I was invited onto the radio show Burning Down the House for a discussion of building sustainability, energy performance tracking, local energy pioneer Henry Gifford's criticism of the USGBC, and and my own thoughts about LEED and various other matters.

Curtis Wayne asked me back onto his radio show, this time to discuss a topic closer to my heart: the radically-energy-saving Passive House construction methodology. It didn't fit into one show, so he brought me back on the next episode, and I brought along my colleague Stephanie Bassler of North River Architecture, who had just completed her Passivhouse project at the Omega Institute. As always with Curtis, we had a free-ranging conversation.

Curtis Wayne asked me to call in to discuss a project of mine that he is interested in: the daylighting retrofit proposed in my competition entry for the 2011 Next Gen competition, and I was happy to oblige. We discussed William Lam, the lighting designer whose work I drew upon, and the lightshelves that are the core of the design.

A very large truck full of insulation arrived today for the Red Hook Passivehouse. We are using salvaged polyisocyanurate boards, reclaimed from re-roofing federal office buildings, yeilding substantial savings both in terms of cost and environmental impact.

I am immensely pleased to announce a new project: the renovation of an existing mixed-use building into a PHI-certified sound studio and residence in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Buildings built to this standard use radically less energy than conventional construction: ours will have to use 90% less heating and cooling energy, and 70% less for all energy uses combined, as compared to a new building built to code.

This Sunday May 23 is the Boerum Hill House & Garden Tour, and 524 State St, a townhouse I spent two years working on with Andrew Tesoro, will be open to the public. I am particularly satisfied with the penetration of daylight through the typically dark center of the house, and, a special plug: the first-ever installation of Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn's beautiful "Constellation" LED chandeliers are in place and available for view. More information and ticket purchase here: Boerum Hill Association.

Design is underway for a new recording studio project in Manhattan's Lower East Side. I have my proposal to reflect a beam of sunlight from a rooftop heliostat through a series of mirrors to the floor of the live room: simultaneously making a natural gathering point and providing great natural light in a typically dark location.

My entry to the Architectural League's annual competition in Socrates Sculpture Park, has been chosen for honorable mention: “Star Talker” …53 million years ago, a stream of photons was born. Departing star 322495, outward bound for intergalactic space, they bent the infinite void beyond time. In the summer of the year 29333, on the fourth planet from the sun, a perihelic interceptor reached up, and through the perfection of absolute chance, diverted them from their arc, down, down, down...

Perhaps not so exciting to look at, but over the next months these little measuring instruments will record the performance of a sunlight harvesting demonstration project in the offices of a corporate law firm in Newark NJ... more to come...

A successful presentation, a great conference, and always an excellent community of professionals. Pleased to have contributed some of the details of what we learned from the Red Hook Passive House Sound Studio at last week's NY14 Passive House Conference.