Design, performance, and wellness come together in Episode 89 as Graeme Huguet of My House Design Build Team, and Bryan and Sarah Baeumler of HGTV/Stack TV fame share practical insight on building healthier, more durable homes that support long-term comfort and value.
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About the Speaker
GRAEME HUGUET, Founder and General Manager, MY HOUSE DESIGN/BUILD TEAM
Born in Burnaby and majoring in acting, design, directing, business, and fine arts, from a young age Graeme has always had a creative “make things happen” approach to life.
The segue way into construction came from designing for theatre and television granted an opportunity to design in “real life”. He then saw a need within the industry to create a more holistic design and build client first approach that did things above and beyond what was expected. It was in this creative and non conventional approach that My House Design/Build Team was formed.
BRYAN & SARAH BAEUMLER, HGTV/STACK TV
Bryan is a Canadian television host known for multiple HGTV and HGTV Canada series. He learned building from his father, an aircraft engineer, and spent his childhood summers constructing the family cottage. At 14, he opened his own handyman business doing odd jobs for neighbours. He earned a B.A. in Political Science and Business from the University of Western Ontario in 1996. After working in construction, he founded a company that grew into Baeumler Quality Construction and Renovations Inc., where he is president and CEO. In 2011, he launched Baeumler Approved to help homeowners connect with reliable home-service companies across Canada. He later became spokesperson for HeyBryan, a peer-to-peer home-service app. Bryan is a Gemini Award winner for hosting and the author of a renovation book.
Sarah is an interior designer, entrepreneur, and television personality who co-hosts several of the Baeumlers’ HGTV series. She leads the design direction across the couple’s residential, commercial, and hospitality projects with a focus on healthy materials, wellness-driven interiors, and functional family spaces. Her work extends into product development and lifestyle brand building, reflecting her interest in creating environments that support both beauty and well-being.
In 2017, Bryan and Sarah purchased an abandoned beachfront resort on South Andros, Bahamas, and transformed it into Caerula Mar Club, a sustainable luxury resort that opened in December 2019. They continue to own and operate the property while balancing their construction, design, and media ventures.
Listen and like for your chance to win a gas BBQ compliments of our Podcast Partner FortisBC.
Check out the image of Caerula Mar Club in the Bahamas
Here's the Full Transcript of this Episode
Ep_89: Home Performance and Design
0:00:03
Mike
Hi everybody, welcome back to another episode of Measure Twice Cut Once. My name is Mike, I’m one of the co -hosts, and we’re going to go on a journey today and talk about some really cool stuff in construction and design.
0:00:13
Jennifer-Lee
And I’m Jennifer Lee, Mike’s co -host for Measure Twice Cut Once. And just a reminder, make sure you follow us on all the platforms, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, we appreciate it.
0:00:25
Mike
Absolutely.
We have a really cool episode today. We have three legends among us. We have a local legend and two people who help keep a little bit bigger space in the public view. But nonetheless, the reason that all of them are at the position they are is because they’re so good at what they do and they’re so free and willing to share their accumulated knowledge. And that’s why we love having them back. So please welcome Graham from My House Design.
0:00:47
Graeme
Great to be here.
0:00:48
Mike
And of course, Bryan and Sarah Baeumler of Stack TV fame. We’re going to talk about how design and performance work hand in hand. thinking about style without compromise and creating homes and buildings. that feel as good as they look. and design builders across from us. So we’re going to be able to triangulate all their points of view.
And then that good stuff in the middle is like a Venn diagram of this is what you do moving forward. Yeah. So of course, Bryan and Sarah, welcome, and Graham as well.
0:01:44
Mike
Sarah, being first time here, and we don’t know you as well as perhaps we should, can you give us a little background on yourself?
What do you do and what gets you up in the morning and gets you excited throughout the day?
0:01:53
Sarah
You don’t know me?
I feel like everyone knows sort of what we do.
20 years on television but if you don’t know obviously I do co -host some of our shows with my husband Bryan I really focus on the design side of all of our projects. That is my love and my passion.
And that extends now really into hospitality, into products, into just building our brand and around what a healthy home is all about.
Jennifer-Lee
It’s so funny because I feel like I really relate to you guys. And because my family was builders, and so I grew up in it. And so when I was like watching some of your stuff to prepare for this, it’s so funny because you talked about having one of your homes and then you’re like, Oh, we were only going to do this small renovation.
And then all of a sudden turned out to bigger when I said that was my life for 27 years.
0:02:46
Jennifer-Lee
I think my house was like in constant reno.
Exactly. And I don’t think it ever ends, even now, sitting here today. We were just talking earlier, and Bryan’s like, oh, when we get back, I want to work on this, or I want to work on that. There’s always things that you want to continue to improve upon in your own home and lifestyle.
0:03:02
Bryan
I think it’s normal for every family. She grew up in a building family, so she knows the discussion was like, oh, when I get home, I’d really love to do this.
0:03:10
Sarah
It was an argument about what we’re going to finish and change when we get home.
0:03:15
Sarah
I didn’t grow up with building. I’m not a bit late. Is that the case? Like, I always hear the cobbler’s shoes go unfinished. You guys are always focusing on other people’s houses.
0:03:23
Bryan
Is that an impediment to doing your own homes because you’re burnt out mentally at the end of the day? Well, it is because there’s so many distractions and other things to do. And that’s, you know, not only business and traveling and Bahamas, you name it. But there’s four kids and there’s lives and there’s hobbies and friends and and so, you know I’m always like Sarah you just order these cabinets for the mudroom so I can finish that room and we need one more slab door just But I was looking at this and I’m like then it becomes like just order it so I can do it and she’s like I’m not ordering I am things to do and then you know.
0:03:57
(Speaker 5)
I’m having deja vu right now.
0:03:59
Jennifer-Lee
This is what it sounded like growing up. And as the industry changes I think we also want to try things. That’s part of it right?
0:04:06
Jennifer-Lee
It’s like you see things that are happening you want to integrate them into your own home and you’re like oh if I’m gonna put this forth for a client I want to try it I want to understand it and then it just escalates and you’re always renovating. I think you’re right on because that’s the one thing I noticed, too. My parents, you can never take them out of it. They’re retired now and they have a newer condo they bought brand new. And what was the first thing they did? They ripped everything out and renovated.
