The Built Environment Innovation Podcast: Recent Episodes
Construction Scotland Innovation Centre
The Built Environment Innovation Podcast aims to bring you insights into the ways innovation is being used to transform construction.
Come on the journey with us and be inspired by the ways our built environment is changing for the better.
In the final episode of this season of the Accelerate to Zero podcast on equality, diversity and inclusion, Heads of Stakeholder Engagement, Kirsty Duncan and Danielle Miller, speak to BE-ST's new board chair Nicola Barclay, about her career, challenges she's faced, and her perspective on diversity, leadership and the changing landscape of the built environment.
In Scotland, 10.5% of workers within the construction sector are disabled. Today we are joined by Martin Griffin, Principal Geotechnical Engineer at GHD and award winning ED&I champion and advocate who leads a national neurodiversity network.
Martin is neurodivergent, autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic and visually impaired.
Martin's recommended reading:
- Neurodiversity at Work. (2021) Amanda Kirby (Author), Theo Smith
- Design for the mind. Neurodiversity and the built environment. Guide
- Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally Paperback. (2021) Emily Ladau
Aurora Tallon, Chair of Women Property for Central Scotland and Senior Architect at BakerHicks joins the Accelerate to Zero podcast this week to discuss various equality, diversity and inclusion issues including maternity and paternity leave, language barriers and the benefits of a diverse workforce.
Today we are taking a deeper dive into neurodiversity in the workplace. In August 2023 research from the National Federation of Builders reported that almost 40% of neurodivergent people working in construction have not told their employer about their condition.
In this week's episode, we are joined by Richard Gwilt, Digital Construction Manager at Kier Group. Since being diagnosed later in life with autism, Richard has been open to sharing his experiences, exploring and recognising the talent and creativity it can offer.
Sign up to the DIveIN Conference.
This week's guests are Pheona and Micheal Matovu, Founders of Radiant and Brighter. They know first-hand some of the challenges ethnic minorities experience in the UK. They themselves faced unemployment after migrating to the UK due to the lack of support available to them. Together they founded Radiant and Brighter to turn their focus towards training organisations and individuals to help provide support for migrant communities in Scotland. Now, they have a long track record of brignging ED&I to large organisations.
Find out more Radiant and Brighter: https://radiantandbrighter.com/
Sign up to the DIveIN Conference: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/781230229647?aff=oddtdtcreator
The Accelerate to Zero Podcast this week with a series focused on equality, diversity and inclusion within the built environment hosted by Kirsty Duncan Heads of Stakeholder Engagement at BE-ST.
Our first guest is Emily Carr, design manager at Kier Construction North & Scotland, and former vice-chair of Built Environment – Smarter Transformation’s BE Change Makers. Emily is an advocate for promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in construction and recently completed the Churchill Fellowship where she investigated ongoing initiatives promoting women in Sweden's construction sector.
Promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Construction Sector report: https://www.churchillfellowship.org/ideas-experts/ideas-library/promoting-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-construction-sector/
DIveIN Conference: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/divein-conference-tickets-781230229647?aff=oddtdtcreator
We wrap up our digitally focussed series of the podcast by delving into the world of artificial intelligence with Eric Duffy, Senior Director of Business Development, Tenstorrent.
Tenstorrent is a next-generation computing company that builds computers for AI. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with U.S. offices in Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley, and global offices in Belgrade and Bangalore, Tenstorrent brings together experts in the field of computer architecture, ASIC design, advanced systems, and neural network compilers.
This week we are joined by Prof. Andrew Sherlock, Director of Data-Driven Manufacturing from National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.
Andrew is an engineer to trade, but has been working in AI, engineering and manufacturing throughout his career. He's interested in how we apply machine learning, AI and general data techniques to solve problems within engineering and manufacturing.
Learn more about NMIS: https://www.nmis.scot/
Join us this week to hear about all things data capture from Gary Kelly and Steven Duffy from Leica Geosystems.
Leica Geosystems has been revolutionising the world of measurement and survey for 200 years. With precise and accurate instruments, sophisticated software, and trusted services, Leica Geosystems delivers value every day to those shaping the future of our world.
Listen in this week to hear from Mark Baxter Technical Director and Co-Founder at Digitalnauts.
Digitalnauts make immersive technologies accessible to businesses and organisations by supporting and creating immersive experiences for deployment at scale. In the age of digital transformation, they believe immersive technologies can advance the future of work and learning.
