Fast Cheap and Good - Pick Any Two: Housing with John O'Connor and Neil Fresh Water #103

We sit down with John O'Connor, former chair of Ireland's Housing Commission, and Neil Freshwater, Public Affairs Manager for GB and Ireland at Velux, to explore one of the most complex challenges facing Ireland and Europe today: how do we deliver affordable housing at pace while ensuring homes are healthy, sustainable, and fit for purpose? Recorded at a Healthy Homes Ireland event in Dublin just before Christmas, this conversation tackles the fundamental tensions in housing policy—between volume and quality, affordability and performance, political cycles and long-term planning. With Ireland's new housing plan published, the European Commission preparing its first-ever affordable housing plan, and the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive due to be transposed into Irish law by May 2026, the stakes have never been higher. The Central Question We've understood for over a century that housing and health are inseparable. Yet somehow, in our rush to solve the housing crisis, we've fragmented that relationship. How do we get back to first principles? How do we ensure that every home—not just the expensive ones—delivers good air quality, daylight, thermal comfort, and the conditions for families to thrive? Key Topics Discussed: The Housing Commission's Vision: Why Ireland's housing crisis isn't just about numbers—it's about creating a cohesive society where having a home is a fundamental right, not a luxury. The Commission's recommendations as a long-term, interconnected menu—not a pick-and-mix. The Forgotten Link Between Health and Housing: How ventilation and daylighting were central to 19th and early 20th-century housing standards—and why we've lost that focus in modern construction. The sobering reality that people John knows are now suffering terminal illnesses due to poor indoor air quality. Fast, Cheap, and Good—Pick Any Two: The political and economic pressures driving volume over quality. Why "any shelter is better than no shelter" is a dangerous narrative—and how 5,000 children experiencing homelessness in Ireland today (compared to fewer than 100 a decade ago) lays bare the human cost of failure. The One-Dimensional Trap: How the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive initially focused only on energy efficiency—and why the inclusion of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in the revised directive is a game-changer, if we can translate it into policy and practice. Because at the end of the day, it's not about units. It's about homes. And homes are for people. HOST: Simon Jones: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-air-quality-matters/ GUESTS: John O'Connor - Former Chair, Housing Commission, Ireland Neil Freshwater - Public Affairs Manager, Velux GB & Ireland The Air Quality Matters Podcast in Partnership with Farmwood - Eurovent - Aico The One Take Podcast in Partnership with SafeTraces and Inbiot Do check them out in the links and on the Air Quality Matters Website. If you haven't checked out the YouTube channel its here. Do subscribe if you can, lots more content is coming soon. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Housing, Health, and the Irish Context 00:02:56 Meet the Guests: John O'Connor and the Housing Commission 00:04:39 The Housing Crisis: Numbers, Demographics, and the Meaning of Home 00:09:25 Neil Freshwater: Velux's Origins in Healthy Buildings 00:16:25 The Trifecta Challenge: Fast, Cheap, and Good 00:17:52 The Forgotten Science: Air Quality and Ventilation in Housing 00:21:04 Daylight Inequality and the Quality Divide 00:45:56 The Monitoring Revolution: From Code Compliance to Performance 00:53:03 The Skills and Labour Crisis: Building at Lightning Pace 01:02:41 Modern Methods of Construction: Promise and Reality 01:05:01 Looking Forward: Ireland's EU Presidency and the Path Ahead 01:11:14 Closing: The Charter for Healthy Homes