Smarter homes start with smarter choices. Mark Bernhardt of Bernhardt Contracting shares HEET, why builder education and the CHBA BC Builder Education Summit matter, plus what’s next: prefab, resilience, and AI in construction with Mike and Jennifer-Lee. Tune and listen now!
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Co-Host, podcast editor: Jennifer-Lee Gunson: jPod Creations
Co-Host, Mike Freedman, AI Technology & Design
Production: Rami Films
About the Speaker
Mark Bernhardt, Bernhardt Contracting
Mark has Bachelor of Science degree. He started Bernhardt Contracting in 2007, beginning with renovations before moving to Passive House construction and energy modelling in 2012.
Certifications and Designations:
- NRCAN Registered Energy Advisor
- NRCAN Multi-Unit Residential Building-Qualified (MURB-Q)
- NRCan Quality Assurance Specialist
- Energy Star-Certified
- CHBA Net Zero-Certified
- CSAF280-Certified
- Certified Passive House Consultant
- CHBA-BC President
CHBA BC EDUCATION SUMMIT:October 8 – 9, 2025 | Richmond, BC
Information and Registration
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Here's the Full Transcript of this Episode
Episode 78: Building Education and Energy Advisors
Transcript
0:00:09
Mike
Hey, Mike, we are back for another episode of Haven’s podcast, Measure Twice, Cut Once.
0:00:14
Jennifer-Lee
Jennifer Lee, so great to be back. And I was going to say back in the studio, but we’re clearly not in the studio. We’re doing a special remote episode.
0:00:21
Mark
We’re in a virtual studio.
0:00:22
Jennifer-Lee
This is exciting. OK, because at the time of recording, we’re in the final week of summer. So, all of us who are parents are absolutely thrilled about next week and all anyone who’s a kid is not. But there’s also been a ton of changes since last we spoke. We have a new prime minister. We have a new housing minister here in B.C. Tons of changes. The playing field is always moving. And so, it’s great to be back, because as we talk about some of these changes, there’s a lot of positive, great things that are happening in the industry right now. And this is going to be a fantastic conversation for that very reason.
0:00:55
Mike
Absolutely. And I met this guy at a Christmas party for the CHBA, and he’s a fun guy. His name is Mark Bernhardt of Bernhardt Contracting. Mark is at the forefront of the building scene and the BC Energy step code. got this tool called heat, like not like heat because I know it’s hot right now. It’s like heat, like H -E -E -T, in case anyone was thinking, because I know we’re all melting at the moment, but it’s not heat in a house. We’re going to get him to explain that in a little bit.
0:01:27
Jennifer-Lee
I thought you were referring to that Korean K-pop band from the 90s, Heat.
0:01:31
Jennifer-Lee
I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but that’s usually the case.
Mike
Okay, because I’m old and you’re not. But, uh, he’s a really cool concept and it’s something that we’re going to talk about because I think it’s something that needs to be spoken about all kidding aside. What it literally does is it helps builders and homeowners keep their cool. And that’s really, really important because as we know, this is not an easy process. Mark, it’s so great to have you here.
0:01:53
Jennifer-Lee
It’s so nice to finally meet you in person. Why don’t you kick things off and tell us a little about yourself and about your company.
0:01:58
Mike
What do you guys do and what do you do?
Mark
Yeah. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here. So, a little bit about us is we actually started as a home builder renovator. And, um, that’s sort of where we, we sunk our teeth into, uh, a lot of, a lot of this stuff and, and, um, performance was always at the core. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science and, uh, graduated from the university of Calgary. And it’s like every good Calgary kid I went and worked in the oil and business and. You know, that was fun for a little while when I was 20, but, uh, uh, moved back to BC and started applying the same sort of methodology of impact assessments to housing. Um, and, uh, one of the reasons we did become a home builder is because, you know, nobody wanted to build the crazy things that I wanted to build based on the science. And so, I had to become a home builder and do it myself. and now that’s all good fun. Uh, but. But what I found is it’s a lot more fun to help other people do it than do it myself. And in that way, then I don’t have to talk to homeowners about tile selections and paint colors and all these things that I’m not particularly interested in, but I enjoy talking about the performance of the building and how it all works together as a system. And so now most of our team focuses on like the energy step code as energy advisors or, you know, passive house design and construction and energy modeling. most of our team now does.
