The future of The Mindful Builder
The industry is shifting. Fast. Economically, technologically, emotionally... and if you are a builder or business owner, you are probably feeling that in one way or another.
The building industry has been under pressure, and for a lot of people, it feels uncertain. One of the things we spoke about was how quickly things can change, even outside the usual construction challenges.
One of Hamish’s projects recently fell over because of AI-related changes in their world, which is not exactly the kind of thing builders were worrying about a few years ago.
That is the reality now. We are not just responding to material costs, timelines, and labour shortages. We are working inside a much bigger system that is changing quickly, and that affects confidence, spending, and decision-making across the board.
The Work Before the Work
One of the biggest things we wanted to talk about was pre-construction. Because so much of the effort in this industry happens before a shovel even hits the ground.
The planning. The pricing. The meetings. The revisions. The time spent getting a project ready to build. It is a huge investment of energy and expertise, and yet it is often the part clients understand the least. That can make it hard to charge properly, hard to explain value, and hard to protect the business when margins are already tight.
We know this is something a lot of builders are navigating, and it deserves more honest conversation. Because if we want better outcomes in the industry, we need to get better at talking about what things actually cost and why.
Staying in the Game
If things feel hard at the moment, you are not imagining it.
We know the next couple of years may test a lot of people in this industry. That is exactly why these conversations matter. Not to be negative, but to be real. There is value in hearing that other builders are feeling the same pressure, asking the same questions, and trying to work out how to keep moving forward without burning themselves into the ground.
For us, that means staying proactive. Looking after your health. Keeping your head clear. Talking to other people in the industry. And remembering that resilience is not just about pushing harder. Sometimes it is about adjusting earlier.
Why Events Still Matter
We also spoke about the value of getting out of your own bubble and into rooms where good conversations are happening. The Passive House Conference is one of those spaces that is happening in April 2026.
These events are not just about information. They are about connection. They are where builders, designers, architects, and suppliers can learn from each other, challenge their thinking, and come back to their work with a fresh perspective. That matters, especially when the day-to-day can feel so consuming.
Find the People Who Want to Get Better
If you are serious about improving your craft, your business, and the way you build, then being part of the right communities makes a difference.
We mentioned the Sustainable Builders Alliance for exactly that reason. It is a place for builders, designers, and architects who actually want to keep learning.
That kind of knowledge-sharing is powerful. It helps all of us lift the standard.
The industry is changing, the pressure is real, and builders need more than technical skill to navigate what is ahead. We need strong businesses. Clear pricing. Good support. Better conversations. And spaces where we can keep learning from each other.
There is still so much opportunity in this industry. But we will navigate it better if we are honest about the challenges and willing to keep adapting.
LINKS:
Connect with Sustainable Builders Alliance:
Passive Haus Conference
https://www.passivhausassociation.com.au/thrive-2025-passivhaus-conference-2-1
https://proclima.com.au/schedule/
Pro Clima - https://mindful-builder.captivate.fm/proclima
MEGT - https://mindful-builder.captivate.fm/megt
Connect with us on Instagram: @themindfulbuilderpod
Website: www.yoursanctum.com.au/
Connect with Matt:
Instagram: @carlandconstructions
Website: www.carlandconstructions.com/
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[00:00:00] Matt: Hamish, we're a bit of a different podcast maybe today. Um, we are final day recording at the Pro Climber Studio, our portable studio at Kai's, um, office. So Bill
[00:00:13] Hamish: Coat. Thank you, Kyle.
[00:00:14] Matt: Shout
[00:00:14] Hamish: out to Wilderness
[00:00:15] Matt: Cool office here. That, um, I think it's both motivated, motivated us to. Ha get one of these things like they're quite cool.
[00:00:21] Hamish: Can't get an off just to, just to, just to cheeky 200 square meters in the middle of Fitzroy.
[00:00:25] Matt: Yeah. So, um, massive shout out. Kai's been on one of the few people that's been on twice. Um,
[00:00:31] Hamish: he has been on twice, hasn't
[00:00:32] Matt: he? Yeah. But also good friend. So
[00:00:34] Hamish: he's a river,
[00:00:34] Matt: um, bit of, not a housekeeping episode, but there's a lot coming up.
[00:00:41] Um,
[00:00:42] Hamish: there's a lot going on too.
[00:00:44] Matt: Yeah. So a few things I want to sort of go through off the top of the head. Sustainable House Day. Uh, we had Helen on a few weeks ago, uh, talking about that. Also, while we're on topic, we've got the passive house conference coming up in June that we wanna encourage people to sign up to.[00:01:00]
[00:01:00] I know SBA doing some awesome stuff. I know that we're doing some different things, uh, coming up with. Uh, pro climber. We're gonna be in Adelaide coming up and there's gonna be a night event, so we're gonna encourage people to come, but I'm gonna get to all that. Mm-hmm. Um, how are you? How are you, Ben?
[00:01:15] Hamish: Uh oh.
[00:01:17] Honestly, thanks for checking in. Um, been a bit up and down lately. It's a tricky environment to be operating in. This is probably not on script, but, um, I had a couple of job, I had a job fall away.
[00:01:29] Matt: Mm-hmm.
[00:01:30] Hamish: Uh, because the client lost his job. Due to ai.
[00:01:34] Matt: Wow. So actually my, a architect, I share an office with similar thing.
[00:01:38] Hamish: So, I mean, I don't wanna be the doom and gloom here, but I, I reckon just everyone sort of steal yourself with this kind of stuff when you're, when you're, when you're chatting with clients now, I mean, I don't know if I should say this, but this particular client, this is the podcast and I'm sure he won't mind me talking about this.
[00:01:55] Um, real disappointed because I actually was really excited about doing the project, but, [00:02:00] um, it's a thing. Um, it's obviously unfortunate for, for them that this has happened, but he seems reasonably, uh, buoyant about the whole scenario and, uh, doesn't seem too bothered by it. Uh, and he actually said he's quite excited about, um, just getting stuck in and doing the Reno himself, so that's pretty cool.
[00:02:18] Um, Aaron's involved in that one, so I, whatever you, whatever they end up coming with is gonna be an awesome, awesome thing. Um,
[00:02:26] Matt: it feels like things are taking a lot longer to get to site.
