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The start of the year is a time for reflection and renewal. It's an opportunity to embrace a fresh start — a chance to renew our perspective, recharge our efforts, and recommit to moving society forward. 

As I lay in bed last night thinking, I decided to finally try out the ChatGPT language AI that has been so widely covered in the news of late. By all accounts, it is known to produce compelling and fluid writing and will only continue to improve as it is developed. In particular, I wanted to see how it would make sense of the topic of building science. Building science is one of those terms that gets flippantly bandied about these days, mostly inaccurately (that’s a different essay for another day), and I thought an AI’s take might be illuminating. After all, this intelligence is scouring the vastness of the internet for the most relevant content to the user/questioner’s prompt. Would my prompts deliver content that hovers at a surface level understanding of building science or perhaps offer deeper insights?

We surveyed the Positive Energy staff and asked them what questions they would ask an architect if they were looking to have a custom home designed. The results naturally drifted into three categories: 1. Ethos, it’s important to find an architecture firm that fits your worldview and interests; 2. Process, an architect who can clearly articulate how the design process works and why it works that way can go a long way in preventing unwanted surprises that emerge late in the game; and 3. Technical, there’s no way around the fact that an architect who knows how to deliver a high performing building is engaged in both the aspects of form and function as interlocking features of design.

We’re thrilled to share news of Positive Energy’s next chapter. Exciting times lay ahead!

Building Science is a discipline that is more popular now than it has ever been since its inception. There are several reasons for the newfound popularity, from a growing research body to broader public appeal as media channels proliferated the information landscape. The discipline moved from relative obscurity into the edges of popular culture in a short time. As more and more people consume content about various enclosure or space conditioning products, it is critical that we as professionals and human beings take a step back and remind ourselves what we’re doing and what the function of building science is in this industry and in our larger global society.

Possibly one of the most significant climate issues pertaining to the built environment was addressed during the final days of the Trump administration. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s been a weird last few years and in accordance with that strangeness, Congress managed to quietly slip into the recent pandemic relief bill one of the most important pieces of climate-focused legislation in at least the last 4 years, signed into law by former president Donald Trump. A nice, albeit odd, overture to the Biden administration announcement that the US will rejoin the Paris climate agreement, wouldn’t you say? So while you waited for your $600 check, this new law began to turn the wheels of regulatory change for a good swath of the manufacturing industry and will no doubt impact the AEC industry as well.

But what exactly got passed?

We’re thrilled to provide 4 fantastic sessions for this year’s conference. It’s not just for Austin architects - all are welcome. We can’t wait to see you there! Starts Wednesday so get your tickets quick.

Despite surging cases in the US, construction has not stopped in most states. As we know, houses and buildings can't be built over a Zoom call. We all need to do all we can to end this period of uncontrolled community spread, particularly on construction jobsites since construction workers have been so hard hit by infections. Like any construction project, there are both quantitative and qualitative requirements of a team to bring a building to life. With these facts in mind, we offer the following list of ways to support the health of your construction team on the jobsite.

We just finished reading a recently released by the Rocky Mountain Institute in partnership with Mothers Out Front, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and The Sierra Club about the health and air quality impacts of gas ranges in homes. The results are sadly unsurprising (at least not surprising if you’ve spent any time at all reading about the indoor air quality crisis). Over 40 years of evidence indicates that gas stoves, common in kitchens across the United States, can lead to unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution.

Before us is a once in a generation opportunity to rebuild the world. Now is the time for clarity and confident action. Post-COVID, we can choose to build a world that brings public health, both mental and physical, to the forefront of the built environment.  A world where the invisible aspects of architecture that impact our lives move to the front and center of the design process. A world where we recognize the power of collective individual action and we question the true reasons behind our old paradigms.  

In case you missed last week’s meeting, it was the first collaboration between our very own Building Science Philosophical Society crew and the good folks of the BS + Beer show back east. The show was a lot of fun and the video was recorded so you don’t have to miss a thing.