This Must Be The Place: The Building Science Podcast

In this episode, Shawna interviews Lorrie Rand, a certified passive house designer, Co-Founder and Director of Sustainability at Habitat Studio, and Co-Founder and Design Director at ReCover Initiative in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lorrie shares her extensive experience with sustainable retrofits and updates on the Habit Studio's passive house retrofit project.

They discuss the founding of the ReCover Initiative, which studies deep retrofits and has launched the multimillion-dollar Atlantic Canada Deep Retrofit Accelerator to address social, financial, and technical barriers. The conversation also touches on workforce development, challenges in implementing retrofits at scale, and initiatives for local economic development.

Are you interested in having a conversation with Shawna on This Must Be the Place? Reach out by email to Jessica,  [email protected].

(C) 2025 This Must Be The Place. Creative ownership rights Blue House Energy.

In this episode, Shawna welcomes Peter Amerongen, the President of Retrofit Canada. They delve into Peter's extensive experience in retrofitting homes and his journey from building new, high-end houses to focusing on deep retrofits. The discussion spans various topics including the importance of retrofitting existing buildings to achieve net-zero emissions, the complexities of retrofitting compared to new construction, and case studies such as the Sundance co-op project.

Peter also shares insights on Retrofit Canada's mission, which includes collecting and sharing case studies to inform future retrofit projects, developing a comprehensive roadmap for retrofitting buildings, and the goal of making these practices mainstream in the industry. They also discuss upcoming projects, challenges in residential versus commercial retrofits, and the significance of properly planned and executed retrofits in improving building comfort and reducing emissions.

Are you interested in having a conversation with Shawna on This Must Be the Place? Reach out by email to Jessica,  [email protected].

(C) 2025 This Must Be The Place. Creative ownership rights Blue House Energy.

In this episode, Shawna welcomes Trevor Trainor, President of Bawating Building Science, focusing on his work in Indigenous housing conditions in Northern Ontario and Arctic regions.They discuss the importance of adapting building practices to suit harsh climates, particularly emphasizing unvented roofs in Northern housing.

Trevor shares insights from his hygrothermic modeling studies and research, highlighting the necessity of proper ventilation, moisture control, and the use of exterior insulation in these environments. They also cover the challenges in the industry like the need for greater data sharing and the benefits of site-specific building solutions.

Are you interested in having a conversation with Shawna on This Must Be the Place? Reach out by email to Jessica,  [email protected].

(C) 2025 This Must Be The Place. Creative ownership rights Blue House Energy.

Welcome to season four - woohoo!

After a long hiatus, we start off with a new-too-us format: a panel discussion. Episode one is a discussion about the role of Energy Advisors in Canada, co-hosted by Blue House Energy Program Coordinator, Carla Harder.

My guests include Cindy Gareau, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors, two master energy advisors, Toby Smith with Building Knowledge Canada and Amelie Caron with EcoSynergy.

Highlights:

• Overcoming the challenges of Probationary Files as a new Energy Advisor
• What is the difference between a Service Organization and an Energy Advisor Group? How do they work with EA - pay models, scope of work in the field, etc.?
• Finding a quality Service Organization (SO) and employer that align with your career goals.
• Details on CACEA new Field Tech designation for new construction currently in development

Let's dive in!

Are you interested in having a conversation with Shawna on This Must Be the Place? Reach out by email to Jessica,  [email protected].

(C) 2025 This Must Be The Place. Creative ownership rights Blue House Energy.

It's almost here.  Season 4 of This Must Be the Place drops Thursday, January 12, 2023.

In this episode of This Must Be The Place Shawna is joined by Shay Bulmer, the founder and General Manager of Northern Homecraft Ltd., an award-winning, net-zero certified custom home company based in Vanderhoof British Columbia. Shay also serves as the current President of the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) in Northern BC and is the presidential appointee at the CHBA BC level.

Highlights from this episode:

• Why Shay says that “energy performance is investment performance”.

• The importance of developing some sort of stimulus for smaller and rural markets to achieve higher performing homes.