[00:02:29] Hamish: Yeah, and I mean, same. I know a lot of people kind of, oh, maybe not a lot of people do, but I think people are used to paying for pre-construction these days.
[00:02:43] But what I kind of wanna shine a light on is it doesn't come anywhere near to cover the costs that we are investing in pre-construction. Like I'm talking 30, $40,000 worth of energy goes in to get a project to site. Oh, as much as I'd love to charge that, we don't charge that.
[00:02:57] Matt: And I'd say probably the estimation phase is [00:03:00] covered pretty well.
[00:03:01] The precon, the pre pricing. Yep. Quick build. Parts covered. It's the part that is outside that scope of works. Yeah. Which we can't charge for. It's a value management. It's the multiple drafts of, um, contract and changes and then it's the building or cancel or anything we need to be involved. And we just, uh, yeah, it's, and then on, and then it's like, is the project going?
[00:03:21] You get a bit nervous. I've got two that we exactly the same. It's, I thought we'd be on site. At latest, I always like to my team 2nd of March. Yeah, we're still not on site recording today and they should be. So like I pretty much getting the contracts okay today. But yeah,
[00:03:35] Hamish: it's, um, and, and look on it for me, it's been something that's kind of, I feel a bit beaten up at the moment.
[00:03:40] Yeah. Uh, luckily I'm heading away for the weekend today, so I'm really excited about, um, you know, just recharging with the family and having a bit of a sleep in, but. Uh, you know, this whole podcast was, we started it to talk about our lives as builders. Yeah. And I think this is one of the things that I wanna bring up, that it is challenging out there.
[00:03:57] And if you are also feeling [00:04:00] like this, you're not alone. This kind of feels a bit normal at the moment. I think we just need to adapt to this, to this new environment.
[00:04:09] Matt: I think, yeah, I think the next 12 months are probably gonna be the hardest for builders.
[00:04:13] Hamish: I reckon.
[00:04:13] Matt: 24
[00:04:15] Hamish: months reckon. I reckon sit in, I reckon it's gonna be 24 months.
[00:04:17] Matt: Yeah. I think if you survive the next 24 months, good job.
[00:04:21] Hamish: Well done.
[00:04:22] Matt: We're gonna see people that you know. That won't be operating.
[00:04:26] Hamish: Yep. You know what? Let, I mean, let's hope that that doesn't happen. But, but just, just strap in, stay resilient. Stay talking, stay fit, stay healthy. Look after yourself. 'cause I feel like the next little bit is gonna be challenging
[00:04:37] Matt: and it's not that building prices are going up or it's just, there's so much legislation, insurance changes that it is just gonna be border lining possible to not operate, but your as, as Dave said, we had him on a few weeks ago.
[00:04:50] Uh. He talked about that you've got a certain amount and you can only do that amount per year. So you might see builders not being able to build as much as they used to. 'cause their limits are capped due to their [00:05:00] insurance and um, they sit around twiddling their thumbs and staff get laid off 'cause they're waiting.
[00:05:05] So I think we're gonna see this whole shift We. And I think long term for the good,
[00:05:09] Hamish: I think it will be long term for the good, but I also just wanna put some confidence around the things that you are saying now, Matt. Yeah. The good builders. I think fine. I don't, I don't think this is gonna affect us the good builders.
[00:05:18] No, no, it's not. And I'm, and I'm putting us in the good builder category. Yeah. I think it's the, unfortunately, well fortunately it's the builders not running their, their businesses well I think are gonna get caught out. But I think the unfortunate. Side of the new changes are that there's gonna be a lot of young, new builders.
[00:05:37] They're not gonna be able to get a foothold in the industry. Yeah.
[00:05:39] Matt: Which
[00:05:39] Hamish: is a challenge. Yeah.
[00:05:40] Matt: Which is a
[00:05:41] Hamish: shame.
[00:05:41] Matt: Yeah. I think that's, I you a hundred percent agree. Try to start a construction company. That would be borderline impossible. Unless you've got amazing funding behind you.
[00:05:49] Hamish: I don't, it's borderline impossible, but I think you gotta have a thick skin.
[00:05:52] Matt: Yeah. Um, look. I see why they do it. We've gotta get confidence back into the industry to some point. Um, it's an easy way to [00:06:00] do it and people feel more secure if they've got money behind them or the, it's sounds like from a accounting perspective, it sounds good. We all know accountants can quickly. Move and change numbers and make it look pretty.
[00:06:12] We all know and understand
[00:06:13] Hamish: I'm gonna, I'm not gonna agree or disagree with
[00:06:15] Matt: that business, that that's how it can be done. Um, but the reality is it's gonna, I would say those competitive tender builders who are trying to scrape every dollar and cut their margin, they're gonna get quickly, quickly found out, and that will just not be a thing.
[00:06:28] Hamish: Yep.
[00:06:29] Matt: I think that's gone. Um, because you need to show profit and you need to show ongoing profit or the. BPC, just we will remove your license.
[00:06:37] Hamish: So, you know, and builders now like, you know, look at some of the, those platforms out there, like Future Builder, like where they're training you to actually understand your numbers well.
[00:06:46] Like you need to have a profitable business. And I'm gonna talk to the architects listening. It's not up to you to decide what someone's markup is.
[00:06:55] Matt: Yeah.
[00:06:56] Hamish: Because the builder should understand where their numbers are. [00:07:00] Understand what they should be charging. So if they come to you and they're marking up 20%, 25, 30%, they, you know, by all means, ask them how they got to that number, but don't say that it needs to be 10 or 15%.
[00:07:13] Matt: And it's a great thing because look, we can spin this a million different ways. I could run it at a 25% market margin, whatever we wanna call it. And again, a whole different conversation. But if we say 25%, that's. That's, we might not be hiding costs and might being transparent, or I could run it 10% and hide my cost for the whole build cost.
[00:07:35] So the margin margin looks pretty.
[00:07:37] Hamish: Yeah.
[00:07:37] Matt: But I also have 300 K of overheads hidden within the project. So
[00:07:41] Hamish: I guess
[00:07:42] Matt: we're all the same number at the end of the day. Yeah. That's the thing.
