations range from technical decisions and process to people, culture, history, and collaboration — exploring what’s working, what isn’t, and what might be interesting to try next.

These conversations are worth having, and worth sharing, because the best buildings come from communities that share what they know and build forward together.