Find out more: https://www.digitalnauts.co.uk/
This week Matthew Paton is joined by Sebastian Andraos, CEO & Founder, HAL Robotics.
Sebastian comes from an architectural background before moving into the world of robotics in 2013, where he aims to facilitate the adoption of digital automation within the construction, design and craft industries.
Find out more about HAL Robotics.
This week sees an exciting live version of the Accelerate to Zero podcast recorded live at BE-ST Fest 2023.
Special guests Erik Archer, Associate Director at IES LTD and Thomas Milton, Senior Operations Consultant at IES recorded a fireside chat to cover everything you need to know about Digital Twins, including "what is a digital twin?", "why should I be interested in this technology?", "what benefits will it bring to my organisation?", "how much does it cost?" and "where do I start?".
Join a high level discussion that will leave you far more informed and enthused for a digital future.
This week Sara speaks to Marina Topouzi from CREDS – the Centre for Research in Energy Demand Solutions. Marina shared the work that she and the team there are progressing on the Retrofit Salary Sacrifice scheme. This stands to be a really impactful way of incentivising retrofit and opening up all sorts of other related opportunities. We know that scaling retrofit will require manifold ways of approaching and delivering, and this one is at once innovative and totally relatable.
Read more here: https://www.creds.ac.uk/retrofit-salary-sacrifice/
This week we're taking a quick break from the normal programming to give you a slice of the excitement to happen at the International Retrofit Conference: a not-to-be-missed retrofit event on 2nd November.
Sara spoke to Caitriona Jordan, Head of Retrofit Programmes at BE-ST and Rachael Owens, Sara’s co-director at the National Retrofit Hub, as Sara holds that role as well as Head of Citizen Engagement at BE-ST.
As BE-ST and the National Retrofit Hub will be co-hosting the day, they got together to let you all know about the upcoming International Retrofit Conference. There are going to be some incredible speakers and workshops and it struck us as the hosts that perhaps we needed to tell you a bit more about what’s planned and why. A sample of who we will hear from includes Smith Mordak of UKGBC, Rob Deegan the Department of Principal Officer, Residential Energy Efficiency, Government of Ireland, Energiesprong Global Alliance, Professor Sean Smith, Civic Square, Zero Waste Scotland, People Powered Retrofit and so much more.
Take a look at our website for tickets and more information on the speakers: www.be-stfest.org/the-international-retrofit-conference
This week we spoke to Mike Teall and Sophie Leang from Snugg. Snugg is a digital platform to allow users to work out how their home is performing and what they can do next. Now, we are seeing more platforms like this emerge, but we at BE-ST are interested at getting under the surface to see how they differ, where’s the nuance, and most importantly, what are we learning about making this journey easier for everyone?
Mike and Sophie would love it if you all had a go at www.snugg.com and let them know how you find the experience!
Reinier, an experienced Environmental Engineer, and Kirsty, a seasoned Property and Tech entrepreneur, came together to found Kuppa.
Over a cup of tea, they came up with the seed idea for a technology platform which could take the confusion out of the home energy transition and demystify decarbonisation.
We talked about humanising data, but also being aware of the potential for action within understanding data and how it can help improve people’s lives.
Intuitive technology? Easy to use? Might just take the sting out of retrofit? Tell us more! This week Sara speaks to Louis Daillencourt from Novoville, the people behind Shared Repairs and Shared Works (soon to come!). The app allows you to report issues to owners, get quotes from Trusted Traders, take a vote, and open a digital payment account. Seeing the success with the Shared Repairs app to help residents, Louis began to collaborate with Loco Home Retrofit and Eala Impacts to explore how to increase the scope to deal with retrofit more broadly.
If you are keen to explore more, get in touch with Louis at louis@novoville.com.
Come to BE-ST Fest on November 1st and you will get to meet the Novoville team.
Put your passivhaus theory into practice and sign up for our Passivhaus Practical Training taking place at BE-ST alongside Coaction.
Join us this week as we shift perspective once again, unlike the other episodes we aren't taking a deep dive into one material. And that's because today's guest is Laurent Verheyden, Managing Director from Soprema, who are a global company, manufacturing a large variety of products.
In this episode, we'll be paying attention to their natural fibre ranges including circular textiles, wood fibre and cellulose.
This week we're back with a brand new episode of the Accelerate to Zero Podcast featuring Dr Ehab Sayed, Founder of BIOHM.
The episode focuses on the power of mycelium - the vegetative filament root structure of mushrooms and BIOHM's R&D journey so far. Listeners will learn how mycelium is foraged, developed, cured and how it can be made into a sustainable insulation alternative.