[00:07:44] Hamish: And I think the nu that the don't focus so much on that and, and, and. I would be asking your builder how they got to the number rather than question the number.
[00:07:52] Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. If you can get confidence around that, they're gonna be there at their end of the job. 'cause at the end of the day, you want your project [00:08:00] built. The homeowners want the project built and the builder wants to go in there and make money.
[00:08:04] Matt: And if we're not showing profit, we literally won't be able to build.
[00:08:06] So Exactly I I would see potentially there might be a slight increase coming up because builders are gonna have to increase. Potentially a percentage. I
[00:08:13] Hamish: don't wanna say that,
[00:08:13] Matt: but No, but like, don't wanna say that, but if they, if they, if they, it, it, it might not be us, but if some builder's been running at a tighter margin to get the project across the line's, they, they've got no choice but to increase their margins because, or they've gotta really cut cost, which they're probably already doing like crazy to get the project across the line.
[00:08:30] It's the reality of it. So it's not, you're, you're potentially gonna see some changes there. Uh, and that's, that will play itself out. That's going through Parliament right now, Biden now, it could be. Enacted, uh, but in Victoria, definitely, definitely, definitely expect some changes in Yeah. Around that. Uh, I, the other question that I would love to have a conversation with someone about is, uh, insurance as of July becomes consumer first.
[00:08:57] We have retention. Do we need both? [00:09:00]
[00:09:00] Hamish: No, we don't need any of it.
[00:09:01] Matt: Yeah, I, I know, but like, it's gonna be interesting to see if architects are still gonna require Oh, or want, want retention. I get, I get what? Because now the insurance is consumer first. I get what you're saying. The retention is a dot on the map compared to
[00:09:15] Hamish: Yeah, so you're, you're talking about two different things there.
[00:09:16] So you're talking about new changes in insurance, which are consumer first, and then you're talking about retention, which in my mind. Is there, and we're talking primarily an abit contract here. Retention is there so the builder doesn't run away for liability if for, for defects. Now trust me as a builder, we are fucking on the hook for liability.
[00:09:35] Yeah. More than
[00:09:36] Matt: ever.
[00:09:37] Hamish: You don't need that damn retention. So if you wanna wave a retention in front of me personally, I'm not gonna not entertain. I'm sorry. We'll
[00:09:43] Matt: be double like we can't double dip on our margin. And it's like everyone double dipping on retention. That's how I look at it.
[00:09:50] Hamish: Yeah. Well, someone's gonna increase their price by five, 2.5%.
[00:09:54] Matt: Yeah. Well, the, yeah, well you have to, that's, that's probably good con quick conversation is if when a builder has retention, [00:10:00] our price goes up because we've got a. We're not the bank. Yeah. And we've gotta, most likely, unless you've got cash, which no builder has cash, just laying around that you've gotta go take out some form of overdraft and you've gotta offset that percentage against the contract so you're not losing money.
[00:10:15] And that that becomes a overhead cost that again. We talk about at the start of the margin
[00:10:19] Hamish: market. Well it becomes a cogs. Yeah. It becomes quite a cost of goods sold. So, you know, it's a line item in there thing. Now I want to just qui quickly Yeah. Sort of sidestep away from this for a second. 'cause there's a couple of things you wanna talk about.
[00:10:30] When this podcast has come out, we probably have had Sustainable House Day already passed. So. Uh, you have probably heard Helen on, uh, the podcast. She is a CEO of Renew Magazine. Now, I'm really excited about the idea around Sustainable House Day because if you are a builder and you want to get into this space and you've got a home that you wanna showcase, what better way to get eyeballs on your product than actually getting someone through with the [00:11:00] homeowner who is arguably a raving fan for you?
[00:11:05] Showing people through their own home.
[00:11:06] Matt: It's been beneficial for me in the pro the past doing open days. Yeah. Uh,
[00:11:10] Hamish: I don't wanna let anyone in
[00:11:11] Matt: on some of our marketing secrets, but yeah, you, you, you're getting yourself in front of everyone at once and you can have set, have some really strong conversations and showcase what you're doing.
[00:11:20] I just also think, like, I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed the conversation, Helen, and I'm always a people person first and I really warm to her.
[00:11:28] Hamish: Yeah.
[00:11:28] Matt: So I. Really wanna support that industry. We're already members of the
[00:11:33] Hamish: organization.
[00:11:33] Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So as my own business, we are members, um, we subscribe to their magazines and their brilliant pieces of information.
[00:11:40] Hamish: Yeah. Actually that's an interesting point. So for those who don't know, sustainable House Day is buy the organization, renew, renew, have two publications. They've got renew the magazine. And then I've got, um, sanctuary Magazine. In fact, sanctuary, the magazine. Was a big motivation or a big inspiration [00:12:00] for Sanctum Homes?
[00:12:01] The name
[00:12:01] Matt: Ah,
[00:12:02] Hamish: so that we, we, we were, we were sort of kicking around. I remember when Lucy and I were driving home from Canberra one day and we're just waxing lyrical about names and I really love the idea of like, habitat and home and sanctuary and like, we're kind of sanctuary, kind of a habitat because, um, a buddy of mine's got a building company called Habitat, and I'm like, what about sanctum?
[00:12:21] Like inner sanctum? So, uh. Renew, thank you for the inspiration for the business name, and now everyone knows where that's come from, but these guys have got some really great, not only some great products that they, that they sell, so Sustainable House stay. I let their cat out the bag and maybe they're gonna have a podcast.
[00:12:37] Who knows? That might be their, we
[00:12:39] Matt: like Jackie Felgate breaking news. They,
[00:12:41] Hamish: they might have have it there, but yeah. Look, great organization to support. So if you don't already do that, uh, jump onto their socials, their, um, their website and either join or subscribe to their publication.
[00:12:53] Matt: Yeah. And I, as a business, it's a tax write off if you sign up from membership, let's be honest.
[00:12:58] Yeah. Um, I would encourage everyone. [00:13:00] That's this thing that has a business to do, so support them. Uh, at the end of the day, they're a non-for-profit and funding is essential. Yep. So,
[00:13:07] Hamish: and do you know what, what a great way to unplug from this.
