Show: Green Home Form and Function
Updated: Oct 20, 2025
This episode of the BS* + Beer Show features Elizabeth DiSalvo, principal of Trillium Architects; energy consultant Kai Fast of Kaplan Thompson Architects; and Steve DeMetrick, owner of DeMetrick Housewrights talking about the ways in which a building’s size and shape affect performance, cost, and aesthetics. As part of the Pretty Good House series, the discussion includes examples of right-sized houses with emphasis on the rectangular form’s benefits, which include better WuFi modeling results. The group covers the challenge of heat gain, the value of deep overhangs, passive solar vs. Passive House performance, the tendency for HVAC mechanicals to be used as a be-all solution, the unmet demand for smaller homes, marrying simplicity of design to ease of constructability, and much more.
Enjoy the show!
Rectangular forms modeling better is true on paper, and it holds up on the job site for a plainer reason. Fewer corners and junctions mean fewer places for insulation to get missed. Bump-outs and complicated rooflines are where voids tend to show up, even when the design called for plenty of R-value. I haven’t watched the episode, so they may already cover this. At Aurora Insulation Pros we’d rather insulate a simple box well than a complicated one badly, and the HVAC conversation gets a lot easier after that.