This week Tony Gordon, Superglass joins Sam Patterson to discuss a popular insulation material in new build homes and retrofit, how it is made from recycled materials, and how we can give industry a clearer view to achieve retrofit at scale.
Superglass is a leading manufacturer of glass mineral wool insulation, offering thermal and acoustic products for all relevant applications. Their product is made from up to 84% recycled glass, and when installed saves around 200 times the energy used to manufacture it. As of June this year, Superglass is part of the Etex group, a global leader in lightweight construction brands.
www.superglass.co.uk
Joining Sam Patterson this week on the Accelerate to Zero podcast is Sam Baumber, COO and co-founder of IndiNature. Edinburgh-based firm IndiNature creates products using the natural fibre hemp - a plant that can sequester 8-20 tonnes of carbon per hectare every year.
Listen as the Sams go over why IndiNature makes products from hemp, the fire and general performance of the material and how we can relearn and regrow this once relied-upon industry in the UK.
IndiNature - www.indinature.co
The sustainable material takeover continues this week as Sam Patterson sits down with John Ferguson, Founder & CEO, Sisaltech.
Sisaltech Ltd is the first manufacturer to combine sisal and wool to make insulation. John Ferguson shares his journey as a smaller company creating a new construction material that is circular, sustainable and recyclable.
In this season, Sara Edmonds hands over the Accelerate to Zero mic to Sam Patterson, Associate Impact Manager (Sustainability) at BE-ST.
Sam's first guest is Ankita Dwivedi, Founder and CEO of Firstplanit. Listen in to hear why Ankita has spent so many years to building Firstplanit, what it does, and how it is helping people to make informed and considered choices.
This week’s podcast is not only a great session with HomeNotes, but also the launch of something really exciting. HomeNotes is an organisation who is seeking to fill the gap that homeowners often face when undertaking a refurbishment project when they can’t afford the full suite of professional services to guide them through contractual matters on site, or navigating the supply chain, and so on. We talk about why they decided to fill this gap, and how they are going about it. We also gave a shout out to Back to Earth, a great organisation that are not only supplying natural materials, but offering free education on how to use and specify them.
This week is also the launch of our Futureproof Your Home collaboration. Not one, not two, but three homeowner retrofit explainer videos coming your way, free to access and available to share widely, so get involved, and get sharing!
Lisa is a retrofit coordinator, and Technical Lead at RetrofitWorks - a cooperative of retrofit installers and designers. She has an academic background in building physics and Architecture, and has conducted a range of performance evaluations of new, retrofit and refurbished buildings. She uses building forensics as part of an evidence-based approach to low-energy design and reducing the technical risk of construction projects. Throughout lockdown, Lisa took on the challenge of retrofitting her own Glasgow tenement flat.
This week the Accelerate to Zero podcast features an interview with BE-ST’s very own Sarah Buchanan, Impact Manager in the Retrofit team. Not only does Sarah have an extensive knowledge of the retrofit space, but she also has taken on her own retrofit project of her home. She is an active member of Loco Home Retrofit, an organisation providing quality advice and whole house retrofit assessments, and an active community of support to share skills and knowledge, also featured in the last series of this podcast. Someone with Sarah’s perspective knows what needs to be done, has experienced the process of trying to get it done, but can also identify the gaps or problems in delivering retrofit. But Sarah frames all of this as opportunity. And she’s right. See the links of useful resources below and enjoy listening.
Loco Home Retrofit - https://locohome.coop/
Edinburgh Building Retrofit and Improvement Community - https://twitter.com/edinbric
BE-ST Learning Hub for free training resources - BE-ST Learning Hub (talentlms.com)
This week Sara is joined by Sarah and Michael Lewis. Both are involved in the built environment – Sarah is the Director of Policy and Research at the Passivhaus Trust and Michael is a Teaching Fellow in architectural design at Edinburgh College of Art. They shared a really detailed history of the retrofit of their home, and we focused a lot on important things such as indoor air quality, the state of the grant led measures available, and the need for attention to detail in understanding both the buildings we retrofit but the way we go about retrofitting them. A really rich listen – enjoy!
Sal Wilson is an educator, architect, and passionate sustainability advocate. Sal teaches at The Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. She has worked across architectural and environmental design practices, including Atelier 10. She is co-founder of Home Energy Action Lab. But Sal has also undertaken her own retrofit project of her family’s home in Cornwall. In this episode we talk all things upskilling, supply chain dramas, the Whole Building Approach, and slugs.