[00:13:11] Matt: Yeah, I thought you were gonna say from the podcast.
[00:13:13] Hamish: No, from the podcast, but, um, unplug from the podcast.
[00:13:15] Matt: Yeah. Unless you read the digital version on your phone.
[00:13:17] Hamish: Well, yeah, well just fuck off.
[00:13:21] Matt: But I, I like. They're some really good people are doing good things. Yep. Um, look, we're big on passive house. Yep. It, it provides a really wide knowledge base on things like solar, on heat pumps and batteries to certain materials, to, uh, commercial projects.
[00:13:38] Yep. To residential. Honestly, it, it's a wide variety of information and I think it's important for what we do to not just be on top of what we do, but learn. Other things, what other industries might be doing. They might be ahead of us at certain times and it's eventually coming to residential.
[00:13:51] Hamish: So if you're a nerd, buy the Renew magazine, if you want Pretty pictures.
[00:13:56] Sanctuary Magazine.
[00:13:57] Matt: Yeah. Or just buy both.
[00:13:58] Hamish: Or just get both.
[00:13:59] Matt: Yeah. [00:14:00] So,
[00:14:00] Hamish: um, speaking of passive house now, Matthew, do we announce it here?
[00:14:06] Matt: Yeah, I, so this podcast will come out, so I'm already speaking at the passive house conference with our Dr. Evil friend Cam. Um, I don't know anyone that's ever been to a passive house conference.
[00:14:16] Cam's. Speeches are usually very informative, always informative, very technical, very measured. And he picked me to do it with him this year,
[00:14:26] Hamish: which is fucking hilarious.
[00:14:27] Matt: Which
[00:14:27] Hamish: is, isn't isn't your client joining
[00:14:29] Matt: too? Yeah. So Sarah, my client who's been on this podcast is gonna join too. Um, I don't know what Cam was thinking.
[00:14:34] The guy that's got an opinion on everything that's unfiltered with the really smart guy on stage. We'll see how that goes.
[00:14:41] Hamish: Matthew Matthew's not the smart guy on stage.
[00:14:43] Matt: There's a reason why they didn't let us do the mc.
[00:14:45] Hamish: Ah.
[00:14:46] Matt: So, but so you
[00:14:47] Hamish: are, so you
[00:14:47] Matt: are
[00:14:47] Hamish: talking.
[00:14:48] Matt: Yeah. But we have also, we wanna encourage people to sign up to this conference.
[00:14:52] Now, passive assets is a. Big part of our business, we're very passionate about it. Um, and [00:15:00] again, like Sustainable House, they renew, they are a non-for-profit and they need help. And one of the pieces of income for them is getting to this conference. It's also a double-edged sword. Yeah, it's gonna cost you some money, but you are gonna learn a lot.
[00:15:15] Not only that, you're gonna network with people. Yeah. So you are gonna get that a thousand dollars back to you so fast. If you're a builder totally, you're most likely going to meet an architect or building designer or interior designer that might feed your project.
[00:15:26] Hamish: And I tell you what, like if you just look at it purely from you're paying a thousand dollars to be in a room with some people that you wanna work with, like the rest that comes on top of that is the bonus.
[00:15:36] Matt: Yeah. Like you'll quickly wipe a thousand dollars if you need to get the job across the line. Yeah. Think of this as a cheap investment. Vice versa. If you're an architect, you might be building one of these for the first time. You are getting to surround yourself with builders that you might be able to potentially work with.
[00:15:49] Yeah. In your state. People fly from all over the country to this and. To our audience,
[00:15:55] Hamish: we actually have a discount code, 10% discount code. So we're gonna put a link in our, in the, [00:16:00] in the comments down below. I think
[00:16:01] Matt: it's five 10, I can't
[00:16:02] Hamish: remember. It's 10%.
[00:16:02] Matt: Is it 10?
[00:16:03] Hamish: Yeah. Well, i's 10% now. 'cause I just said it, so sorry, Starling.
[00:16:06] If it's not 10%, it's 10%. Um, but Cherry on the top. Matthew and I have managed to strong arm ourselves into having a breakout room. So we have a pretty exciting, uh, agenda that we're gonna be rolling out. And we're basically gonna be talking about the moment someone calls to the moment we hand over keys.
[00:16:26] So predominantly build a focus, but um, if you're a homeowner, if you're a designer or an architect, we are gonna talk you through how we see that process.
[00:16:36] Matt: Yeah.
[00:16:37] Hamish: From detailing on site. To what we do at Handover and the information that we, that we give away, uh, at handover and all the problems that we try and solve during pre-construction.
[00:16:48] I personally feel it's gold 'cause you are leaning on seven years of experience from me. Seven years of experience from Matt and we'll probably rope in a couple of other experience builders to come and have a chat
[00:16:59] Matt: [00:17:00] as well. Yeah. And we're gonna have, part of that will be 30 minutes of question answer.
[00:17:03] Plus we're gonna be there for the rest of the day that you can ask us questions. But if you're a builder, especially like. I can tell you what, you're gonna save yourself more than a thousand dollars in that session by learning something that's might be some costing advice or a hundred percent advice on a contract or something like that.
[00:17:18] I think that will come to you back 10.
[00:17:20] Hamish: Your ROI will be
[00:17:22] Matt: more than I, honestly, we can't tell you how much we'll save you from that. Um, we, we we're gonna be very open. Uh, if you guys have listened to us before, I definitely have no filter, but we we're. We are gonna tell it how it is. We're not gonna make it unicorns and rainbows.
[00:17:37] We are gonna tell you there's a reason why we've done what, maybe eight to 10 passive houses between the two of us.
[00:17:42] Hamish: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:43] Matt: And there's a reason why and we've made the mistakes. Yeah. It's, it, it, I, I always, I think of it like when we both bought the proclama wrap for the first time and started using it.
[00:17:52] We learn by mistakes and then now there's so much information. This is no difference. Yeah, totally. We will literally be feeding, and it's not just a builders like [00:18:00] the architects, engineers, uh, energy consultants. You might learn something about the way we operate. Um, it might help you guys with your job.
