Build It Forward

Become the developer. Become the architect. Become the builder. Tim McDonald didn't do this because it seemed like a good idea. He did it because he couldn't figure out any other way to build what he was trying to build.

In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at Tim's home on the North Shore of Boston, Nick Falkoff sits down with Tim, co-founder of Onion Flats Architecture, for a conversation that spans nearly 30 years of design-build development in Philadelphia. Tim talks about how he came to passive house in 2008, why he sees it as the only serious answer to what climate change demands of buildings, and how the New Gravity concept helped bring passive house into affordable housing funding applications across 40 states.

The conversation also gets into where the work is headed: deep energy retrofits on existing multifamily buildings, panelized wall systems that wrap buildings from the outside while people are still living in them, and the case for why retrofitting existing buildings is more cost effective than tearing them down.

Connect with Tim McDonald and Onion Flats Architecture:
https://onionflatsarchitecture.com

Thank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better™ with samples of their roof and wall products:
https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcast

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

00:31 Growing up inside a house being built
02:01 Why architects should never hand off their ideas
02:53 Japan and the design-build studio that changed everything
05:13 The turn toward passive house
09:32 Trial by fire and vertical integration
16:03 The New Gravity concept and affordable housing policy
25:39 Climate change as the new gravity
28:17 Passive house as the answer to resilience
32:26 Why existing buildings are the real opportunity
33:47 Panelized retrofits and the Dutch model

Music:
Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHB
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8

Made with @PRMEABL

#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #OnionFlats #VerticalIntegration #DeepEnergyRetrofit #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

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.