Sal also mentioned Ecological Building Systems who supported her through her home retrofit with good advice, POWER who are running a collaborative retrofit workshop series of sessions with Home Energy Action Lab – you can sign up on their website to become a member to access these workshops, and Retrofit Action for Tomorrow who do wonderful work on the full scope of retrofit services with schools.
Several other organisations Sal mentions include SuperHomes, The AECB, Civic Square, Retrofit Balsall Heath and more! Get in touch if you have any questions. Enjoy the listen!
Tara Gbolade is an architect and Passivhaus designer and cofounder of Gbolade Design Studio. In this episode we talk all things sustainability in practice. Tara was generous and brave in this discussion. We spoke about how none of us are perfect and that we learn and iterate as we go. This is exactly the sort of example we need to be leading with – letting it be known that we all have to start somewhere, and keep improving as we go. Tara is involved in many things, from the steering group of Architects Declare, member of the board of Trustees of UKGBC, co-founder of the Paradigm Network which champions Black and Asian representation in the built environment. Tara has some really interesting insights and direct experience of the multi faceted benefits of adopting higher performing standards, including the impact on our health. It’s a great listen – enjoy!
We’ve been long time fans of Marion Baeli’s work here at BE-ST. Marion is partner at PDP London, an architect and Passivhaus designer with a passion for sustainability and low energy design. This led Marion to take part and win a contract as part of a government competition, Retrofit for the Future, which in turn led to the delivery of the award winning 100 Princedale Road project, the first certified Passivhaus retrofit in the UK.
But that’s not all, Marion has carried out a deep retrofit of her own home too, so truly has a sense of what it takes, but also what the wide-ranging benefits are to delivering retrofit. In this episode we hear about Marion’s own home retrofit as well as her work in reviewing the Retrofit for the Future programme.
This week, we bring you an extra bonus episode where Sara speaks to Jonathan Atkinson of Carbon Coop and People Powered Retrofit fame. It was a real joy, and Jonathan shared his extensive insight about the public and third sector and the world of the cooperative approach.
Check out their work here, also check out People Powered Retrofit, B4Box and also mentioned was the Community Green Deal report by Urbed.
What a way to finish this series on place-based community focused retrofit initiatives! This week we had the pleasure of speaking to Aneaka Kellay from Carbon Co-op in Manchester, an energy services and advocacy cooperative that helps people and communities to make the radical reductions in home carbon emissions.
Aneaka works in the Retrofit Team and Energy Commons Team. She is experienced in workshop development, facilitation, and community engagement. And that’s the gold that Aneaka brings to this conversation. The fundamental importance of meaningful engagement to make retrofit stick! We covered a lot of other ground, from the finance models for retrofit, to training and the role of local authorities.
We also spoke about B 4 Box, a construction training provider and employer with a difference and social justice at its core. Aneaka also mentioned Hannah Dixon at Progress in Practice and the Power in the City podcast.
Towards the end of this recording we were joined by Jonathan Atkinson of Carbon Coop and begin to set the scene for the bonus episode that we’ll treat you to next week. Happy listening!
Loco Home Retrofit is a Community Interest Company focused on owner occupier retrofit, Loco HomeRetrofit support energy conscious home improvement in Glasgow.
Key to their work, is participating in collaborative initiatives to aggregate demand and ensure high quality outcomes and a risk managed retrofit offer to households.
Find out more here: https://locohome.coop/
Better still, become a member. If you don’t live in Glasgow, don’t let that stop you reaching out to them. Let’s continue to build this network, this wonderful web of connections to deliver safe resilient places for our communities to thrive!
In this week's episode, we explore the growing movement of community-driven initiatives and their impact on local communities. Against the backdrop of social and economic challenges, we speak with Homebaked CLT, a community land trust in Liverpool bringing about change for the better in their community. Both residents, they’ve been working in Anfield and Everton for over 12 years now. They talk about the need to be patient, to build trust and to get organised. Recognising there is a movement building in this place based community driven work, they mention collaborating with other great organisations such as Carbon Coop and South East London Community Energy.
As part of their work they’re developing a deep retrofit of a terrace in their neighbourhood and will soon launch a community share offer to raise the funds to deliver it. Please follow their work and consider supporting them if you can.
https://www.homebaked.org.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/homebakedclt/
Retrofit is a complex area. And making the ideas around it meaningful for people is an area that has been underserved for a long time. But here’s a way to approach it.
