Build It Forward

Ashley Murphree built herself a tiny house out of a shipping container using every good building science practice she knew. Something in it was still making her sick.It was not mold. She knew the building well enough to rule that out. But despite testing and doing everything right, the symptoms continued. That experience opened up a question she has been chasing ever since: what else are we not accounting for when we call a building healthy?In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with Ashley, a mechanical engineer and former general contractor who runs Alchemech Engineering in California and designs systems for high-performance homes.Ashley walks through what she has learned about sensitization and why an occupant who has already reacted to something needs a very different building than one who has not. She gets into the research of Dr. Robert Naviaux at UC San Diego on the mitochondria and the healing cycle, and why a so many different triggers can produce the same condition. She makes the case that we are still not putting large, well-sealed filters in the right places, and asks whether the portable air purifier sitting in the corner is now part of the architecture.The second half turns to mechanicals. Air to water monoblock heat pumps, thermal storage as a battery with no precious metals in it, and why chilled water gives you dehumidification options that refrigerant does not. It ends on an idea for an exposed, cleanable coil you could hang on a wall.Thank you to Betsy Pettit for hosting us.Watch Ashley's Summer Camp presentation - Healthy Living in Tight, Compact Homes:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjxuDkuQCOQConnect with Ashley Murphree and Alchemech Engineering:https://www.alchemech.com | IG: @alchemech.engineeringThank 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-podcastWork with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:[email protected]:42 Who Ashley Murphree is03:26 How her own health changed her practice04:53 More building triggers than just mold06:42 Is the air purifier part of the architecture11:24 What a healthy home client actually needs12:50 Sensitization and why it changes the building17:20 Dr. Robert Naviaux and the healing cycle26:32 Why leaky is not the answer28:28 Filtering everything, MERV levels, and wildfire smoke33:36 Air to water heat pumps and thermal storage44:19 A cleanable coil you could hang on the wallMusic:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #HealthyHomes #IndoorAirQuality #GreenBuilding #NetZero #AshleyMurphree #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

John Straube has spent a career breaking buildings on purpose and investigating the ones that failed by mistake.Test huts exist so that when the experiment goes wrong, nobody gets hurt. The forensic work is the other half. As John puts it, the experiments he could never ethically run himself get run for him, by architects and builders, on real projects.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded in the Building Science Corporation Test Hut at Summer Camp 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with John, a building scientist and engineer who teaches at the University of Waterloo and consults through RDH.John argues that most builders and designers never see enough failures to calibrate their own sense of risk, which is why they can walk along the edge of a canyon in the dark without knowing it. The conversation covers how he teaches people to read a detail, why a wall schedule should list what each layer does and not just what it is, the difference between an aesthetic mock-up and a performance mock-up, and why he thinks a code compliant building is the worst building you can legally build.It closes on what makes a great building scientist, which turns out to have less to do with physics than with actually cutting wood and pouring concrete yourself.Thank you to Betsy Pettit for graciously hosting us.Connect with John Straube:https://www.johnstraube.comThank you to our production partner Benjamin Obdyke. Build Better(TM) with samples of their roof and wall products:https://benjaminobdyke.com/get-a-sample-build-forward-podcastWork with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:[email protected]:32 Who John Straube is and how he got here02:13 Why test huts exist and what forensics teaches05:29 Teaching students versus teaching professionals08:42 If it doesn't get wet, it won't leak11:18 Labeling what things do, not what they are19:07 Having the uncomfortable conversation21:29 Three kinds of mock-ups23:58 Solving material compatibility29:55 Why we are bad at judging risk41:30 Code is the worst building you can legally build49:26 What makes a great building scientistMusic:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8Made with @PRMEABL at the Building Science Corporation Test Hut#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #BuildingScientist #GreenBuilding #NetZero #JohnStraube #BuildingEnclosure #BuildingScienceCorporation #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

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.comThank 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-podcastWork with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:[email protected]:31 Growing up inside a house being built02:01 Why architects should never hand off their ideas02:53 Japan and the design-build studio that changed everything05:13 The turn toward passive house09:32 Trial by fire and vertical integration16:03 The New Gravity concept and affordable housing policy25:39 Climate change as the new gravity28:17 Passive house as the answer to resilience32:26 Why existing buildings are the real opportunity33:47 Panelized retrofits and the Dutch modelMusic:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/0J8B8c2DKgBKOopmjXK3E8Made with @PRMEABL#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #OnionFlats #VerticalIntegration #DeepEnergyRetrofit #BenjaminObdyke #BuildBetter

NESEA just turned 50. And according to Florence McGregor, that's not a moment to celebrate and coast. It's a moment to ask what's next.In this conversation on Build It Forward, recorded at NESEA BuildingEnergy Boston 2026, Nick Falkoff sits down with Flo, Executive Director of NESEA, in the middle of the conference floor for a wide-ranging conversation about what the organization has become, where it still needs to go, and what it means to build a community that can hold both technical excellence and genuine human vulnerability at the same time.They get into NESEA's incoming strategic plan and the priorities Flo hopes carry forward, including the organization's commitment to becoming more just, more sustainable, and actively anti-racist. The conversation also covers what this year's record student attendance means for the future of the industry, why the skills you can only learn in a room with other people matter as much as anything in a technical session, and how the Dumpster Fire Patriarchy workshop changed the way Nick thinks about his role as a builder and a leader.The conversation ends a little abruptly -- conference duties called -- but not before covering a lot of ground worth watching.For resources on ICE preparedness and know your rights guidance, visit: studiohpdc.org/more/know-your-rights-immigration-enforcement-preparedness00:42 Construction as a patriarchal industry01:26 What patriarchy costs the people who practice it02:40 Sharing mistakes and the NESEA culture of vulnerability03:24 NESEA's next five year strategic plan04:16 Climate justice, anti-racism, and the technical work05:00 Welcoming a record number of students this year06:02 What the keynote opened up07:20 The skills you can only learn in a room08:20 Orienting students to a professional community10:33 NESEA as an incubator -- growing your teamConnect with Florence McGregor and NESEA:nesea.org | IG: @neseaorgWork with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:[email protected]:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.comMade with @PRMEABL#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #NESEA #BuildingCommunity #BuildingCulture #ClimateJustice

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-preparedness00:37 What is NESEA and how long have you been part of it02:40 New Frameworks turns 2002:58 Amy Lieb origin story -- a business card in the lunch line05:30 What makes the NESEA community different06:25 How NESEA has shaped New Frameworks07:06 Technology, praxis, and what we make with our hands08:04 What embodied training means in the building trades10:06 When ICE shows up at your job site13:49 Building a safe community to practice hard things15:20 Empowerment, disempowerment, and drawing the circle16:45 What high performance means nowConnect with Ace McArleton:newframeworks.comLearn more about New Frameworks:newframeworks.com | IG: @newframeworksConnect with Amy Lieb and Studio HPDC:studiohpdc.org | IG: @studiohpdcLearn more about NESEA:nesea.org | IG: @neseaorgWork with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:[email protected]:Welcome to the Johnsons from the album Bird Mode by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHBelightning.bandcamp.comMade with @PRMEABL#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #PassiveHouse #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #GreenBuilding #NetZero #WorkforceDevelopment #NewFrameworks #StudioHPDC #NESEA #StrawBaleBuilding