The guys have the week off for this episode, so we’re taking a second listen to Podcast Episode #37, an interview with Green Building Advisor editor Martin Holladay. We were not shooting video back then, so this is an audio-only podcast.

Martin built his first passive-solar house in northern Vermont in 1974, and he has lived off the grid since 1975. But he does not necessarily recommend off-grid housing in general, partly because of the environmental advantages of a connection to the grid and because of the cheap energy future that he sees coming, with a couple caveats. “It’s somewhat of a fetish for green builders and energy-efficiency nerds to say, ‘You can’t have too much insulation.’ Well, frankly, you can. Energy won’t be expensive forever, and energy won’t be dirty forever.” The guys have a lively discussion on the ways that the building trades can — and can’t — contribute to the fight against global warming.

Martin has worked as a Fine Homebuilding editor since 1999 and is now senior editor at both Fine Homebuilding and GreenBuildingAdvisor.com. His weekly blog at GBA, “Musings of an Energy Nerd,” focuses on energy-efficient residential construction.

Can’t get enough Martin? We’ve had him on the show three times in all. Here are the other two episodes:

Podcast Episode 38

Podcast Episode 105

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And as Justin mentioned, you can enter the Festool prize give-away sweepstakes at FineHomebuilding.com/Festool.

We hope you will take advantage of a great offer for our podcast listeners: A special 20% off discounted rate to subscribe to the Fine Homebuilding print magazine. That link goes to finehomebuilding.com/podoffer.

The show is driven by our listeners, so please subscribe and rate us on iTunes or Google Play, and if you have any questions you would like us to dig into for a future show, shoot an email our way: [email protected]. Also, be sure to follow Justin Fink, Rob Yagid, and Fine Homebuilding on Instagram — and “like” the magazine on Facebook. Note that you can watch the show above, or on YouTube at the Fine Homebuilding YouTube Channel.

The Fine Homebuilding Podcast embodies Fine Homebuilding magazine’s commitment to the preservation of craftsmanship and the advancement of home performance in residential construction. The show is an informal but vigorous conversation about the techniques and principles that allow listeners to master their design and building challenges.

Links related to this episode:

• GreenBuildingAdvisor.com
• Musings of an Energy Nerd blog at GBA
• Martin’s articles on FineHomebuilding.com
• Batteries for off-grid homes
• A SIP roof repair in Wisconsin
• Flash-and-batt insulation
• A crash course in roof venting
• Insulating unvented roof assemblies
• Ice dams
• A new series from Mike Guertin on ice barriers.
• SIPs: Are they right for your next project?
• SIP airsealing
• All FHB podcast show notes: FineHomebuilding.com/podcast.
• #KeepCraftAlive tee-shirts support scholarships for building trades students. So go order some shirts at KeepCraftAlive.org.
• The direct link to the online store is here.

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