And we’re having a great time doing it. In doing so, we then moved on to build that tool you mentioned, HEAT, which is actually now an employee owned separate company that runs it. And that tool allows us to give builders and homeowners options. It has much more visual displays than your average energy model does. And it allows us to take your home design and say, well, here’s 10 ,000 different options we could do. Narrow those 10 ,000 options down to three good options that your builder then can go price. figure out how to build, rather than just sort of taking shots in the dark at one, one at a time, sort of single options, the way the energy models are set up to do.
0:04:04
Mike
So, with this tool, is it a question of simply saying, okay, if we do these three things to the home, this is what the results will be, or is it more encompassing than that?
Mark
Well, well, exactly. I mean, we want to look at giving the best options we can. And in doing that, what we’re looking at is the diminishing returns in particular. So, we’ll take a house, and we’ll look at where all the energy use is going, uh, for every different aspect of the house, whether it’s the windows, the walls, you know, the mechanical systems. And, uh, we’ll look at what happens if we upgrade these systems, you know, um, to whatever we can imagine. And that then allows us to look at the diminishing return of each different aspect of the building. And so, you know, most of us are on a budget, right? We want to spend our money where it matters most. And it’s not always obvious how to, where to do that in a house. And so having that diminishing return auto-calculated for every single aspect of the house is key to making a good and cost-effective solution. And so, by doing that, what we’ve been able to do is build houses at the top levels of the code and beyond that are actually less expensive than what most people building today.
0:05:14
Mike
And what does HEET stand for?
0:05:19
Mark
Home Energy Efficiency Tool.
So, it’s very uncreative. But the acronym worked out and the web domain was available. I like it. I think it’s easy to understand.
0:05:28
Mike
Double E’s, no A. Love it. Um, is this something that you always thought you’d end up doing, like when you graduated school?
Mark
Not at all, actually, not even close. I mean, I did a construction work as my summer job while I was at university. Um, and so, you know, learn some of the basic skills there. Uh, but no, I mean, I said, out to do, um, impact assessments and ecosystems things when I was in school. And, um, you know, like I said, that job was fun for a while. I got to fly around in helicopters and count goats on the side of mountains in Jasper and things like that. It was really cool. Um, but you know, involved being away a lot of times, uh, you know, a lot of writing big reports that nobody read. And I don’t particularly like writing big reports that nobody’s going to read.
0:06:15
And so, you know, I got a lot more satisfaction out of working with my hands and working on something that you could stand back and see. And, um, to me, that was much more satisfying. And then, you know, being able to pull in that science background and, uh, that ability to, you know, optimize a building for its impact on the earth. Um, that became, you know, something we could pull together and do and, and, uh, do interesting things. You know, when I, when I started, you know, building my own company, we never really. I mean, I needed a job, you know, had young kids needed a job for sure, but we never really set out to, you know, pursue the high profit. That was never really a thing. I mean, maybe I’m not that good of a businessman really is what it means, but. But what we set out to do was do interesting things.
And by pursuing interesting things, we did find economic success and interesting things found us. And we ended up working on a lot of very cool, very diverse projects around the province and around the country.
Jennifer-Lee
Well, and you were able to come up with heat because that’s something that I think, Mike and I have been doing this podcast for a long time, is that there’s so many things that are coming out in the energy efficiency world. And it’s really hard for like the average person to understand all this stuff. You know, like we’ve gone through step code multiple times.
0:07:39
Mike
So when you’re able to put it in a nice package, like you’ve done with HEET, it helps the homeowner understand like oh okay I understand why I need this opposed to being like I’m so confused there’s so many things heat pump what’s a heat pump like you know everyone’s always asking questions like what do I really need and what do I not need. Exactly. And that’s a really good way of putting it because the visual display is one of the key points of that tool. The ability to see it on the screen in a picture related to something else, right? So, when we look at, well, should I get a heat pump or should I not?