[00:18:07] It might help you understand it from our perspective, an element on the contract or why we wanna do certain things a certain way on site. Uh, we we're probably, there's probably not much we're not willing to talk about. Um, but we really wanna encourage people to do that. It's two days, 25th, 26th of June.
[00:18:23] Uh, I won't be there first day. It's actually my daughter's first birthday, so thanks for organizing that on her birthday, guys. Mm-hmm. Um, but we the, as well, the night event. Awesome. Event to network. Again. You're gonna meet people. Uh, it, I honestly can't under, under,
[00:18:38] Hamish: you know what, like, I feel like, just to cut you off there, Matt.
[00:18:41] My take on the passive house conference is just the energy that's around there. Yeah. Because you have three or 400 passionate people.
[00:18:51] Matt: Yeah.
[00:18:51] Hamish: And that energy, you can feel it in the breakout, in, in the breaks. You can feel it at the um, at the, the mixer events and the [00:19:00] social events. Oh, and we also forgot to talk about that.
[00:19:02] Um. Air Boss Dan is gonna be doing day before the training day, the day before. Uh,
[00:19:09] Matt: are we helping, I don't know,
[00:19:11] Hamish: just SBAs jumping in and giving him a hand. Yeah, I I do believe that's gonna be held out, uh, at circa in Bowens. Um, but yeah, so definitely if you want to actually have some hands on practical experience, go some performance membranes, you're gonna be there as well.
[00:19:23] So definitely check it out. Um, before I'm gonna wrap out the passive house stuff. Um, sustainable Bills Alliance. Yeah.
[00:19:33] Matt: What's happening?
[00:19:36] Hamish: Oh, that's my, that's my part's. Your part. That's right. That's my part. Yeah. Cool. Um, so we would've, uh, already had our April event By the time you are, uh, listening to this.
[00:19:44] Uh, it's gonna be a ripper or I'm just gonna say in past tense. It was a ripper. It was about, uh, retrofitting. We have, um, our monthly webinars all planned out for the rest of the year. And May is gonna be talking about bushfire detailing and building in bushfire [00:20:00] prone areas.
[00:20:00] Matt: Cavity close are getting a run
[00:20:02] Hamish: cavity.
[00:20:02] Closes is gonna be getting a run, that's for sure. Um, and it's, um, gonna be delivered by someone who I feel is. Probably the most versed when it comes to building a bushfire areas, and that's Daniel Perham. Who is based in South Coast, new South Wales and very often builds in ba, FZ.
[00:20:23] Matt: Yeah.
[00:20:23] Hamish: And he's a designer and a builder, so that one's gonna be an absolute cracker.
[00:20:27] So definitely check that one out.
[00:20:28] Matt: Yeah. Well, so what else do you, what? What's, I don't know if you're able to speak too much. I know that you gotta keep some of the information to yourself. You guys have a pretty good plan. Like what, what can we expect from SBA say over the next year? I'd love to get back on.
[00:20:41] Because I know sometimes I press these things on you.
[00:20:43] Hamish: Yeah,
[00:20:43] Matt: I'd love to just like, like we did with Helen, I wanna know what's next. I want, like, I, I'm excited. I think you guys are doing awesome.
[00:20:49] Hamish: So I, I'm gonna, by the time this comes out, I reckon some, there would be some, um, some things that have come to life.
[00:20:54] Matt: Let as soon as it coming out in the next three weeks just to be safe.
[00:20:56] Hamish: Okay. So current, we've just had a planning. [00:21:00] A couple of planning days where we are kind of mapping out the rest of the year. So we have some really exciting things coming up. We, even though I feel we've been kicking some goals over the last two or three years, I feel like last week was where everything came together.
[00:21:15] Everyone was on the same page. We actually had some really clear direction of why we exist and what we're gonna be doing. Why
[00:21:23] Matt: do you exist? I
[00:21:24] Hamish: can't talk about that just yet. Uh, because I, I, I, I, I, I'm
[00:21:27] Matt: not
[00:21:27] Hamish: at risk, at risk of, um, at risk of, uh, being
[00:21:30] Matt: told off by
[00:21:31] Hamish: back. I've being told off by someone, um,
[00:21:33] Matt: who's most likely in that group to tell you off?
[00:21:36] Hamish: Uh, probably Simon.
[00:21:37] Matt: Really?
[00:21:38] Hamish: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So calm. Yeah. No, no, no. I get in trouble with Simon a lot. Thanks. In,
[00:21:43] Matt: in the, nor in the naughty corner. Go, go look in the corner.
[00:21:44] Hamish: Hammish. I'm, I'm the Naugh. No, actually no, I'm totally joking. Brian's a hundred percent the Naugh one, isn't he? You know what I love about that group?
[00:21:51] Um, so there's been a couple of occasions, and I remember Beck, when we had our first planning day, Simon and I were [00:22:00] like really robust conversation across the table. Like we were disagreeing about something like really emo like we, we were really passionate about it, and I could see Beck's like, oh, is this gonna be a problem?
[00:22:12] And someone and I looked at each other and goes, no, we this, we're just, we can just working shit out. And the fact that we can just really have these really amazingly robust conversations with each other. Not to say me and songs saying Same goal, same team. I'm just saying the team, you know, we've got this level of trust amongst all of us.
[00:22:27] 'cause let's face it. We're volunteers in this organization.
[00:22:30] Matt: I mean, no, you're not volunteers. You're actually paying to be the volunteer.
[00:22:33] Hamish: We're paying to be the volunteers in this organization and we want the success. We, we want this organization to be successful, so we need to get to the outcomes as quick as possible.
[00:22:42] Yeah. And we can't do that without robust conversations and the professionalism around that table last week. I'll tell you now, it is a different organization than what it was even a year before.
[00:22:52] Matt: And I'm assuming, uh, Beck's had a huge,
[00:22:55] Hamish: massive, yeah, massive, massive. And you know what? Standby, she's going full time soon.
[00:22:59] Just like get outta the [00:23:00] bag. Be could be awesome. No, I be, could be full time soon.
