A Quick Update From Chris

More from Green Architects' Lounge All episodes →

1. 

   E64 · 14 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 12 minNew

   What Heat Pumps Actually Need to Work

   Chris and Phil sit down with Scott Libby of Royal River Heat Pumps, a 41-year HVAC veteran who spent his first 25 years telling people heat pumps did not belong in Maine. He changed his mind, built a company around them, and now has 40 employees doing nothing else. They get into what actually makes a home a good candidate for heat pumps, why multi zone systems keep causing problems in high-performance houses, what bad installs look like in the field, and why the new refrigerants are about to make mechanical room sizing a lot more complicated. It is a candid, field-level conversation for…

2. 

   E63 · 12 Aug 2026 · 43 min

   Low Voltage Lighting is the Future

   Chris and Phil dig into low voltage lighting, the quiet infrastructure shift that could change how every future house gets wired. They walk through why LED lights barely need any power in the first place, how moving the transformer back to the panel eliminates the failure-prone converters buried in cheap fixtures, and why copper scarcity and rising costs are pushing this technology forward faster than expected. Along the way they cover class two wiring rules that let non-electricians self-perform, wireless relay switches that skip three-way wiring entirely, real numbers from a project where…

3. 

   E62 · 10 Jun 2026 · 54 min

   Plan for Systems or Pay for It Later

   Chris and Phil get into the mechanical room, the space every green architect underestimates and every installer wishes was bigger. They talk through what actually ends up in there, from heat pump water heaters and ducted systems to ERVs, dehumidifiers, batteries, solar inverters, and the server room your client forgot to mention until week three of construction. Along the way they cover sizing rules of thumb, the new refrigerant space requirements that will catch a lot of people off guard, why maintenance access needs to be designed in from the start, and how to think about distribution…

4. 

   E61 · 13 May 2026 · 36 min

   What House Burping Gets Right And Wrong

   Chris and Phil take on the suddenly trendy idea of “house burping” and ask where opening the windows actually helps, and where it falls short. They talk through Lüften, CO2 buildup, VOCs, ERVs, HRVs, and why fresh air matters for comfort, health, and energy performance. For architects, builders, and building science nerds, it is a reminder that ventilation is not just about getting air in. It is about controlling how it moves.

5. 

   E60 · 15 Apr 2026 · 53 min

   Building Sustainably In A Housing Crisis

   Chris and Phil take on the housing crisis from inside the design and building world, asking where architects, codes, sustainability standards, and local politics are helping or getting in the way. They get into housing shortage, NIMBY resistance, affordability tradeoffs, and why “heads in beds” still has to line up with durability, health, and long term performance. It is a candid one for architects, builders, and building science nerds trying to balance better buildings with the urgent need for more housing.

6. 

   E59 · 11 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   The Green Spec Playbook For Cleaner Builds Part 2

   Chris and Phil continue their CSI spec walk through with Part 2, moving from Division 09 finishes into specialties, equipment, HVAC, and electrical. They explain how to write greener, healthier specs that hold up in real projects, from low VOC paints and flooring to induction, ventilation, and heat pump ready details. You’ll hear practical spec language, product level considerations, and the common ways “good” intent gets lost between paper and the jobsite.

7. 

   E58 · 11 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

   Window Specs For Greater Comfort

   Chris and Phil cut through window jargon and focus on the numbers that actually move comfort, performance, and cost. They break down U-factor, SHGC, and visible transmittance, plus why “more glass” is both irresistible and a building science headache. You’ll leave with practical rules of thumb for spec’ing windows without getting played by marketing or your own energy model. Subscribe for more architects-at-a-bar building science, and share this one with the person who keeps saying “just do low-E.”