0:08:14
(Speaker3)
It’s on a graph, like a horse race, which one is winning the horse race in for your house, right? And depending on the system that will change where that horse race comes out. And it was really sort of a, you know, again, that pursuit of interesting things that allowed us to do it because that meant we had interesting people on the team that had a diverse background. And, you know, we were sitting around one day saying, yeah, this is really annoying that we can’t do multiple runs. And, you know, one of the teams said, well, I could, might be able to program that. And the other ones, well, I could probably do a website about that.
0:08:43
Um, and, and pretty soon you’re off, you know, you’re off building this thing.
0:08:47
And so, um, you know, that, that’s what I would really recommend if any other builders or people out there in business are looking for that, right.
As you, you pursue interesting things and interesting people, and interesting things will come to you. And making it easier for the consumer. Exactly. And, and very much a cost saver as well, because we can do it in minutes. Like what we used to do in hours and hours, looking at individual scenarios for a house.
0:09:08
Jennifer-Lee
Now it’s click, click, click done. And I can do it when I’m in an online meeting with my client. So, one of the things you said was a diverse team. And it’s, it’s very interesting actually, because, you know, we talked to a lot of people who came out of say BCIT who are building science wonks. And then we have people who are traditional builders. And we have people like yourself who come from a very different background.
0:09:26
Jennifer-Lee
And everybody’s bringing different perspective to the table, which is very, very healthy because you don’t have one singular perspective. We have people from my world bringing cool technology to help as well. So, it’s really, really interesting. And I think it’s, it’s really speaks to really the cool part of this industry where we have so many people from so many different backgrounds, with so many different skills, collaborating to create great results for homeowners. And this is something that’s, I’m not going to say it’s a new thing, but I think we’re talking about it more.
0:09:59
Mike
And I think that’s a very, very healthy thing.
0:10:01
Jennifer-Lee
And I also think more people like you, I mean, let’s be honest. Okay. We have to build homes to a minimum standard here in BC. And there are people who will build homes to a minimum standard in BC because they look at the math. You’re doing something really powerful, which is creating a business case to help quantify why it would be valuable for me as a homeowner to invest. And I think that’s really great because that’s pulling everyone to a more fully formed future.
0:10:28
Mark
We’re building the type of houses we really, really want to build.
0:10:36
Mike
Um, I have a question about this cause I’m, I love the technology.
Is it a bunch of sensors you use or is it simply inputting certain data, this size window opening this many panes and does it take into effect or calculate, uh, things like powered shades, uh, window coverings, smart panels, some of the things that we talk about in our world that aren’t necessarily recognized. by say hydro or some of the other measuring. done that way, you know, relatively small scale usually because sensors are expensive still. But someday that would be, that would be a real, real fun thing to do is. to have the energy model and then have a house censored to the point where we could really verify and vet that energy model and see how it worked in real life. Um, you know, the, the, the, some of the fun things that have worked out with that energy modeling though, and actually the house that I’m sitting in right now is one of our first very high performance buildings that, that we built.
0:11:52
Mike
It’s a certified passive house. It’s, it’s net zero roof covered and solar panels, that kind of thing. Um, very thick walls. And when we first set out to build it, it was the first one on the Island only about the time, the second one in the whole country. Uh, and, uh, and so there wasn’t a lot of data available to say that this would work.
0:12:12
Mike
And I think at the time my wife told me, well, at the very least, I’m going to get a house. If it doesn’t work, whatever, it’ll still be a nice house. And the funnest thing about this house is that it actually did work. Um, it did for the most part match the energy model. So we’ve got sort of lived experience that our energy models do in fact reflect the real world, um, but there’s always room for improvement there and sort of fine tuning and really interesting things around how the homeowner’s lifestyle affects how that home operates. Um, because that is one thing we, we generally don’t look at is, you know, lifestyle and lifestyle can make a massive difference in energy use.