0:04:27
Jennifer-Lee
And I was like, they’re not happy until they’re renovating.
0:04:30
Bryan
I think that’s what we need to do. So my first piece of real estate that I purchased for myself was here in Vancouver at Davian Seymour in the space building. And it was, you know, sub penthouse. 800 square foot bachelor pad of glory, you know, white drywall backsplash in the kitchen and the white cheapest cabinets possible and the laminate flooring. And when Sarah, you know, a few years later moved out to Vancouver, when we back out to Vancouver, she walked in there and said, we’re going to renovate this condo. And all of a sudden I’m ripping walls out and I’m cutting holes in the walls and I’m, I’m renovating the kitchen and the floor.
0:05:11
Bryan
And we have a great picture of us sitting on the floor of the condo there.
0:05:17
Sarah
Eating dinner, like no furniture around us, mid construction.
0:05:21
Bryan
Bachelor pad destroyed. I don’t blame her though, because you just said bachelor pad of glory as your description.
0:05:30
Jennifer-Lee
So I imagine her first words when she came in was like, yeah.
0:05:34
Mike
Yeah, but some things need to go. So Graham, did you do that with your first place as well?
0:05:39
Graeme
Do it all by yourself or were you building at that time? Yeah, our first home that we rented then bought. and then renovated and then we rebuilt completely. And then we were in that home for half of our family’s life and then moved to our current home. But the sad part is we left a finished house.
And so people didn’t like the idea that I was moving to a different home because of course I had these ideas and what we wanted to do. And one of the things we had planned was to go to Europe as a family. And just as we were going to be moving in and in construction, And, um, so I had a large retainer wall gate being put in and built at the time. And with, we came back from Europe and as we turned around the corner and we had just gone to France, um, my son -in -law at the time looked at all the construction going on and he goes, look, it’s Versailles.
0:06:39
Graeme
And all the kids started to cry because to them it looked big and ostentatious and, um, you know, and, and, So that’s, they’ve grown up around it, they’ve seen things take place, some of it they haven’t liked, some of it in the end they like, but going through the process, not so much.
0:06:59
Jennifer-Lee
See, builders aren’t happy till they’re renovating or building.
Mike
But it’s also good because those of us who aren’t builders, like we went through our renovation, it was not a good process. We didn’t know about podcasts like these and I wasn’t part of this industry. And I think If you do it every day, you almost take it for granted. This is simply how the process goes. And you can’t necessarily empathize with the homeowner who’s in the middle of it and has questions.
0:07:21
Mike
They don’t know why the city delayed it or this had to change or that had to change.
0:07:24
Mike
So do you find that living in those renovations, especially early in your respective careers, gave you a greater sense of empathy for the people you’re now working with to bring their homes to life?
Bryan
I feel like we’re trauma bonded with our customers. Um, yeah, I mean, we’ve, we’ve been certainly been through it ourselves. And I think it’s, uh, I mean, going for Sarah, going through the design process with her.
0:07:45
Bryan
been through it so many times in our own properties that it’s it’s easy to relate and and share with the customers like you know we we’ve been there too we’re not just the you know you don’t want to go to a dentist that’s never had a cavity kind of thing you know you want you want them to understand the pain a little bit of what they’re about to go through and and we’ve certainly experienced our fair share of of construction pain.
Jennifer-Lee
And, of course, it wasn’t, well, I don’t know, I know you had some trials and tribulations, so maybe not painful, it’s the right word, but of course you have Surul Amar that has been up and running now for, what, over five years now because you guys opened during COVID?
0:08:27
Sarah
Yes, we had our sort of soft launch. A week before COVID.
0:08:31
Bryan
Some of the best, I mean, in history, some of the best timing of our lives.
Sarah
Yes, March 13th is forever ingrained. That was the day our staff was all new and we had to stand back with them all and say, there’s a pandemic and we’ve been asked to shut down by the government. So yes, obviously that is It was a very emotional time because the property was just opened.
0:08:52
Sarah
But yeah, about five years now successfully open and operational and we’ve learned a great deal in a short period.
0:08:58
Jennifer-Lee
And you just got a Michelin key. So congratulations.
0:09:01
Sarah
We did. That feels like a huge, huge responsibility, I guess is the right way. You know, we are so excited about the opportunity. I sort of put it out in the universe about eight to 12 months ago. And I was like, Bryan, I’d love to get this. And he’s like, well, you’ll see because it’s like a mystery shopper that comes to your property.
0:09:20
Sarah
But lo and behold, we found out about a week ago from our team, they called us from Bahamas, and they had just heard the announcement from Paris where they host the events live.
0:09:28
Sarah
And we were all screaming on the phone and so excited.
Jennifer-Lee
So I’m curious about that just quickly, because like, I’m like, this is so interesting. We’ve never had anyone with a Michelin key here. It’s like, what do they do?
You said they set a secret shop
and they’re like a list of things that they have you have to hit in order to get it yes there is it say for the Michelin key a lot of people know obviously like a Michelin star with restaurants right and it’s the same thing that everyone’s seen Ratatouille right where Anton van Ego comes in for dinner and yeah that’s we we That’s essentially what we had at the hotel.
0:09:58
Sarah
It is. And you all guess who could potentially be the guest that has stayed with us that may have been their sort of secret shopper. But it is a combination of just design and function. It’s really looking at the environment in which the property exists and how that takes how that is all taken into account. But you are at that top tier. It’s the top 10 percent of the world.
0:10:18
Sarah
And for us to receive the Michelin key, like I said, is a large responsibility. Even moving forward, it’s about your team and consistency and what you can offer a guest.
0:10:26
Sarah
every single moment of their stay with you. Well, now the pressure’s on.
0:10:30
Bryan
It’s, now we, you know, now we’ve got one.
0:10:33
Now you gotta keep it.
0:10:33
Bryan
We gotta keep it.
0:10:34
Mike
So do they send someone back every so often to like check up on you?
0:10:37
Bryan
Annual certification.
0:10:38
Sarah
Yes, it is.