[00:23:02] Matt: Like, so I, I don't know if even I've on the SBA podcast just stand builders y with Brian and Simon. If you don't listen to it, you should. So I had a good chat with him on theirs the other day. Um, I said it at the end like, and.
[00:23:15] When you first started, I was really skeptical because I thought the passive house association was just taking off. Um, I couldn't have been more wrong in the fact that like, you guys are killing it to me. You are the industry leaders in. This, you are the only association from my perspective that is representing builders to build better.
[00:23:33] Um, you are, and it's not like you are getting paid for it. Mm. You, you do this off your, your own back. Um, you've had, what is it, nearly seven years that you've been around six years to
[00:23:43] Hamish: late, late 2019.
[00:23:45] Matt: Yeah. So that's a lot of time to, to really put in. Um, so
[00:23:51] Hamish: the sugar, the sugar hits gone, the sugar hit of that, it's a real
[00:23:54] Matt: thing now.
[00:23:55] Hamish: It's, it's not a hobby, it's a, it's not, it ain't no hobby. And it's, it is a real organization now. [00:24:00] And, you know, there are gonna be a lot of structural changes coming up and I, again, can't cut it to outta the bag too much. Uh, where. We're partnering with some really great, you know, organizations. One I can talk about, um, Trent from Melbourne Polytech.
[00:24:15] We're doing a lot of work with him at the moment. Um, Jeremy's investing a lot of his energy into that one and, you know, there's gonna be some pretty cool things, you know. Lots more membership based stuff. Lots, a lot more incentive around becoming a member. Um,
[00:24:30] Matt: lots Membership cost. 'cause this is my next thing and I haven't, I haven't got this on our running this 600
[00:24:33] Hamish: bucks.
[00:24:33] Matt: Yeah. So, okay. Can I, this is my opinion.
[00:24:38] Hamish: Yep.
[00:24:38] Matt: My only opinion. This is not Hamish's opinion. Yep. Scrap your HAA membership or your master builders and go sign up for SBA straight out like you were gonna get. Way more outta that. Than you are anything else? If multiple people come to me and ask me how to build better, where do I start?
[00:24:53] That is where you start. Yeah, I know. That's, that's my own opinion. I, I,
[00:24:57] Hamish: I
[00:24:57] would
[00:24:57] Hamish: like to, I would like to think that we all have enough money [00:25:00] in our kitty to be members of all of it.
[00:25:01] Matt: If you can be one, that's where you start.
[00:25:03] Hamish: But thank you, Matt.
[00:25:03] Matt: I, I, I honestly think that because there's really no excuse now and the information is there.
[00:25:12] There's so much resources that you have and people are, they're hungry for more. Yeah. You're providing that and you're providing it at an entry level costing. Mm-hmm. You're providing that in a, in a way that works around the builders and tradies time being on site. Because at the end of the day, if they're not on site, then they don't earn money.
[00:25:27] They can't sit on a webinar at, at 1130 and participate because that doesn't suit their timing. Um, unlike US bills we can jump on and work at the same time. So for me. I If you're listening, please sign up. Um, I'm not just saying that 'cause Hamish is here and get along with a lot of the guys.
[00:25:44] Hamish: Well, I'm, I'm, I'm saying it 'cause I'm here.
[00:25:46] You
[00:25:46] Matt: should sign up. No, but like, this actually is a genuine thing. Like, I actually want you guys to sign up. Um,
[00:25:49] Hamish: which, and do you know what though? And I know CPD points is not a thing for builders in Victoria right now. Yes, yes. However, we do offer CPD points and for architects as well. Probably. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:25:58] Sick. Yeah, we do. We do it now. [00:26:00] So what's really interesting, and this is probably a little bit of a, a another bit of insight as to where we're kind of seeing the organization go is. We have a huge amount of interest from the design community. We've got. We've consistently got the same architects and designers coming to our events.
[00:26:17] Not only that, we've recently had Breathe architecture sign up as members. Kaba has been amazing. He literally jumped on and did all his badges in like a night. So he's like, breathe. Architecture is now up there on our builders directory or our directory as like one of the top badge, uh, badge earners, that's what you wanna call it.
[00:26:37] But we feel like hearing feedback from the design communities that they're like, you guys are like the only people that are actually giving us stuff that is tangible. Like,
[00:26:46] Matt: yeah.
[00:26:47] Hamish: You, you're taking us to, to see these new products where you, you're bringing in guests to talk about the things that we wanna know more about.
[00:26:54] And not only that we're ticking off our CPD points, so we're not just doing like, and we actually had an [00:27:00] architect say to me, I originally came for the CPD, I'm coming back for the content. They're coming back all the time. Yeah. Because it's actually a good content
[00:27:08] Matt: and that probably flows onto content.
[00:27:09] Next conversation, beer and bf, which is sort of a bit of a Yep. Part arm of what we're doing now. So once a month. We have a awesome list of people. It's a online webinar. It's usually the last Thursday of each month from memory.
[00:27:22] Hamish: Yep.
[00:27:23] Matt: Uh, it's online. You get your tickets for Humana Human. Uh, you jump on. It's free.
[00:27:29] It's free. You jump on the, um. Our mindful website, I'll link you to that. Now we have an awesome guest panel, like, so it's two sections. It's myself,
[00:27:38] Hamish: we, we've got two. We've got two. We've got two groups. We, we split up, we started with one group. We thought it was a little bit clunky.
[00:27:44] Matt: 11 people too much.
[00:27:45] Hamish: Yeah.
[00:27:45] So now we've, now we've split it off into panel A, panel B.
[00:27:48] Matt: Yeah. So we've got Brad from. Sanford BuildCo, you're all familiar with him? Yep. Myself and Hamish Dylan from Allman Projects specializing in retrofits retrofit renovations
[00:27:56] Hamish: retrofits.
[00:27:57] Matt: Yep. Got our good friend Cam Monroe, who [00:28:00] find me another smarter person in building science in Australia.
[00:28:04] Um, we've got Jesse Allen from our good friend Climb, but also building theology podcasts. Yeah. So if you're not following along to her, have a listen. Uh, we have. Matt O'Grady, who works at PHCP down in Tasie, who's a very good resource of education and putting some time into educating people about the importance of durability and structures.