0:12:49
Mark
One of the, one of the sixplexes we built, we saw that where we did have centers and there was one suite that was way off the charts for energy use. And another one that was way near the bottom. And it was simply, they’re exactly the same apartment. They’re simply lifestyle of the occupant. So those are sorts of things that sensors I think would really go a long way and also helping homeowners train their behaviors. And maybe they’re doing things without knowing that they don’t need to be doing that are really using a lot of energy.
In my experience, not very many homeowners care much about their energy bills. They love to talk about it and love to brag to their friends that there’s maybe lower or whatever, but in terms of actually doing something in a house that would make their energy bill lower, very rare. However, if we get them immediate feedback, that’s when we see real shifts in behavior.
So what I mean by that is usually a little screen on the wall that says in real time what your power usage is.
0:13:41
Jennifer-Lee
And I’m guilty of this because I live in an old apartment building, but I think right now you guys should really go around and ask people how many fans and air conditioners they’re using in their home and be like, This is what you need to do when you renovate or when you build a new home. Well, absolutely. And it’s really like that house is a system that we talk about and you can walk around downtown in many different locations and look on a hot day, how many people have their windows open. Right. And that’s probably because it’s stuffy and it’s, you know, it’s hot inside. And, and so, you know, generally if it’s the afternoon and it’s a hot day, you want to be closing those windows to keep the cool air in, but people are still leaving them open because it’s unbearable.
0:14:20
Mark
And, uh, you know, they’re doing the right thing if their place is hot and stuffy, but you can see houses that are high performance, those windows are closed in the peak heat of the day because they’ve got the cool air, the cool, fresh air inside and they’re trapping that cool, fresh air inside. You can see the same thing in the winter sometimes as well. You’ll see people with windows open in the winter because they’re trying to get that fresh air, um, that doesn’t exist within those houses. So that’s one of the things we’re really focused on in our houses is that healthy air, you know, putting in really good ventilation systems that are quiet, that nobody wants to shut off because they’re too noisy. Um, you know, things like that, that keep us, um, you know, keep us comfortable and safe in the home. You mean like we had to turn off our fans before this recording?
0:14:59
Jennifer-Lee
Exactly.
0:15:00
Mark
My fan is still running because it’s a high-performance ventilation system. It’s a natural. And we’re sweating because I made sure that we have no, I locked down on sound in this virtual studio. Yeah.
0:15:11
Mike
But that being said, Mark, not everybody can own a brand new home or sometimes if they’re renovating, they’re maybe renovating an apartment, not a full house. Is there any little tips and tricks that we can implement to make it better for our home besides closing the window? Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, don’t close the window if it’s really hot outside. That’s, you know, manage your temperature is what I would say.
0:15:36
Mike
Open your windows at night, close them you know, in the afternoon. Uh, but, uh, so there’s some things, I mean, those are free things that we can do, but in terms of renovating and retrofitting, um, there’s any number of things that can be done and the options are kind of endless. And I think they can be very overwhelming for your average homeowner. So I think the most important first step that a homeowner can take if they are uncomfortable in their home or it’s time to renovate is to contact a professional.
0:16:03
Mark
So that would mean in many cases, you know, a professional renovator, uh, or, uh, and often, uh, an energy advisor that does retrofit assessments, because what those people will do is come together as a team and they will build a retrofit plan.
0:16:21
Mark
And, uh, so your energy advisor is going to be looking at the energy side of things, probably the air quality as well. Um, and your renovator is going to be looking at how do we actually build that and what’s practical and the cost. costing. And so that team is going to come together, give you that plan. And a lot of people, I mean, you don’t have millions of dollars sitting in your bank account usually. And so you’re not going to be able to do the whole thing at once, but it’s a plan.
0:16:46
Mike
And maybe this year we do the ventilation. Maybe next year we do the windows. The year after that, we do something else and we keep working away at the plan so that our house becomes more comfortable and more comfortable as we go. Sounds like a great deal of education is being provided as you go through this process. And we definitely want to talk about education. But first, we have to take a couple of moments to thank our fantastic sponsors.
0:17:08
And then we’re going to be back. We’re going to talk a little bit more about the education process, both in terms of what you as a builder need to maintain your credibility and to maintain that high level of performance, but also what we as homeowners need to know as well. So we’ll be back in two minutes.
