CHBA is doing more than ever to serve, assist and represent its renovation sector members. Renovation Services director, Sarah Caron, joins The Hammer to talk about the special nature of renovation contracting as a sub-sector of the home building business. She explains the various member benefits and services to the industry that Renovation Services is offering, including the Renomark https://renomark.ca/ program, the Renovation Market Index and the various events and education sessions coming up. Finally, she previews Renovation Month, coming this October.

The effort to get our industry to fully embrace the latest technology tools grinds on. Amy Vilis is the director of housing growth innovation at DIGITAL, a Vancouver-based non-profit working on bringing technology and construction companies together for mutual benefit. Working with Vilis is John Reid from Faber Technologies, the developer of Faber Connect, an AI-powered software tool that connects construction companies to a pool of over 100,000 skilled labourers across western Canada. Vilis and Reid join The Hammer to talk about the potential benefits to contractors of "going digital" and about the larger productivity gap in construction that continues to hold us back from building the housing we need.

After decades in the commercial facade business building whole sections of skyscrapers in factories before shipping them to jobsites, Antonio Manchisi of Sapphire Balconies knows a thing or two about prefabricating construction components. He joins The Hammer to talk about how offsite and modular building are the norm in other parts of the world; how they can save costs, improve quality, efficiency and safety; and where they might not work best in residential renovation and custom building. In an environment where we're all looking to get more done faster with less skilled labour, Manchisi brings some hearty food for thought on how we structure our project process.

Paul Amato of Tallinn Advisory brings 20 years' of professional experience advising construction companies to the question of how to get the different parts of your organization working better together. He joins The Hammer to talk about what he means by “alignment”; the elements of a good mindset; the barriers to great customer service and quality; and how to build a culture that succeeds. Take some time with Paul to think about how you do business!

Contractors work in a high-stress jobs for sure, where frustration, time pressure, conflict and long hours can grind us down. We view workplace stress as part of the lifestyle, but Sandra Primiano from online mental health services provider, Dialogue, says it has very real and measurable effects on productivity and quality. Those effects can include workplace accidents and addiction problems, so it's something we need to pay attention to. Primiano joins The Hammer to explain how job stress leads to decreased performance; what signs might point to a co-worker who is struggling; and some practical tips for mitigating issues when they arise.

Skylights are a feature that transform an interior space when done right and risk a lifetime of headaches when done wrong. Modern designs have come a long way from the old plexiglass domes and now offer great energy efficiency, smart home options and the ability to improve the environment throughout a home. Mark Taylor, national Canadian sales manager for Velux and 27-year veteran of the business, joins The Hammer to share tips on how to do skylights right and really boost the impact of your renovations and custom builds.

Amanda Spann is the author of I Have an App Idea - The Essential Guide to Building an App Without Tech Skills and she has good news for all of us. You don't need to spend in the five figures or burn hundreds of hours of staff time to develop an app any more, thanks to new AI-powered tools and reasonably priced professional services. The even better news is, as experts in touch with the needs of their businesses, building trades professionals are in a position to make more useful and targeted apps than anything coming out of Silicone Valley. Whether developing something to help your team internally or making a product you hope to post on the App Store, there's an opportunity here to help your efficiency and potentially add a revenue stream to your business.

Embodied carbon and an increased focus on building resiliency are coming soon to a building code near you. When they do, we're going to need a lot of information about the amount of greenhouse gasses embodied in our building products and how to build structures that will last longer in the extreme weather events happening in the regions where we build. Kelly Doran and his team at Half Climate Design have stepped up with two new documents that are included in the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Housing Catalogue: the Materials Guide and the Climate Resilience Guide. Doran joins The Hammer to walk us through the new documents and explain how they will help as we make the adjustment to thinking about things we never had to before.

Materials Guide

Climate Resilience Guide

Half Climate Design

Building resiliency is the hot focus for sustainable building regulators developing the next wave of codes and standards we will all have to follow. Resiliency impacts our designs two ways: making buildings last longer with less maintenance, and making them resist extreme weather and natural disasters better. Both are related to climate change in that buildings that last longer prevent new carbon emissions from having to repair or replace them, and climate change is already leading to weather changes that our present designs are not ready for. Duncan Rowe, a principal with RJC Engineers, deals with these issues daily both as a building engineer and in his role sitting on various code committees. He joins The Hammer to discuss resiliency and how it might impact our designs and practices going forward.

Bryan Reid, president of Kindred Construction and Kindred Custom Homes, joins The Hammer to discuss B.C.’s latest attempts to make it easier to build homes. He covers the recent prompt payment legislation and a large attempt to streamline B.C.’s approval processes with 187 amendments to legislation. He also offers his perspective on whether these moves will make life easier for B.C. contractors and the sources of the housing crisis in general. Reid has a law degree and knows his stuff, so enjoy this informative conversation.