0:10:39
Mike
But you know what? That speaks to the culture you’ve created there more than anything else, because you’ve empowered the people in your team to take great care of your guests.
0:10:49
Mike
And it is reflected in the fact that you have this accolade that so many others have not been able to earn. And this was a huge turning point, I think, for our team as well, because we met with a team and like our staff is from the island, local, right? And we’re 18 small settlements.
0:11:05
Sarah
There is not a street light on the entire island.
0:11:08
Bryan
There’s one.
0:11:08
Bryan
There’s one by Tony’s Bar.
0:11:11
Sarah
You’re right. See, Tony’s Bar, that’s how we know it. But even to bring our team together and explain what the Michelin Key means, we said, you know, the skills that you’re building here with our team, you can take anywhere in the world. And I think for them, their eyes opened, and we sort of listed some of the other properties globally that received a Michelin Key. And I’m like, you are now at par with this. If you want to travel and explore, like the world has now been opened up in a way that it never was for you.
0:11:37
Bryan
And I think.
0:11:38
Bryan
A feather in their CV.
0:11:39
Sarah
Yeah. Exactly.
0:11:40
Sarah
I think it’s an incredible opportunity for, for many people that don’t even have a passport and have never left South Andros.
0:11:45
Bryan
So we’re, we’re very. Culinary equivalent of Baeumler approved.
0:11:50
Bryan
Well, and we have an incredible new chef and Sue and the F &B department that have come in that came from a Michelin rated restaurant in Barbados.
0:12:04
Sarah
So that’s the next goal is the key, the star.
0:12:08
Bryan
The key and the star. Yeah. And continue to grow. I’m always, I don’t like to get bored.
0:12:13
Sarah
So I’m always like, what’s next? What can we continue to do and achieve? And I’m sure in your construction company, you’ve had accolades along the way to which have been the same thing.
0:12:22
Graeme
You create the culture and the award winning. Project the award -winning company and so forth like that and and now that that breed it’s a responsibility as you said That’s a big thing.
Bryan
Yeah, and it’s and I think well and you I mean you you’ve been a part of it you’re part of the the Association in the circle and and the accolades you’ve you know received in Vancouver and I think for us we’ve talked about this before it comes down to Integrity at the end of the day it comes down to why why do I want to be? building construction development hospitality whatever and ultimately it’s because I want to show up when I told them I’ll be there I want to do what I said said that I will do I want to clean up at the end of the day cash the check pay my taxes you know go for a beer with a homeowner and have a bunch of great referrals and do it again it it really boils down to the basics of You know, what do you want to do? Do you want to just make money? Or do you want to do something that is a value to society and going forward and you can create a legacy that goes on?
I think that’s what what Sarah and I have been focused on with, you know, developing and down the
0:13:30
Bryan
Bahamas and the next plans as well. And I think that’s what it all boils down to is what, you know, when you’re not here and the conversations about you happen, you know, how do you want those to go? Yeah.
Jennifer-Lee
And just want to give you a little shout out because we talked about their award, but you just won a Havans interior designer of the year.
0:13:49
Graeme
We have a partner company. emphasis architecture and design studio.
Jennifer-Lee
So congratulations.
Graeme
Thank you as well. Yeah, we’re very excited. And again, it’s the culture. You know, we’ve been renovator of the year.
We’ve been custom builder of the year and then to now be a designer of the year.
That that is really, really cool. It’s like the the key in the star. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it speaks to your process and the culture you’ve created as well.
0:14:13
Mike
And that’s really, really crucial in creating accessible company that creates quality. great results. Anyone can build a house. How well, that’s up to you.
0:14:23
Greame
Yeah.
0:14:23
Mike
But to do it properly with a proper managed process, to make sure that we’re respectful of budgets and everything else, that’s one of the things that you do so well and always grateful for that leadership for the rest of this industry as well. And, um.
0:14:35
Mike
Speaking of building houses, we should probably talk a little about that too.
0:14:39
Graeme
Yeah.
0:14:40
Mike
I had a conversation with someone online talking about how energy efficient and net zero houses are not legit and we don’t need all that. And I respectfully disagreed. It depends how much money you want to waste over the lifespan of your home.
0:14:51
Sarah
Yeah, exactly. But because people think that there’s compromises associated with that, you have to give up on the design elements in the home. Can you give us some examples that prove those people wrong? Please, respectfully. Well, I think we’ve talked about building in sort of all different ways.
0:15:09
Sarah
I know Bryan talks about the building envelope in particular and things that we can do really to create a healthy environment from the outside in and through the whole process of just interiors, but also on with respect to the products that you’re bringing into the building. once the framework is there. And that’s where I sort of lean in.
0:15:28
Sarah
And for me, I’ve spent the last few years actually Becoming much more knowledgeable about the products that we’re bringing into the home especially with children about understanding off gassing of products that we’re bringing in about Looking into small simple things that really affect our internal nervous system and how we can build Homes that we’re not necessarily changing the design elements that we want to put in but we’re really looking internally within our own health within the home and I think that’s something too that we can continue to grow and Lean into we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the building envelope and what we can do for healthy air quality and things like that, but I’m also now leaning into the interiors and how we can expand that for healthy lifestyles.
0:16:09
Jennifer-Lee
And being in the Caribbean, how has that really influenced the health of design? Because I know like when you’re looking at like the way that they wake up with the sun, your circadian rhythm, they don’t have as much, like you said, one light bulb on the street. They don’t have like that blue light constantly in their face. Like, did you use any of that stuff to like inspire the way that you think about health in design or building?
0:16:33
Sarah
definitely it was actually the time when we were there with the kids during the pandemic and it was because everything shut down in all honesty and we had that really raw look at what everyday life looked like for our children, what they were doing to keep themselves occupied and busy, but also then it gave us an opportunity to sort of, you know, rise with the sun and go to sleep with the sun. And we started to see these patterns when everyone back home in Canada was masked up and really fearful, we had a family that was thriving.
Bryan
Our entire schedule changed. It did. At 8 .30 or 9 o ‘clock at night, I’m fast asleep. Five o ‘clock, you know, five, five 30 in the morning, he’s awake.
