Convo: Sean Armstrong on Zero Net Energy Design of Affordable Housing
In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Sean Armstrong, Managing Principal at Redwood Energy.
Sean has worked for 25 years in building electrification, designed the retrofit and new construction of more than 25,000 all-electric residences for disadvantaged populations, co-authored five practical guides to building electrification, provided legal and technical support to dozens of gas bans nationwide, helped develop the 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025 Title 24 California Energy Codes, and has received sustainable design awards from the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the SoCal Building Industry Association.
He and Ted discuss his background, being a committed environmentalist since the age of 13, growing up in rural Wisconsin as genderqueer, moving to California to flee violence violence directed toward his sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression, and attending Humboldt State University, where he found his passion for sustainability and was trained in radical activism.
Sean shares his life-changing experience where he lived in the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT), a student-run demonstration house that was off-grid (solar, wind, biodiesel and batteries), before diving into his works in California’s affordable housing market. He highlights his work at Redwood Energy, North America’s #1 producer (per NBI/NZEC master list) of all-electric, 100+ percent solar housing from 2015-2020. Sean’s winning formula is combining all electric solar powered designs with affordable housing developments. According to him, this helps developers become more profitable because electric design is cheaper to build and there are incentives for affordable housing.