Civic Square is a public square, neighbourhood lab, and creative and participatory platform focused on regenerative civic and social infrastructure.We spoke with Magda Petford, Dream Matter Designer, and Charlotte Bailey, Dream Matter Storyteller, about the work they have been doing in Ladywood inBirmingham with the community there.
You can find out more about their work at https://civicsquare.cc/about/
We mentioned a number of things on the podcast, and here are some links to those:
Doughnut Portrait: https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/33
The Good News of B16: https://issuu.com/civicsquare/docs/gnob16-issue1-reprint-low-singles
Donella Meadows – Leverage Points: https://donellameadows.org/a-visual-approach-to-leverage-points/
Centric Lab: https://www.thecentriclab.com/
Generous Waste: https://www.instagram.com/generouswaste/
Centre for Alternative Technology: https://cat.org.uk/
As always, get in touch with suggestions and feedback!
This week we hear from Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn, two artists in London, driven by a desire to bring about change in their community.
Hilary and Dan's project POWER is a ‘show and do’ project building a solar power station across the rooftops of their street in Walthamstow, London through enacting a grassroots Green New Deal – working with art and infrastructure to tackle the interlinked climate/energy/cost of living crises.
There is a movement building in communities across the UK in response to a deep need for improving our homes. This series we are taking a look at inspiring examples of community driven and place based retrofit initiatives. In this episode Sara, part of the retrofit team at BE-ST, hears from John Christophers, an architect and passionate retrofit and social justice advocate, all about Retrofit Balsall Heath, where their aim is to see no one left behind in their community. Oh and insulation? Though it might feature later, this scheme has bigger ambitions.
Find out more about Retrofit Balsall Heath.
Sara also speaks to the head of retrofit programmes at BE-ST, Caitriona Jordan, and sets out why BE-ST are focusing on retrofit. Go here for more information. And don’t forget to access all the excellent Low Carbon Learning resources available on our Learning Hub
Finally, please get in touch if you think there are people that we should be platforming on our podcast. Happy listening!
Construction underpins society. Skills underpin construction.
According to Skills Development Scotland, developing construction skills is at the heart of new major changes – it is front and centre in getting us to a net zero society.
Hear two sides of the story from Government and industry, Elaine Ellis of Skills Development Scotland and Jennifer Finn ofAC Whyte, discuss action, implementation and the importance of changing the way we approach things in order to make these changes and build skills for the future.
www.cs-ic.org
The built environment is facing unprecedented challenges: Brexit, Covid-19 and climate change.
In the next instalment of the Built Environment Innovation Podcast we hear from CSIC’s new Chairman of the Board – Andy Outram, Lead Real Estate Director for Scotland at Turner & Townsend – as he sits down with Stephen to grapple with these challenges and help lead us into a new era through digital transformation, cultural change, sustainable building, and advanced manufacturing techniques.
If you're interested in learning more about innovation in the built environment and construction industry, come join us for the journey.
Hear from Russell Smith, Managing Director of Parity Projects, and David Peerpoint, CEO of the Retrofit Academy, as they discuss the retrofit challenge with Stephen.
Dubbed ‘the greatest challenge of our age’, our guests explore how we can turn this challenge into opportunity and find viable methods to move forward in reaching a decarbonised housing stock by 2050.
A conversation with Alex MacLaren of Team ESTEEM, a student team participating in the Solar Decathlon Middle East, the world’s largest design and construction competition. Their aim is to build an innovative house of the future powered exclusively with solar energy and using Scottish homegrown mass timber and they are manufacturing the timber panels in our own Innovation Factory.
Recorded from the inside of our Innovation Factory, you will hear about the project, our equipment and the importance of the work the team are doing to showcase Scottish innovation on the international stage.
At CSIC we aim to supercharge culture change in the built environment and help build an industry that represents our society.
In this episode we sit down with key change makers in this space: Emily Carr, Kier Construction, Douglas Morrison, CSIC, and Anne Johnstone, Fair Futures Partnership.
To celebrate Scottish Apprenticeships Week we hear from apprentices Emily and Hannah, and Director Neil Sutherland from Makar on the changing face of apprenticeships and the key role they play.
View the episode with video here
In this first episode, CSIC CEO Stephen Good is joined by John Forster to bring you insights into innovation in the built environment.
John Forster has founded 3 successful construction businesses as founder of the Forster Group, is one of the founders of the CSIC's Governance board, the former Chairperson of CSIC and sits in the Solar Trade Association in Scotland. He also opened the first roofing skills academy in Scotland resulting in a long and deep history rooted in innovation in construction.
View the episode in video here