0:17:15
Bryan
And like, let’s, let’s walk down the beach, watch the sun come up, grab a coffee. And it was just. it was like a natural thing that happened. So that’s when we started to learn like, okay, it’s not just about, I mean, you know, the really important part. And, you know, Graham and I’ve talked about this a lot is from the face of the drywall to the outside of the home, the efficiency, the way it’s built, you know, as close to passive, that that’s incredibly important for longevity and cost of ownership and maintenance and things going forward.
But from the other side, it’s how do you live? in that house and how healthy what are you consuming? What are you breathing? What are you you know that that whole thing and I think that’s something in society right now that’s really a lot of people are focused on longevity and health and you know those last 20 -30 years what’s that quality of life going to be and it’s it’s now that you’re you’re making the investment now for what what you’re going to get later in life, so that’s something I think that’s shifting in design.
0:18:13
Mike
That’s one positive that came out of pandemic years, is there’s this post -pandemic wellness boom, we’re now thinking about, like give me an example.
In 2019, we would go to a birthday party, and someone would blow out the cake and spit all the candles, we’d go, yeah, I just need a slice. We’d do things like, I’m going into work, I got a bit of a cold. That’s gone, and so now what we’re doing is looking at our houses very differently, and it’s not just a home, it’s a sanctuary, it’s a wellness hub as well. Exactly. I want to talk a little bit more about the healthy home, because that’s probably one of the most important conversations we could have. I know design is important.
It’s extremely important.
But if we’re not healthy, who cares how it looks?
0:18:48
Bryan
Well, and design has a huge, I mean, that is how you design the inside of home, the materials you use, the things you put, that is design.
0:18:55
Mike
Even the lighting that balances our circadian rhythm, right? What you’re walking on, too. Exactly. Or touching. And breathing. So Graham and Bryan.
0:19:05
Mike
Sarah talked to us about healthy homes. From your perspective as builders, what should I be looking at to build a healthy home for my next project? What are the key things I need to consider for that?
Graeme
Well, outside of what you put in the house and the envelope, as Bryan talked about, your mechanical system also needs to reflect what you need to have a healthy environment, what you breathe, you mentioned. not just in terms of ventilation, but also purification.
0:19:34
Graeme
So there’s a lot of good technology that’s available to allow the air that we breathe in the house to be healthier. And because a lot of homes, especially existing homes, it’s actually a terrible environment that most people live in inside their homes because of how they’ve been built.
0:19:54
Graeme
or not, what the mechanical situation is in the home, and then the various off -gassings, and then just their livelihood.
0:20:05
Graeme
So since the pandemic, I think the number one thing we have been asked about is, how can I have a healthier environment? People cocooned, they went to their houses, and they go, I want that environment to be safe. And, and that’s, and that’s one of the things that we’ve focused on more, already were prior to the pandemic, but definitely since.
Bryan
Yeah. It even comes down to, I mean, Sarah and I read a article not too long ago about, you know, scents in your home. The plug in thing in the walls that are just boiling chemicals that you smell and cleaning products.
Yeah. And you know, there was part of it, I don’t want to quote the exact, number, but it was like, you know, if you’re cleaning your home every day with these various products, you know, you might as well smoke a pack a day.
0:20:51
Bryan
Um, so some of that stuff is really important too. It’s, it’s the materials and everything, the off gassing. Um, and as Graham mentioned, you know, in our first home in Oakville, we put a, uh, IQ air filter in the, like a, uh, you know, additional, uh, filtration in the home and the, the PPM, the parts per million, um, in the air. of particulate went down almost zero because the the air was always being circulated filtered And we noticed, you know, we’re like no one no one’s sick No one’s no one’s getting sick or the sniffles or I mean it was just such a a clean environment. That was great And we noticed a difference. Yeah, the home is there for that rest and recovery, yet we don’t look at our home in that way always, you know what I mean?
0:21:31
Sarah
We’re looking at, oh, I’m how I’m setting up my kitchen in my living room, etc. But it’s really how your body is naturally progressing through different times of the day, and allowing yourself to rest and reset.
0:21:42
Sarah
And I think we’re talking about it a lot more, we’re talking about function in the home, how you move about each space, and also designating zones that feel good at different times of day, depending on the natural light in the space. And they’re small things. So I think we’re What I’m trying to encourage people as well in conversations like this is it doesn’t mean you have to tear down your home or start again. These are simple acts that you can do in your home every day to improve your quality of life for your family as well, and I think that’s really important to discuss that it isn’t like, okay, everyone, we have to start again. It’s like, well, what are some little things that you can do to improve the overall envelope within the home?
0:22:20
Jennifer-Lee
And it’s not just about like the design of the home, it’s what you’re bringing into it as well, like furniture, accessories and stuff. I know, Sarah, that you don’t like the word trendy, which I don’t really either. Because it’s that fast fashion kind of culture of like, oh, I’ll bring in another pillow or another pillow. But where did that pillow come from? Again, like everything has like my dad is highly allergic now he’s one of those people that he can’t have like any scent anywhere and so like my mom will bring stuff into the house and he’s like I can’t do it but we don’t think about that.
Sarah
No we don’t and we’re still promoting I think there’s been such a strong conversation the last decade about fast fashion and the impact on our environment yet no one has dug into that with respect to home.
0:23:01
Sarah
We’re still promoting going to these big -box stores, selecting
0:23:04
Sarah
things for every season and every holiday. And then what do you do after two weeks later, the holiday is done and you pack it all up. And we’re like, that’s still living in, like you’ve still brought that into your home. It’s still harming your family, but then it’s also harming the environment as a whole. Like fast fashion exists for the home, but no one is talking about it and we need to.
0:23:26
Bryan
It’s the loot bag mentality. When we first got married and had kids, you know, You know, Sarah and the moms, God bless them, would say, oh, it’s a birthday party, I’m gonna get your loot bags. And I absolutely know loot bags. You might as well, just drive to the dump and throw some money in the dump, if you want, and light something plastic on fire. And you’ve accomplished the same thing as buying a loot bag for a kid. So everyone talks about cost, right? Because the loot bag idea is like the dollar store fashion design, you know, whatever it may be.