Jennifer-Lee
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Mike
All right. We are back. And as always, thanks to our amazing sponsors.
0:18:59
Mike
builder is that you are always at the top of your game. And as we know, the housing industry is always changing and look in the last even five years where we were and where we are. So it’s never static. It’s always fluid. And there’s always things to know. I want to talk to you about your perspective. on continuing education and continuing to do the master of your craft. And I’d love to hear from you, in your opinion, what should the focus be for builders looking to elevate their level of education and skillset? You know, there’s a few different perspectives here, right? There’s the, you know, what would the builders say in response to that? And what would the homeowner, what did the homeowners get out of that?
0:19:34
Mark
And, and from the builder’s perspective, you know, like you say there, that pace of change is fast. And if we’re not keeping up, we’re going to fall behind. And as a business person, you know, that’s bad news falling behind. Not, not just the trends, but the technology, which is always changing the building codes, which is always changing. So we need to be on the top of our game so that when we’re going to that client and we’re pricing that job, we know what’s either coming or what we’re going to have to do now that may have changed in the last few months. And so not everybody out there, you know, in the world may know, but builders are required to take continuing professional development.
0:20:12
Mark
That’s been a requirement of BC Housing for quite some time to maintain a builder’s license. And it’s interesting the sort of the evolution that the industry has gone through. You know, when these sort of rules come in, everybody’s like, oh, we don’t want to have to go to the classroom. We already know everything we know. But what’s really happened over the last number of years, and it’s been in now for about a decade, is that builders are really into the education. The good builders out there are going to all the education and getting way more builder points than they need.
0:20:41
Mark
And they’re doing it because they’re seeing the business advantage of it. And they’re seeing the results in their clients’ projects, right? They’re able to use the newest technology. They’re able to get the best results. So the project delivery is better. And so it’s not just, you know, a consumer protection thing that our clients are getting, but the builders are able to more easily run their business.
0:21:02
Mark
A lot of the education is actually not on, you know, how to hammer nails and things like that. It’s on how to run a business, how to do, you know, an estimate. things like that. So the business, the core business skills of being a builder.
0:21:14
Jennifer-Lee
And that again, translates to our clients having a better experience because we know how to do a contract. And if we do our contracts properly, that protects us and it protects our clients. So there’s a lot of, lot of different things at play here that really give an advantage to everyone involved. So how do you find out if your builder has, you know, that level of continuing education. And is it worth asking where they’re focusing?
0:21:36
Mike
Cause I know there’s so many different ways you can learn about different things. You just have to have a certain number of hours, right? So if it was you and our roles were reversed, what would you be asking as far as education for a builder that I’m thinking about working with?
0:21:59
Mark
Well, definitely. I think that’s a really, really good point. And you know, whenever we’re starting to work with a client, we always interview the client and as well as the client should be interviewing me.
I, if, if you’re not interviewing me about what my skills are, I’m going to get worried because I’m interviewing you as a client and we’ve got to work together for quite a long time. So this is an important relationship we’ve got to get right. One of the questions I would definitely ask is, where did you get your last education? How did that go? What were you studying? That kind of thing.
0:22:20
Mark
You can check to see whether a builder is in good standing. It doesn’t say what course they’ve taken, but if you go to BC Housing’s website and you can search for the builder registry, you can search by name, you can go in there and find Bernhardt Contracting. And we’re licensed number 38 ,000. And you can see that we are a contractor in good standing. And that means we have kept up with our points. And that, you know, we’ve been to at least some education doesn’t specify which, but that would be a great question to ask, like, you know, what education session are you going to?
0:22:54
Mike
And where have you been?
0:22:55
Mark
What what things are interesting out there? I think that will open up a conversation help you get to know your your builder, your renovator, and and also give you that sense of confidence that they care about you.
0:23:06
Mike
what they’re doing. Obviously, everything is important to know, but what do you think is the newest piece of information that contractors should start making sure that they really have as part of their toolkit? No pun intended for, of course, The education piece. The education that we’re seeing most out there these days is a lot to do with that sort of early design pieces. That’s that’s where our team is really is really going towards, because putting the building together. I mean, there’s there’s technique there and there’s skills to be learned there as well.
