The Power of a Hair Dryer

“All the sub-niches are really our focus. We are all about having products or providing products that help us achieve much better energy efficiency,” says Todd Collins, Founder of AE Building System. Starting his career in technology, Todd had the concept of passive solar design in the back of his mind. After completing his Passive House training, Todd now works to provide energy-efficient products that set up future generations for a positive environmental future.

Todd explains the reasons why the population is moving toward the Passive House design. Besides many municipalities now moving toward a Zero-Energy Ready direction, many others also realize that energy-efficient homes are quieter, more comfortable, and longer-lasting in addition to environmentally friendly. With building codes improving over time, Todd recognizes there's a real opportunity for our society to move in a better direction for generations to come.

Tune into this week’s episode of Better Buildings, Better Society for a conversation with Todd and Steven about passive solar design. Learn more about Todd’s start in the solar industry, Passive Houses' environmental and quality benefits, and his advice to those considering buying and building a home for the first time.

 

Quotes

• “All the sub-niches are really our focus. We're all about having products or providing products that help us achieve much better energy efficiency.” (6:18 - 6:30)

• “Code is getting better in general. But the real opportunity is about setting our future generations up in a positive way.” (6:43 - 6:58)

• “There are most certainly altruistic people out there that say, ‘Hey, this is what we should do, it's the right thing to do, and we're going to do it. It's going to cost more, but we're going to do it anyway.’ And then they can justify it with, ‘I want a more comfortable house, a quieter house, better indoor air quality, and a house that lasts forever so that I can give it to my kids, and they can live in it forever.’ So you throw in the other benefits and you've got a really good value proposition.” (17:52 - 18:18) 

• “They're doing what's referred to as this step code. They're making incremental steps towards a much higher performance requirement.” (19:52 - 19:59)

• “The five principles are relevant no matter whether you go for a certified Passive House or not. It's for building a house, it's going to last for a very long time, and it's giving us less energy. So we have a lot of clients that leverage the concepts, but don't necessarily go the entire distance.” (28:22 - 28:45)

• “We're resilient from a different standpoint. You have the resilience of the envelope because it’s designed correctly. So, you've got resilience and the durability and longevity of the building itself that’s resilient in its own way. And then you look at energy prices, and you're basically hedging today's construction costs against tomorrow's operating costs.” (41:27 - 41:55)

 

Links

Learn more about Todd Collins: 

Company Website | https://aebuildingsystems.com/ 

Company LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/a&e-building-systems/ 

Personal LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-collins-a5ba778/ 

 

Learn more about Better Buildings, Better Society:

Website | https://www.dma-eng.com/ 

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/dma-engineering/ 

Steven’s Personal LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-forrester-36a91517/ 

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dma_engineering/ 

 

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