0:23:57
Bryan
always come to Graham and I know in some of the talks and they’ll say oh but you know buying these healthy things is expensive or building an efficient home is expensive. Today it is. I mean right now that expense is there but if you start with a home that is hyper efficient as costs increase your savings are exponential. If you don’t, your expenses are exponential. I say all the time, choosing a roof that’s gonna burn out in 10 or 15 years, that’s a $50 ,000 roof instead of a $100 ,000 lifetime roof.
0:24:32
Bryan
When you have to replace that, it’s not 50, it’s now 100. And when you have to replace that again, it’s not 100, it’s 150 or 200. So those expenses are going to be exponential in the future.
0:24:43
Bryan
So doing your building envelope properly now, saves you that money that you will have to spend on the more expensive things inside the home as you go forward which which will save you money again exponentially exponential savings as the cost of energy goes up power materials go up.
Jennifer-Lee
Well, and I think the other thing people get hung up on, and you probably see this as well, Graham, is size. Everyone thinks they need a big house. And I know, Bryan, you’ve said in the past, size doesn’t matter, efficiency matters.
Bryan
I mean, I said that, but we did, I mean, the last home we built was 17 ,500 sq ft.
0:25:18
Bryan
So it’s kind of like, size doesn’t matter. It’s more, Size matters to your budget. So there is a way, and now, unfortunately, people want it big, they want it shiny, and they want it built really well. You really have to choose two if you want it affordable as well.
0:25:41
Bryan
So if you can afford the size, but to build it well, great. If you can’t, there are ways to make things smaller, design better. Some of the homes we’re doing now have 36 -inch doors and openings everywhere. you can age in the home, you know, your internal walls, you can plan them non -load bearing or structural.
0:26:01
Bryan
So you can move things around, but it’s the building envelope that can last.
Mike
Well, that’s something you said last time you were here. You said, stop wasting money on pretty looking design things and start investing in the bones of the home. I’ve never forgotten that. And that’s still very powerful and sage advice.
Bryan
It comes down to, you know, if you have cancer, the cosmetics don’t matter, you know, get treated, get healthy, and then worry about the cosmetics.
0:26:31
Bryan
That’s what people do. You have to look at your home like that too.
0:26:33
Bryan
If your home is sick, heal your home and put the makeup on tomorrow.
0:26:38
Bryan
Every night the makeup comes off and every morning you can put new stuff on. But it’s the person, the body, the home itself that you have to make sure is well.
Mike
Well, you know what would be great is to continue this conversation, but first we have to thank our amazing sponsors. give us a couple moments we’ll be right back and we’re going to dig into some of the stuff we just talked about. All right. Measure Twice Cut Once is grateful to our podcast partners FortisBC, BC Housing and Trail Appliances.
0:27:07
Jennifer-Lee
Measure Twice, Cut Once is grateful to our podcast partners, FortisBC, BC Housing and Trail Appliances. Support from our partners helps us share expert knowledge and resources with families looking to build, design and renovate the home right for you. For BC Housing, creating access to housing solutions that meets everybody’s needs is a guiding principle. BC Housing is working with governments, nonprofits, First Nations and residential construction industry members to create practical solutions to BC Housing challenges. To learn more about BC Housing initiatives, programs and services, go to www.BCHousing.org .
And we all need reliable and efficient equipment for better comfort, health and safety of our homes. Whether you want to adopt some energy saving habits or make a major energy efficiency upgrade, FortisBC can help you save energy. Be sure to go to www.FortisBC.com , where you can also find amazing tips on low and no -cost ways to save energy, plus great information on what FortisBC is doing on low -carbon energy with solutions such as renewable natural gas.
Trail Appliances makes everyday life better with the best selection in Western Canada, hassle -free delivery, and a price match guarantee. You always get the best deal. At Trail Appliances, you’ll love buying an appliance as much as you’ll love using it. Affordable, accessible, quality housing is a top of mind issue for many British Columbians.
0:28:26
Mike
Welcome back. We’re going to change gears a little bit.
We’re still going to be talking about wellness and we’re still going to be talking about design, but we’re going to talk about a specific part of it. Sarah, I want to start with you. Actually, we often talked about windows technology for energy efficiency and how we keep our homes comfortable. Can you talk about some technologies that you’re seeing out there on the design side that are allowing for more natural light and better performance in the home?
0:28:50
Sarah
For sure. I think one have started the conversation around connecting the health and the home, it really started with understanding our nervous system. And I have had the opportunity to work with some incredible doctors and scientists and just understanding how much of an impact natural light has on our own home and how to reduce blue light. So now we’ve seen this switch with some of the wonderful fixtures that we’re seeing within a home. Gone are the days of just throwing up beautiful pot lights. Now we can actually incorporate lighting that changes during different times of day. So it actually progresses from a blue light to a natural warm light. as the day progresses as well. So your home automatically senses that it’s time for you to wind down, that it’s time for your internal clock to start to wind down.
0:29:37
Sarah
And I think that’s really important in an aspect of sort of where we’re seeing growth in the market that I think people should continue to lean into. When we talk about natural lighting, obviously, you guys have this beautiful studio here with a ton of natural light. But I think we’ve also looked at it as how we can integrate natural lighting into specific spaces in the home.
0:29:59
Sarah
So where we would use to just do a traditional window package, we’re now looking at where we have different sort of aspects of the home that we’re using as a home gym or a home office or a bedroom and designing the lighting to actually match the function of that space. So for example, we would look at a home gym and we’d say okay, this is where we’re going actually from the fitness perspective where we want to have energy where our internal system needs to be sort of ramped up what we need for natural light to feel awake and motivated to be able to perform at our best versus a space like our bedroom where we want to look at integrating some potentially blinds that set naturally on timers to start to dim our pot lights or our sconces again changing to a warm light at night.
0:30:44
Sarah
That’s a of recovery. So what works in one room doesn’t work in the other. And I think when you work with a designer or you work with a builder, that conversation with your homeowner really needs to be at the forefront of the construction design process and understanding what products you can integrate to what specific space in the home, depending on its use and its function.
There’s times you want some energy in the bedroom though.