0:23:41
Mark
But where we’re seeing the biggest changes and the biggest cost savings is in early design. So around things that, you know, in the industry, we call it integrated design. And all that means is everybody on the team gets together and collaborates on the design. So for homeowners out there, what that means is, you know, you would pick a designer, perhaps maybe that’s your first stop. but we’d also want you to pick the rest of the team as well. So the key players like the builder, maybe the engineers as well.
0:24:09
Mark
So everybody on the team is picked based on their reputation and their resume, rather than, you know, going and designing a house and then saying, Hey, give me a price, give me a price. It doesn’t allow us to collaborate and innovate. But if we’re all there at the, at the beginning, usually it’s done. It’s called a design service agreement is usually how that’s done for, for homeowners. So we have a, a mini design contract. It allows us to collaborate on that design and get that really good, you know, according to your budget, according to your needs.
0:24:38
Mark
And then it’s a separate contract for the actual building. So if maybe if we don’t like each other by the end of the design, we can go our separate ways and you’ve got a fully well thought out design that you can go and build. Uh, and, and so that, that is how we’re usually achieving our number one cost savings, or at least our reasonably affordable building, uh, and getting that client exactly what they want. Um, and.
0:25:00
Mark
And a lot of the education has been geared towards that, that’s the integrated design process.
0:25:04
Mike
And it sounds really fancy, but really it’s just a bunch of collaboration between trades and everybody else. Having people work together is really important. That has to be taught, otherwise we have bad results and this entire show is about how to not do that. Exactly. I mean, there’s also a lot of other education out there. You know, I spend most of my time at the Canadian Home Builders Association education events.
0:25:27
Mike
You know, there’s one coming up this fall. And, and, you know, a bunch of different forms that takes not everybody can get into an office, particularly if you’re, you know, from a small town. You know, it’s not, you know, the in -person educations don’t come every day. And so there’s lots of different options for that. You can take it online. You can, you know, do it as a webinar.
0:25:48
Mark
There’s self -paced.
0:25:49
Mark
and all that sort of stuff. And a lot of that energy code stuff that we were talking about earlier is also available. And I think one of the key pieces that builders are going to need to know and understand. kind of already touched on it, so let’s get into it. But the CHBA BC Education Summit is coming on. Obviously, we know what the benefit is to the builders going to this or people in the construction industry.
0:26:12
Mike
But sometimes we forget that there’s actually benefits then to the consumer. So why would somebody looking to build or renovate their home want a builder that has attended the CHBA BC Education Summit? I know it kind of seems like pretty pretty logical, but we never talk about really the end user, what they get from other people going to summits.
0:26:55
Mark
Yeah, and this one’s a big one actually. So it is October 8th to 9th in Richmond there, so relatively easy for builders from around the province to get there and do this. One of the real fun things about these education events is that it’s a collaboration between CHBA, BOAB, which is the building officials of BC, the building inspectors and people that work at the city, as well as BCAB, which is the BC Designers Association. And so those folks all in the same room learning the same thing, all these colleagues together means that the process can be a lot smoother. So folks have probably heard over the course of the years that getting permits can be hard and difficult and the process is long and all those sorts of things. And so by bringing all these people together into one room, not only do we get to know each other, how each other think and what we need. So now, you know, I know my My permit application needs to be done this way because they need this thing and I, you know, all these sort of interpersonal relationships. So I can phone a friend and say, Hey, I’m having this problem and you’re a building inspector.
0:27:47
Uh, you know, what do you think I should do in this case? And you can get that answer. Um, so you build this bigger network and.
0:27:53
Mark
That means for homeowners, you know, faster responses, better information, better permit times. And and the same thing goes other ways for the building inspectors and the designers. It’s that sort of broad base of knowledge where we’re all there together instead of being in our little silo, not talking to each other, which isn’t going to help anybody. No, and that’s great that you put that because I think and this isn’t just for the building industry. This is for any industry. I think sometimes consumers that use people that go to these different conferences are always like, well, what are they doing?
