Maria Coulter is the Founder of Construction Coach. With a career spanning over 20 years in the industry as a Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager and Risk Manager, Maria’s interest in personal development led her to become a qualified Personal and Business Coach in 2012. Maria launched Construction Coach in 2014 working with SME’s and micro-businesses to build stronger, more profitable and happier businesses. She also hosts the Construction Revolution podcast where she interviews change makers from inside and outside of the industry. To influence change Maria is also a Non-Executive Director on the Construction Industry Council national board, Chair of the CIC Diversity and Inclusion Panel, Chair of the CLC RMI Skills Group and member of the CLC working group, Skills for a Modernized Industry.
In this episode we chat about the biggest hurdle that most contractors face, why working on yourself needs to come before working on the business and how to design your business for a successful life.


2:36 Intro 
8:30 Challenges in Business 
18:40 Creating Community 
For more from Maria:
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https://www.facebook.com/constructcoach
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-coulter-bem/
https://www.instagram.com/construction_coach/
https://twitter.com/constructcoach

Craig Toohey directs Business Development at Collective Carpentry, a custom home wood product-based prefabrication company in Invermere, British Columbia focusing on super-insulated assemblies, low carbon materials, and off-site Passive House construction.
Craig has been certified by both the Passive House Institute and PHIUS, and currently works remotely from Europe where he is closely connected to the European industry for prefabricated Passive House construction.

Craig has worked with Passive House practitioners across North America, using his background in sustainable business strategy and technical product sales to simplify, communicate, and put into action the solutions that developers, architects, and builders need to meet their business challenges, regulatory requirements, and their own ambitions for providing effective radical building efficiency and carbon mitigation solutions.
This episode is all about prefab construction. We chat about when it’s best to use Prefab, how Collective Carpentry is achieving Passive House Certification, how the industry is going to benefit from technology and so much more. 
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3:33 What got you into Pre Fab?
9:05 Getting to Scale 
20:02 Wall section details 
26:09 Biggest challenge in the industry 

For more from Craig:  https://www.instagram.com/collective_carpentry/?hl=en
Website: https://collectivecarpentry.com/

This is part two of chatting with Sigi Koko, principal designer at Down to Earth Design, which she founded in 1998 to help people achieve their dreams of living in natural, healthy homes. (Part one is episode #201)

In this episode, we touch on things like what the key to straw bale construction is, why she never uses a vapour barrier, what a waddle and dobb wall is, why ducts are unhealthy and so much more. 

Sigi translates each client’s vision into a unique building design that reflects their personality and lifestyle, while responding to the surrounding landscape and climate. Her uniquely collaborative design process provides a high level of information and support, encouraging her clients to engage fully throughout design and construction.
She also teaches natural building workshops that empower her clients to contribute meaningfully during the construction of their own home. 
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2:57 What is the structure?
9:42  Foundation to wall transition 
13:55 Tips for straw bale 
17:00 Vapour Barrier 
26:35 Roof ceiling connection 
30:45 Electrical 
42:45 HVAC 
For more from Sigi
https://www.facebook.com/buildnaturally
https://www.instagram.com/buildnaturally/
https://www.youtube.com/user/sigikoko
https://twitter.com/buildnaturally

​Allison Bailes is the Chief Troublemaker at Energy Vanguard, a building science firm located in Decatur, Georgia. The company’s focus is on residential HVAC design, consulting, and training. Dr. Bailes has a PhD in physics from the University of Florida and has been involved with the field of building science since 2001, when he built a high-performance home out of structural insulated panels. He is the author of a popular building science book titled A House Needs to Breathe…Or Does It? He also is well known for writing the Energy Vanguard Blog and a weekly newsletter.
This episode is all about HVAC. We chat about what systems seem to be popular and why, the best place to filter the air for your central forced air system and the biggest mistake people make when designing a home from the perspective of an HVAC designer.


2:26 Intro
3:15 Catalyst into building science 
6:01 Lessons learned from building house 
7:00 Heat Load Calculation 
10:00 Current challenges 
14:26 SIPS - why 
16:35 A House needs to breath or does it?
 26:40 Electrification
29:00 High Humidity


 For More From Allison
https://www.energyvanguard.com/book-house-needs-breathe-or-does-it
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonabailes/
https://twitter.com/EnergyVanguard