Home >Articles >RESTalk EP 109: Pretty Good House with Emily Mottram, Mottram Architecture

RESTalk EP 109: Pretty Good House with Emily Mottram, Mottram Architecture

Nov 17, 2022 BuildersGeneralProvidersRaters

 

Those that educate the market, own the market–Emily Mottram

 

We’ve all heard of advanced housing concepts that require little net energy to operate.

Architects, builders, and suppliers in the residential construction industry often get together at conferences and locally and sometimes birth new concepts while challenging others.

What kind of ideas develop when you ignite their passions, crowd-source ideas, and marinate for a few years?

What if you aspire to build a Pretty Good House? What does that look like? How do you go about educating others?

Joining us on today’s podcast is architect and HERS® Rater Emily Mottram of Mottram Architecture who describes for us a passion project that started out of local discussions in her home state of Maine and has branched out into a book, a course, a podcast, webinars, and regional events!

Emily describes a Pretty Good House (PGH) as an open-source framework and set of guidelines for building or renovating a home that focuses both on its inhabitants and the environment—but keeps in mind that few people have pockets deep enough to achieve a “perfect” solution. The PGH concept respects financial and practical constraints to meet both homeowner and environmental needs.

In July 2022, Emily, Christopher Briley, Daniel Kolbert, and Michael Maines began selling a book that organizes and presents the PGH framework: https://www.tauntonstore.com/pretty-good-house

They have also created the Pretty Good House course launching on January 4, 2023: finehomebuilding.com/prettygoodhousecourse

The course will offer eight (8) RESNET Professional Development Credits for Quality Assurance Designees and Instructors. SPECIAL OFFER: Use special discount code: RESNET100 good for $100 off the course cost. Early bird pricing is available now, and the code expires on the day the course begins.

For details on documenting RESNET Quality Assurance Designee or Instructor Professional Development Credits, contact Scott Doyle, Technical Director, Quality Assurance & Training at Scott@RESNET.us

Emily also shares her experiences on energy and efficiency in her podcast, E3: Energy and Efficiency with Emily, now in its fourth season: https://www.mottramarch.com/the-podcast. Her podcast focuses on building science, architecture, and female entrepreneurship and stresses teamwork.

Her passion continues to exude as Co-host of the BS+Beer Show: https://www.thebsandbeershow.com/

Link to Emily’s bio: https://www.mottramarch.com/emily-mottram-about

Listen to the full episode here.