[00:28:27] Sean from Haven Homes, who just loves going down any rabbit hole he can find,
[00:28:31] Hamish: he is a Captain Rabbit hole.
[00:28:33] Matt: Yeah. Uh, Justin O'Connor, who performance membranes, but also extremely smart building. She's
[00:28:38] Hamish: smarter than Cameron.
[00:28:39] Matt: Oh. Um. Have to keep Justin on edge for say, Cam's just got him. But the moment, yeah, I reckon.
[00:28:45] But Ju Justin has one of the smartest people in this passive house industry. He's been doing it long before Hamish and I have, um, we also have Air Boss Dan.
[00:28:54] Hamish: Yep.
[00:28:55] Matt: He's, uh, always a character and provides a great conversation. [00:29:00] There's one more. I know who it is. I'm just trying to think. There's one more. That fucker.
[00:29:02] Anyone else?
[00:29:03] Hamish: No, I think
[00:29:04] Matt: got Drew. Uh, so Drew, sorry. Drew, finally. Drew. Fine. Sorry Drew. I was leaving the best of luck 'cause Drew's finally agreed to come on our podcast. Um, but Drew mechanical ventilation. Find me anyone that is more passionate about this stuff than him and you'll get a golden ticket.
[00:29:21] Hamish: Yep.
[00:29:22] Matt: Uh, due to the Willy Wonka factory. So, um. I don't think I've missed anyone. No,
[00:29:27] that's
[00:29:28] Hamish: it. So, so this came off the back. Let's give credit where credit serious. So this came off the back of Brad coming to us and saying, Hey, you know what? I really think we should do this. We're in a great, um, position to do it.
[00:29:39] You know, we've got a bunch of super passionate people, uh, who wanna share their knowledge. And this is what it's all about, sharing knowledge, like
[00:29:46] Matt: on a specific topic each week that's nerdy. Yep. So I've had treated pine, or not treated pine battens, cold versus warm roof. Um,
[00:29:53] Hamish: Dylan. Dylan was, um, retro in insulating existing subfloors.
[00:29:56] Yeah. And Matt was, Matt was just construction [00:30:00] details.
[00:30:00] Matt: Yeah. And I'm doing mine on the details from my house, which has already come out, and these will all be eventually on YouTube. So if you are, can't make it for some reason, about a month later, the next one will be on YouTube.
[00:30:09] Hamish: Yep.
[00:30:09] Matt: I encourage people to come to live one for questions.
[00:30:11] Hamish: I'm, I'm gonna do a quick shout out here. Now if anyone, anyone listening. Wants to sponsor the beer and BS po. Uh, the beer and bs, um, webinar webinars get in touch. We are looking for one sponsor and one sponsor only. Uh, and the whole reason we want to bring a sponsor on is so we can give everybody in the beer and bs, uh, expert panel.
[00:30:38] Some really good recording equipment so we can, and a really good webinar, uh, um, webcam so we can start bringing really good visual content. So,
[00:30:47] Matt: and it will also be on YouTube with your logo. Yep. So there's a like huge opportunity
[00:30:50] Hamish: there. Yep. There's a big opportunity and yeah. I guarantee we're not asking for a huge amount.
[00:30:53] I think the opportunity's great. So, uh, yeah, we are looking for a sponsor for beer and
[00:30:59] Matt: beans. Yeah. That is [00:31:00] purely just to cover costs for us. Like we don't make any money off this. Yeah. So. Um, we've had amazing feedback from that actually. Mainly I find, I think a lot of our people are listening actually, architects and they're, I, I've actually gone through the, the list of people who sign up and what the feedback I've had is they just wish every, this is by far their best learning.
[00:31:20] They don't get anything close this with CPD training because they said it's real advice. Yep. It's a real situation that they have to, to deal with and they're. Um, sick and tired have just been presented a product where Complete agnostic, is that the word or have I just made that up? Yeah, no, agnostic.
[00:31:34] Good to products. Yep. Um, even though we are, this podcast is sponsored by pro climber, but this is not, that is not a pro climber part, but we are very honest on what the products we use. We have. Ultimately Dan works for pro climber. Justin sells pro climber products and Matt works with Justin so
[00:31:50] Hamish: well hang on.
[00:31:50] Jess.
[00:31:51] Matt: Jess CL shop. Yep. Yes, pro climber. So yeah, it, it, but we are totally open on the products. We'll be very honest on what we think. Um, it just happens that pro climber have the best products in everything. Yep. [00:32:00] There's a whole different story. Just
[00:32:00] Hamish: full disclosure. Um, it is unlikely if you are another building or a company that will accept your sponsorship.
[00:32:06] Matt: No, no, we won't. Or a training provider. 'cause you've also got MEGT.
[00:32:09] Hamish: Now Matt, we give a huge amount of information away, and I know it's something that's been kind of, I'm gonna throw this on you today actually. Uh, 'cause I've just written this down. We have a, a growing database Yeah. Of emails, uh, which we wanna start utilizing.
[00:32:26] Not just use and abuse, we actually wanna start giving you really good information Yeah. In your inbox every month. So we are gonna be starting a newsletter soon and we would love, if you want to be on that newsletter mailing list, get in touch. You can get in touch via the Mind for builder, uh, uh, Instagram page, or you can jump on a website or you can give Matt or me and Matt a call and just drop your email in.
[00:32:48] Um, or by signing up to beer and bs, you automatically go onto that uh, mailing list for our newsletter. Again, we're not handing that list out to anyone. We just want to, we just want to use, we just want to [00:33:00] continue giving. We see, you know, a lot of the reason why Matt and I started this podcast in the podcast specifically is to help educate and all of these other things that we're offering are purely about education.
[00:33:12] Matt: Yep. A hundred percent. And. We want to get that out there. We ultimately want the industry to be better. Yeah. So it, it honestly, if we don't, we, well, we, while we do this for fun, but we also, uh, passionate about building better. Now, last thing, uh, we're actually going to Adelaide. Uh, we are gonna be up there, the ni uh, 20th and.