0:28:22
Mark
Just partying? Am I just, you know, paying for their cause to let go? But for this case, it’s like these people are actually going in-depth learning and making those connections, which you said are so important. Yeah, definitely. I mean, for the record, there is a party afterwards. There is a social night and and there is a two-time Olympic gold medalist coming as a keynote speaker this time.
0:28:45
Mike
So so there is room for fun. And and that, I think, is, you know, if any are listed. out there is that there is room for fun in these. And, and that’s why we’re seeing these really good builders going there and just taking way more points than they actually need, because it’s interesting. It’s entertaining. It’s, you know, it’s fun.
0:29:03
Mark
We’re meeting this network and a lot of my friends are going right.
0:29:06
Mark
So I want to go there and hang out with my friends. Um, but, uh, you know, really, you know, coming back to that homeowner, it is about lowering those costs. If I’m not up on my education, if I’m not going and studying those advanced wall systems that are, you know, coming and needed, um, I’m not going to be able to deliver you that product. Well, I think as, um, professionals, a lot of people, I mean, I I’m, I’m fairly new to this industry. I’m only seven years in this industry, but you know, I thought, okay, everybody’s got their own business. They’re all doing their own thing.
0:29:37
Jennifer-Lee
It was a very pleasant education for me to find out that. our members get together. So all our members who are builders and renovators in the Home Builders Association here in Vancouver, get together. They go in a room, it’s easier to get an account room at the Bellagio in Vegas than it is to get in that room. And they talk about things, they talk about what they’ve learned. So yeah, you guys are competing against each other for that particular client’s business and for the opportunity to bring their home to life.
0:30:02
Jennifer-Lee
But what I love is that everybody is sharing what they’ve learned and collaborating and there’s zero ego involved for the most part. And, and that’s really one of the cool things about this industry. And for someone who’s not a part of it, it’s really hard to understand. Just how powerful the value of collaboration is.
0:30:20
Mike
And that’s what you should also be asking a builder. My opinion is, do you talk to other builders? Because you know, they play nicely with others, which means they’re going to work well with you.
Mark
Yeah, definitely. And I think having that membership, that CHBA membership in particular is one of the key vetting things that you should be looking for as a homeowner. And, and my own example of that is that when I started out, when I was first, you know, young kid, no business doing anything, I was doing a lot of failing, right?
My accounting system wasn’t working. I was, you know, wasn’t doing my taxes right and all that sort of stuff. And I ended up coming across an old timer who was a member of the CHBA. And he said, you got to come to this meeting and you got to talk to these guys. And I did. I sat down at the table and I said, I’ve got all these problems.
And they’re like, well, here, here’s what you do. You sort it out this way and that way. And I went back and I did.
And it allowed us to be successful. It very much saved our business and allowed us to deliver better products to our clients.
and have all this sense of professionalism that we just wouldn’t have been able to have without that membership and without using that membership in the way that we do.
Jennifer-Lee
I love it. And I want to ask you this because I always love thinking about the future, but where do you think the industry is heading?
Mark
Oh, that’s a good question. I mean, You know, we’re, we’re probably, uh, you know, we’re probably heading towards a time where we’re going to see more advanced technology, um, and, uh, prefabrication. I think, you know, we hear the federal government talking about that.
0:31:44
Mike
I do think that that is likely a key part of the future. Um, you know, not necessarily entire houses arriving in and flopping down on the lot, but at least components we’re already, you know, our own team, um, regularly uses a lot of prefabrication and, uh, so where we can, you know, build it with robots in a warehouse. instead of with nails and hammers on site, and again, delivering a much better product. So I think that’s probably the direction. Certainly more performance, being aware of the carbon, both in the materials, the embodied carbon, as well as the emissions of the house itself is something that we cannot afford to avoid. And also resiliency as well.
0:32:23
Mark
So that’s something a lot of our clients are asking for, that resiliency, like what happens if things really go wrong? Forest fire, earthquakes, high winds, all these different things that are costing us an arm and a leg for insurance, that’s really I think going to be a key driver of the future. And the good news is all those things, the carbon emissions, the performance and the resilience, all of that goes together. And it’s all kind of ends up being one issue that we can solve with many of the same solutions. So I think the future is bright.
