I will have a table at this event (unless the weather turns really bad!) to talk about buildings conditioned by ambient energy, including my house. Stop by and visit, especially those planning on building in the area.

I’m currently designing and installing a Passive House retrofit. For those of you that are interested, you can follow along here. https://youtube.com/@earseduction?si=wPcuedDrnhFX3Q91

Just finished installing some overhangs. These should keep my windows dry and shaded this rainy season. I used this tool to calculate the installation height above the window so as to maximize the shade in summer and still let in the sunlight during the cold winter months. https://www.susdesign.com/overhang/ Hope some of you can put this tool to good use.

One of the things @Tim White suggested to me was to focus on making a geopolymer block that could be cut with normal tools to make it easier to work in the field. I wanted to let the geopolymer woodcrete blocks "cure" for a few weeks to ensure full strength before doing any destructive testing on them. Today I tried cutting the block using a carbide wood-cutting blade. I am happy to report that the material cut readily without any sparks or difficulty in doing so. Yes, it was a bit dusty, but so is wood! And because the geopolymer cement itself is made from amorphous silicates, the dangers associated with inhaling the dust are quite a bit lower than with crystalline alumino-silicates - still not great to inhale ANY kind of dust, but it's no where near the danger levels of crystalline silica or silicates like asbestos. By the way, don't fool yourself into thinking wood dust is benign - there is often a lot of silica in wood as well, especially in tropical hardwoods. It's really best to NOT inhale any dust of any kind ;).

Group brainstorm session and potential presentation from yours truly on Sunday 4pm MST :) Who will be joining us? ***update: this event is being cancelled due to lack of engagement. Will try for a weekday on may if that is a better time for people (let me know!)