[00:33:30] The ninth of the 20th. The 20th and 21st recording at the Climber Shore Endura Building offices. Now we had,
[00:33:37] Hamish: is it, is it CL Shore? Endur Building offices? Oh yeah, we're doing there. Yeah. We, and then, and then we're having the open day. Yeah. At Jackson's, um,
[00:33:43] Matt: passive house. He certified South Australia's first certified passive house Display home.
[00:33:48] Hamish: Yeah.
[00:33:48] Matt: Now it's a two hour live q and a event. You are gonna myself, Hamish, Ja, Hamish, Jackson, and Jess. Jess Kismet, not Alan. Sorry. Yes. I should get that right.
[00:33:58] Hamish: That's all
[00:33:58] Matt: right.
[00:33:59] Hamish: [00:34:00] Interchangeable.
[00:34:00] Matt: Yeah. Yeah. So it is, if you're offering sa, I highly encourage you to come. You can ask us whatever you want about passive house construction, the membranes that we use, anything.
[00:34:09] So that is, didn't
[00:34:09] Hamish: ask us anything about anything
[00:34:10] Matt: really. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah. What did you have for dinner last night? Hamish, but Mount Barker, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM 20th of April. You can jump on the pro climber website. Head to their event section. Sign up. Uh, we really, really encourage you to do it. Um, it'll give you a chance to explore the space, ask questions, learn about high performance homes, and there are some light snacks and drinks provided.
[00:34:35] Um,
[00:34:36] Hamish: and a big shout out to Enduro Builders and Climb Shore for helping us put on this event. Yeah. Um, you know,
[00:34:42] Matt: and it's a pro, it's ultimately a pro climb event. Yep. So it's run by pro climber. You've gotta sign up to the pro climber. That's website.
[00:34:48] Hamish: That's a, that's a duh.
[00:34:49] Matt: Yeah. But, uh, Jackson doesn't know this yet, but there'd be one lucky giveaway that gets to grab a coffee with Jackson when you're up there.
[00:34:55] Hamish: Oh, what about a free night in his, um,
[00:34:57] Matt: oh yeah. They haven't even done even better. You know what,
[00:34:59] Hamish: Jack [00:35:00] Jackson we're raffling off, uh, a free night in your, um. Actually, that's not, that's not true at all. But maybe you get to share
[00:35:07] Matt: the bear with j with Jackson.
[00:35:09] Hamish: Jackson. He'd be a good cuddler. I reckon.
[00:35:12] Matt: He's probably listened to.
[00:35:13] He's been like, fuck you two.
[00:35:15] Hamish: Oh, no, no. You know what? It's funny, Jackson, I, I've known Jackson since 2018. We actually did the passive house course together.
[00:35:22] Matt: Really? Yep. Um, I've never actually met him.
[00:35:25] Hamish: Great guy.
[00:35:25] Matt: Super excited. But yeah, in Mount Barker, Enduro building display home in Spring Lake to Gro Place.
[00:35:31] So please sign up, register. It is free. It doesn't cost you any money. Uh, we are, we will probably, we be, I'm unfiltered. Ham should be unfiltered. But yeah. Jess, technical manager at Climate Shore. Jack Jackson, who has a wealth of business knowledge, uh, for those young builders and anyone, you don't have to know the product.
[00:35:49] The whole idea is you've someone, we all started somewhere and I actually had a kid reach out today and he is like, I'm at level one. You're at level 100. What about what do I do? I was like, I was at level one [00:36:00] once too.
[00:36:00] Hamish: Yep,
[00:36:00] Matt: that's it. Like we, I was in your place at one point. It is just how much effort you put in.
[00:36:05] So. Mindful moment today I'm gonna do, this is a real quick one. We have just given you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ways to learn.
[00:36:13] Hamish: Yep.
[00:36:13] Matt: There are no excuses. If you're an apprentice, all of them are free. Whilst that event is in Adelaide, we do them in Melbourne. We're doing 'em in New South Wales. Later in this year, we're going to Brisbane.
[00:36:23] Uh, we are going to WA as well. Yep. These events are gonna be through every state. Ch pro climber also always have events on their website. So yeah, I dunno if there's even a way that they can sign up to. Yep. Um, whilst we're on the list of, uh, pro climber, I'm actually just want to give, I think Gus has sent me a message here.
[00:36:40] One, one thing that I have, uh, really, I, I kind of get a lot, the question I get is like, who's, who's the pro climber rep in my, in my area? So what I wanna do, I, if I've got this here, I mean, we should, we should speak to her, maybe put it on our. Website or something, but he gave me a list of each state, um, [00:37:00] who to con contact so we can quickly put a resource.
[00:37:03] We might even do an, an, um, Instagram post to point people in the right way. Um. It's actually not loading. So what, what we're gonna do, we'll do Instagram post Yeah. Each day on who your Proclama distributors are. Some might have multiple. Yeah, that's a good idea. That way we have a resource and when someone asks, we can just send them that page.
[00:37:19] Hamish: Yeah. And do you know what we'll put in the show notes. Yeah, yeah. In your region, who the best person
[00:37:23] Matt: to contact?
[00:37:24] Hamish: Yeah.
[00:37:24] Matt: Um, and, and this is a starting point, you might not know how to use the pro climber products. If you're an apprentice, reach younger. Go. I wanna learn. I know, I know in Victoria, performance membranes do it.
[00:37:34] Um, pretty sure does it. Jess does it. Brian, that will show you. They'll talk through it.
[00:37:37] Hamish: Yeah. How great he does it.
[00:37:38] Matt: Oh yeah, exactly. Like every state there's someone. So please. But bit of a housekeeping episode. Um, probably a bit different to usual. Hope you've learned something a bit more of what's happening.
[00:37:48] We've got some really cool stuff coming up this year. Um, we're super pumped. This is also on YouTube. If you didn't know, you can watch it on YouTube. The videos are there. Uh, and that is where we're gonna be going a lot in the future. We're gonna try to do some filming [00:38:00] on site and stuff. So anyway, hey, have a great weekend away.
[00:38:03] You
[00:38:03] Hamish: too, man.
[00:38:03] Matt: Thanks buddy. Thank you
[00:38:04] Hamish: very much. Appreciate it.