I mean, it’s not all about.
Well, what kind of podcast is this? It’s not all about winding down to go to sleep.
0:31:14
Bryan
You want a conversation about audio and video working together. We’ve done a lot of, Sarah’s kind of integrated a lot of skylights, especially the solar powered, you know, vented skylights, which help us too with airflow in the home. Natural airflow. Sun tunnels in areas that there aren’t for natural lighting, with the blackout covers on them, like some really nice ways to incorporate natural light into internal spaces of the home.
Sarah
And looking where blue light is used, unfortunately, right now we have a generation where laptops, phones, iPads, there is technology everywhere in the home and how we can sort of create designated spaces for that, where you can protect yourself from all the EMFs that are emitted. And I think that’s really important as well, how you’re protecting specific rooms within the home where technology is at its highest.
0:32:00
Mike
Well, now you’re speaking my love language, and this is something maybe we don’t know enough of. In the morning, the sun is 10 ,000 degrees Kelvin. It makes us have energy and all that other stuff. We look at this device at night, it’s 9 ,000 degrees Kelvin, so we’re trying to wind down for the night, and it tells us, make energy. And we wonder why we have issues with chronic sleep issues in our society.
0:32:22
Mike
We wonder why we have a chronic shortage of melatonin, because they’re not following advice that you’re giving about sleep hygiene, and as a result, collectively we’re paying for it.
0:32:32
Mike
That’s a challenge. Now I do have a question to follow up cause I know Jen’s got a bunch of important questions too, but here’s my question. You just talked about the wellness. how those windows make us feel for our builders in the room. How do you balance the performance and structural elements of those windows with the, how it makes you feel elements of those windows? Yeah.
0:32:51
Bryan
That, I mean, a big part of that comes in design too. If you’re, if you’re designing passively and depending where you are, um, you know, multi -pane thicker windows properly installed. I mean, it’s a, it’s an area of heat loss for sure. Um, But I mean, on the, on the West Coast here where there’s times of year where you, you don’t get a ton of, you know, you may get some of that liquid sunshine and some darkness.
0:33:12
Jennifer-Lee
Like today, but on like on a passive design, how are you utilizing that on the, on the West coast here?
0:33:19
Graeme
Cause we’re, you know, we have plenty of sun and heat, uh, you know, to the East or down South, but. Well, I mean in window design too, there’s lots of different technology in terms of different coatings and you may do different types of glass assemblies on a north face than you would maybe on a south face. Just like if you’re incorporating skylights or overhead glass, that also is going to have different types of technology. And then interior wise, you talked about lighting and you talked about degrees of Kelvin. So now we have tunable light bulbs. Genius, so exciting.
0:33:55
Graeme
So you’ve got the RGB and you’ve got tunable and you can actually change and they can change not just that one light bulb but throughout the whole house, different times of day, different types of spaces. And also it makes your house look different. So a lot of times when people spend money on furnishings, cabinetry, flooring, and they see it in a showroom and then they have it installed at home, it looks different and they don’t know why. And it really comes down to that balance of light and, uh, and, and what type of light you’re putting in the home. Yeah.
0:34:31
Bryan
Lighting’s a vibe. Even, even, uh, you know, our, our daughter, Jojo has, uh, some led setups in her rooms and depending on the colors and the, the, the intensity of the light, I mean, it’s a totally different vibe. When you walk in there, you’re like, Oh, is this going to be a nice, a nice chat? Or you walk in there. Ooh, somebody’s angry.
0:34:49
Jennifer-Lee
You know, it can really set up the mood. It really affects your emotions. Like I hate going into places with a lot of like fluorescent light. You’re just like, ah, you’re like, you feel like you’ve done something wrong.
Like they’ve got a spotlight on you and you’re like, I can’t do this.
0:35:03
Jennifer-Lee
So we’ve talked a little bit about this before the break. And I know we’ve talked about in past conversations, Bryan, but when you talk to homeowners, again, how do you kind of give them the expectations and frame up the long -term vision that like investing in energy efficient upgrades is actually going to save them money in the long run?
Bryan
I, you know, I find it simpler as I get older because I’m, you know, we’re, we’re guiding our own kids and our, you know, our two older kids have had that conversation where like, you know, one day I want to be able to afford to buy a home. How am I ever going to do that? Or talking to people about making the right decisions on where they spend their money. And I think it’s very simple.
0:35:44
Bryan
If you. Build a home properly, or if you make the right decisions. Take a standard home in the market. If we looked at any home in Vancouver and said, OK, we want to take this template, but I want to spend $300, $400, $500 a month less over the life of this home, operating it, maintaining it, replacing materials. And we back that up right to the beginning design stage and decide how we’re going to do things. Take that savings.
0:36:15
Bryan
And invest it. And with Compound, I just had this conversation with Quentin. By the time, you’re my age, with this $300, $400 invested properly compound, and you’re a multi -millionaire. By the time you’ve paid the mortgage off on your home. and I think we have to put it into really simple terms for people because a lot of people and especially until you get a little older don’t have that foresight of like oh if I’d done this ten years ago like where I’d be right now and I think there comes a point especially with Canadians now and the way that housing is gone and the way it’s going that 80 % of Canadians under 40 have given up on home ownership. We have to turn around and someone has to say to them, your eyes have been bigger than your wallets.
You want big and shiny.
You’re leasing a luxury car.
This is all stuff you can’t, cannot afford.
You know, the, the old days of I’ll just pay my mortgage off, sell the house so I can afford to retire.
Those, those days are gone because people can’t afford to buy the house in the first place. So we have to.
We have to rewrite exactly what we see as value in a home and where that value comes from and build in the health of the home with that so that we have a stockpile of housing 50 years from now that is more valuable than the pile of junk.
0:37:35
Bryan
disposable homes that are up for, that need more money to repair them than we do to build them.
Jennifer-Lee
Well, you gave us a great story last time when we kind of talked about this, and you said that your son wanted to get a boat, but he wanted a really fancy boat. And you’re like, no, no.
0:37:52
Bryan
He still is, yes.
Well, sorry to out you, but you say start like a home, start with something first that you can afford and build up to it.