0:32:52
Mark
There’s a lot of great career opportunities if you’re a high tech person and you like working with your hands. And so I think the future is good. We’re certainly going to see some adjustments over the next little while as we go through some political uncertainty down South and things like that.
0:33:09
Mark
But definitely if we’re in the townhouse market, the missing middle, sort of market.
0:33:15
Mark
I think that’s a good place to be right now, and lots of interesting things on the horizon.
0:33:20
Jennifer-Lee
And I know we didn’t discuss it, but I do think it’s going to have a part in construction. We talked a little bit about robots, but I also know some companies are going to use it, but I think AI is going to also be on those things as well. Yeah, absolutely. We’re using AI on a regular basis in our operations. Well, you know me, I love AI. Great conversation, Mark.
0:33:41
Mike
Thank you so much. I’m glad to finally be able to get a chance to chat with you. So much information. I’m going to try to summarize it as best I can. If you can summarize all this information succinctly. I love the fact that you’re looking at measurement. at the forefront and leading strategy. And the reason I love that is because a lot of times I feel that people will make decisions based on dollars and cents, and they can’t look at the long -term 25 -year ownership prerogative. And what you’re doing is you’re helping quantify for them so they can make math -based decisions, not necessarily decisions based just on math. I also, I mean, it strikes a chord close to home. Education is so, so important in any industry. And you always want to work with people at the forefront of education.
0:34:24
Mike
And that ties into the summit coming up in October as well, where the best of the best, the people who are on their way up, the people at the top, they’re all going to get together and collaborate. And the real beneficiary of all this is us.
0:34:35
Mike
the homeowner who’s going to be the one building that high performance home with experts who are helping each other and finally the fact that the future looks so darn bright for all of us i mean that You said it right there.
0:34:48
Jennifer-Lee
Some of the technology, some of the stuff that’s coming to bear right now in its infancy is going to radically and fundamentally reshape how we look at building homes and living in homes. What an exciting time to be in this industry. And before we go, Mark, I know you gave us so many great tips, but if you could give the homeowner one more tip before we go, what would it be? Collaborate. You know, that’s, I think that’s maybe if I could use like one word to summarize what will help you in your renovation or your build, it is collaborate and make sure that your whole team is doing it as well. Um, we need, you know, nobody can be an expert in all things.
0:35:22
Mark
And so we need to pull in expertise and we need to listen to that expertise. That’d be my one word summary is collaborate on your next project. Well, one of our favorite parts. of this episode is to give away a barbecue. And it’s easy. All you have to do is listen to this episode, and if you’ve made it this far, you have.
0:35:39
Mike
Share with your family and friends. Heck, you see someone in public transit, look them in the eye and say, have you checked out Measure Twice, Cut Once yet. And if they haven’t, send them a link.
0:35:47
Mike
Once you’ve done all of that, you can enter for a chance to win a Napoleon Prestige P500 stainless steel natural gas barbecue valued over $1 ,600, compliments of our awesome podcast partners at FortisBC. All you have to do in addition to the aforementioned activities is go to www.havan.ca/measuretwicecutonce .
0:36:04
Mike
That’s it for today’s episode of Measure Twice, Cut Once.
0:36:09
Mike
Thanks to Mark Bernhardt for sharing his insights on builder education and the heat tool. And just a friendly reminder, Haven, the Home Builders Association of Vancouver is proudly part of CHBA BC and CHBA National.
0:36:21
Mike
That means our members and our homeowners that they work with benefit from the advocacy, education and resources we talked about at every level, including today with Mark.
0:36:30
Jennifer-Lee
For links and resources from today’s show, visit www.haven.ca/measuretwicecutonce .
0:36:34
Jennifer-Lee
And thank you to our podcast partners, Trail Appliances, FortisBC, BC Housing, Ramy Films, Jpod Creations, and AI Technology and Designs. And remember, it takes a team to build a home and to bring you this podcast. So thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week on Measure Twice, Cut Once. transcribed with cockatoo