0:38:01
Jennifer-Lee
Because you said, Too much of us are in this keeping up the Joneses thing because of social media, which we would have never been able to know before what people owned. But now we can look on Instagram right now and see all these things that are out of reach for a lot of people.
0:38:15
Bryan
But imagine if the conversations with your neighbor were like, well, I only spent 40 bucks last month operating my home. You spent 600. I’m cooler. And that’s today’s hydro rates and today’s environmental conditions.
0:38:31
Graeme
Let’s wait till we get a Toronto -like summer. Double, triple those costs, and your savings or your expenses are doubled. multiplied. We actually had a couple here in the podcast a couple years ago where we built a net zero home for them in Vancouver and they actually make money from their house. So they actually are getting a rebate check every year, not paying even the $40 because the house has been bought been built right. And then we added solar to a well -built home, not just solar for the sake of solar.
0:39:05
Um, and yeah, they’re, they’re zero and getting a rebate check.
0:39:10
Bryan
So that’s the big thing with solar wind generation, any of that stuff, you know, people, people buy it to offset the losses they have.
0:39:17
Graeme
It’s like owning a, I think I’ve used this example before. It’s having a boat with a hole in it and you buy a pump. Just fix the hole. Then when you put a solar panel on to offset the inefficiency of your home, you’re spending money to kind of buy that pump. But if you buy a solar panel on a home that’s barely using it, all of a sudden you’re making money. You can turn your home into a revenue generator that you can offset the cost of ownership and invest that and make money.
0:39:49
Graeme
Now those are the Joneses that I want to keep up with because they’re saving money and I want to save money.
0:39:56
Bryan
Well, put it in practical terms. I have a friend who’s part of this organization built a 6 ,000 square foot passive home. And I said, what are your heating and cooling costs? He goes, about 160. And I said, that’s about what I pay a month.
0:40:06
Mike
Yeah. And that was those rates three or four years ago. And so many other benefits that come as a result. We hear a lot of myths about energy efficient houses, right? There’s a lot of disinformation. There’s also a lot of terms that are being used, passive nets.
zero.
At the end of the day though, energy efficiency is energy efficiency.
I’d love to ask our builders. about some examples that you can share about success stories with energy efficient homes.
Cause there’s all these myths going around.
Maybe we could put a few of them to rest today by sharing some of your, your good experience. I mean, Graham just shared a great one, that lovely couple who was in here. They were great. Yeah. But like that’s at that style of home, but even not building a full passive home, we can still increase our efficiency. Yeah.
0:40:48
Mike
So can you share some examples where people have done that at different styles of building so that, you know, we can scale it in our own homes, in our own backyards?
Bryan
Yeah. I mean, a big one I tell people before you do anything is have an energy audit done on your home, identify the areas. And a lot of our, our customers that want rentals done, we’ve done that. And the very first thing you look at it, it’s, it’s same thing. Like, you know, I want to go in and get new, uh, I was going to say a haircut, but it doesn’t work for you.
0:41:13
Bryan
But before you do that, you know, maybe go to the doctor and make sure you’re not sick. Uh, that’s, that’s the kind of idea.
0:41:20
And when we build, you know, our, our first home and kind of developed, um, our, our procedure.
When we build, we say, this is how we build, because I don’t want the phone call in five or 10 years that it’s not done the right way.
This is our procedure. We built a 6 ,000 square foot custom where our furnace, I mean, I’d go downstairs every couple of days just to make sure the thing was working, because it never turned on, because it didn’t have to.
So we spent, I think it was $50 a month in electrical and gas on that home to operate.
costs triple.
It’s 150 bucks a month to operate a 6 ,000 square foot home.
And it’s great.
Mike
And it’s $1 ,000 if you don’t have that technology infrastructure here right now. Bungalow, remember? Bungalow, we were $600 or $700 a month. But single -pane windows, no insulation. plaster.
0:42:16
Bryan
You just watch the money. We also have much less expensive power here as well, which currently we’ll see how we are in 2035. So Bryan mentioned an energy audit if you’re renovating a home.
0:42:27
Bryan
So we make that sort of a mandatory.
0:42:30
Bryan
People sort of laugh at me. They would call me to put a new kitchen in and I would say, One of my checkboxes is, we are encouraging you to get an energy audit, and they go, that’s not what we’re talking about here.
0:42:41
Graeme
understanding where that comes from. So an energy advisor is federally licensed and trained, and they not only help you diagnose what’s wrong with your house now if it’s a renovation, but during the build process they assist the builder making sure they’re on track on the targets that you’re aiming for. And then at the end they can certify your home and tell you what that actual energy evaluation, you get an energy guide number on your home, whether it’s renovated or new, And, uh, and then if you choose to have further certifications, like we talked about passive certification, net zero certification, built green certification, then that’s the added value that they are able to provide as well. But that energy advisor. isn’t meant to be at the end of a job. They’re meant from the start, help diagnose, help design, and they are part of the design team and that integrated design process.
0:43:38
Mike
Is that something, even though I’m not looking at a renovation right now, is that something I should still think of? So I understand how my house works and where my weak points are.
Graeme
So, you know, there’s a couple, you mentioned health things in Vancouver, you can do, you can go get a full body MRI. don’t need anything wrong with you, just get a full body MRI and they’ll do a complete diagnostics from an MRI perspective on where your body’s at. They can detect early stages of cancer, all these different things.
So it’s preventative.
You’re getting knowledge that you can now share with your physician.
or your health and look at long -term where where you’re at now develop a baseline so an energy guide or having an energy evaluation on your home is that you’re figure out what’s the baseline of my existing home. And now you can make plans rather than projects of what you want to do with your home over time.
0:44:32
Bryan
Because most people, they have projects and they start off cosmetically.
0:44:35
Bryan
Usually, I want the bathroom to look better, the kitchen to look better.
0:44:39
Bryan
But if they can actually figure out the health of their home, where the baseline is, now they can make decisions going forward that help them rather than wait for the furnace to fail. And then they call a furnace guy who just sells another furnace.
0:44:52
Sarah
almost mid -efficient, almost inefficient furnace just to solve or band -aid the situation. You build a home that doesn’t need a furnace, you know. And hopefully a home that can be passed along to generations, which we haven’t seen for a while. We’ve been building homes that unfortunately we cannot pass down to our children. Borderline disposable housing. Exactly.
0:45:13
Jennifer-Lee
And I think that is what is, people have maybe just become more aware of the situation and the ability to say, OK, this is my grandparents home and now I’m going to live in it and then my children. That’s where we need to be thinking again and making sure that we’re putting steps in place to make sure that can happen. We also have to change the mindset, too, though, because there are people out there that are like, oh, I just want to get a home and build a brand new one or do this, because again, keeping up the Joneses, like I got to look like I have lots of money and I’m building this big home. It’s like we’ve got to change. I’d be like, no, buy a home. that from someone that’s already had it for 40 years and it’s going to continue to last.
0:45:45
Bryan
And maybe you should do some tweaks and things like that, but still are with social media and things. I feel like there are a lot of people out there that their mind isn’t there quite yet. When, when people’s, uh, well, I think when we’re back to the feudal system and 95 % of the population doesn’t own a home and you won’t be allowed to buy a home because the
0:46:05
corporations aren’t gonna sell the homes back to us.
0:46:07
That’s when the masses are gonna go, huh? Maybe we should have done it a little differently So I think I think we can get ahead of that and and some of it will be looking at you know putting more focus or not pressure, but education on multi generational housing, where it’s like, come together, build this thing, and we can expand from there.
0:46:28
And, you know, multi properties, but it’s certainly I think, again, like Graham said, when you do that energy audit to start off with, like, identify the baseline.
0:46:39
That’s where because people do value the marble countertop more than they do the $40 heating bill.
0:46:48
But If you show them on paper and do the math, well, that $40 heating bill is a $250 savings from your neighbor.
0:46:55
Mike
And over time, here’s how many marble countertops that buys. That, I think, is where we have to go and just put the numbers on the table. And you shift that mindset of people wanting it. Yeah. Well, it feels like we have to shift the mindset from having this great conversation to wrapping it up, because we only have so much time. But I’m going to go ahead and extend an invitation and come back at a later date, because we really enjoy these conversations.
0:47:20
Mike
Or we should do it live from the resort. I feel like our next episode should be remote. That’s your twice cutlets on the beach.
0:47:27
Mike
But at the end of the day, all three of you are incredibly busy people. So for you to take time out of your day to share your insight and knowledge with us is greatly appreciated, not only by us here, but by everyone who watches this show and benefits from the knowledge that you share with them.
0:47:40
Mike
And there was so much we learned today. We talked about efficiency versus design, healthier homes. I love the part where we talked about lighting because that’s near and dear to my heart.
0:47:51
Mike
And at the end of the day, what we’ve taken away is some great insight that can help us make decisions when it’s time for us to plan our next project.
0:47:57
Mike
So locally, we call someone like Graeme to do the project.
0:48:00
Mike
We’re asking him the right questions, which means it gives him more information to help create a great solution path for us.
0:48:07
Jennifer-Lee
Great conversation. And you guys already gave us so many great tips, and we’ll start with Graham. Give us one more tip for the homeowner. One more tip for the homeowner?
0:48:18
Graeme
Do your homework.
0:48:20
Graeme
hire the right team, have an integrated design process with that team so that you’re not just starting off with an architect, getting to the end of that process, then starting with a designer and then starting with a builder. It should be an integrated design process that everyone’s on the conversation at the very beginning and that’s how you end up with the best result and the best value too on your dollars spent. I agree with that.
0:48:46
Sarah
That’s wonderful. And I think also one thing to add is you have to be honest about how you live in your space. So it does before you start any build, any renovation, you really need to lay out what’s important for you and how you function within your home and write that down. Keep a calendar, what rooms you’re in at what time of day, how you’re feeling in those spaces and whether or not you are still on your phone at 11 o ‘clock at night in bed and what that means for your body. And I think understanding your daily rhythm will allow a designer, your contractor, for everyone to help put a plan in place that will better suit a healthy home environment.
0:49:22
Bryan
Yeah, my tips are pretty simple.
Listen to your parents. Is that for your daughter that’s here?
0:49:27
Bryan
I know, not just for her. But we’re at the stage of our life where I’m like, oh God, now, okay, they knew what they were talking about. The advice, that kind of thing. And my second piece, if you’re in a lower mainland and you’re considering doing something with your home, call Graeme. That’s it’s a pretty simple one.
0:49:46
Bryan
I mean, it’s a it’s a full, you know, soup to nuts, one stop shop.
Get that energy audit done.
But, you know, share what your budget is. and let a professional, let the doctor diagnose and come up with a treatment plan. Thank you for staying.
0:50:05
Mike
I also have some advice for homeowners as well, if I may, and that is after you’ve done all those things and got your home renovated and follow all this great advice, you’re probably going to go in your backyard and barbecue something for your friends and family, and we want to help with that as well. So if you like this episode, share this episode, tell your family, friends, even people you meet on the street randomly, you could win a beautiful Napoleon Prestige P500 stainless steel natural gas barbecue, courtesy of our friends at FortisBC. All you got to do is go to www.havan.ca/measuretwicecutonce , and it could be you having all of us over for a barbecue next spring.
0:50:38
Jennifer-Lee
There we go.
0:50:38
Graeme
I remember it.
0:50:40
Jennifer-Lee
Yeah. Remember hit, follow, stay connected and never miss an episode.
0:50:44
Mike
Thanks to our partners, Trail Appliances, FortisBC, BC Housing, Rami Films, J -Pod Creations, and AI Technology and Design. And don’t forget HAVAN, the Home Builders Association of Vancouver, of which most of us are proudly members, and it is proudly affiliated with CHBABC. at the provincial level, CHBA national at the national level. And so that everybody in this industry is working together, collaborating and sharing knowledge, but like this behind closed doors for the benefit of our collective group that we work with, which is the homeowners in Vancouver market.
Jennifer-Lee
Yeah. Thanks for listening and see you next time on Measure Twice, Cut Once.
0:51:20
Thanks for having us. Thank you. And come to the Bahamas.