• Why it’s worth the time to learn about the different types of comfort that high performance homes can provide.

northernhomecraft.com

Host/Producer - Shawna Henderson [email protected]

Producer - Tanya Chedrawy [email protected]

Technical Producer - Michael Boyd [email protected]

Social Media – Anita Kirkbride www.twirp.ca

A Production of: Blue House Energy bluehouseenergy.com/

Tanya Media tanyamedia.com

Podcast Atlantic podcastatlantic.com/

Blue House Energy’s Website by R & G - The Sustainability Agency https://www.rgstrategic.com/

Music from Arches Audio - https://archesaudio.com/ Title of Song - "Road Trip"

Innovator and disruptor Jodi Huettner joins Shawna for this episode of This Must be The Place. Jodi is the driving force behind creating and supplying Inclusive Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, for women not only in the energy efficiency space but also for active and outdoor STEM positions. She is the President and CEO of Helga Wear Inc..

Highlights from this episode:

• PPE impacts many things for women, including mental health.

• The A-ha moment that Jodi experienced and why it was simultaneously “amazing and devastating”.

• Find out about the exciting new PPE products that Helga Wear is currently developing.

helgawear.com

Host/Producer - Shawna Henderson [email protected]

Producer - Tanya Chedrawy [email protected]

Technical Producer - Michael Boyd [email protected]

Social Media – Anita Kirkbride www.twirp.ca

A Production of: Blue House Energy bluehouseenergy.com/

Tanya Media tanyamedia.com

Podcast Atlantic podcastatlantic.com/

Blue House Energy’s Website by R & G - The Sustainability Agency https://www.rgstrategic.com/

Music from Arches Audio - https://archesaudio.com/ Title of Song - "Road Trip"

In this episode of This Must Be the Place, Shawna chats with Chris MagWood, a crusader for reversing climate change and for the past 25 years he has dedicated his career to inspiring and assisting others to do the same. He currently holds two positions—Manager in the Carbon Free Buildings program at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and as Director at Builders for Climate Action, an organization which he helped to establish.

Highlights from this episode:

• Find out why Chris “got really obsessed with metrics”.

• Learn about the tool that Chris created that measures embodied carbon that you can download.

• Hear what Chris has to say about moving the needle to meet our embodied carbon benchmarks by 2030 and beyond.

buildersforclimateaction.org

rmi.org

Host/Producer - Shawna Henderson [email protected]

Producer - Tanya Chedrawy [email protected]

Technical Producer - Michael Boyd [email protected]

Social Media – Anita Kirkbride www.twirp.ca

A Production of: Blue House Energy bluehouseenergy.com/

Tanya Media tanyamedia.com

Podcast Atlantic podcastatlantic.com/

Blue House Energy’s Website by R & G - The Sustainability Agency https://www.rgstrategic.com/

Music from Arches Audio - https://archesaudio.com/ Title of Song - "Road Trip"

Shawna is joined by Lorrie Rand in this episode of This Must Be The Place.

Lorrie is the Sustainability Director at Habit Studio, a company she co-founded that specializes in sustainable renovations. Habit Studio is the leading authority on sustainable home design in Nova Scotia. Her company is also currently 8 women strong!

Tune in to find out:

• Why Lorrie decided to only work in Passive House.

• The huge retrofit project that she is documenting for a Youtube series!

habitstudio.ca

Host/Producer - Shawna Henderson [email protected]

Producer - Tanya Chedrawy [email protected]

Technical Producer - Michael Boyd [email protected]

Social Media – Anita Kirkbride www.twirp.ca

A Production of: Blue House Energy bluehouseenergy.com/

Tanya Media tanyamedia.com

Podcast Atlantic podcastatlantic.com/

Blue House Energy’s Website by R & G - The Sustainability Agency https://www.rgstrategic.com/

Music from Arches Audio - https://archesaudio.com/ Title of Song - "Road Trip"

Shawna is joined by Lorrie Rand in this episode of This Must Be The Place.

Lorrie is the Sustainability Director at Habit Studio, a company she co-founded that specializes in sustainable renovations. Habit Studio is the leading authority on sustainable home design in Nova Scotia. Her company is also currently 8 women strong!

Tune in to find out:

• Why Lorrie decided to only work in Passive House.

• The important project Habit Studio has partnered with Natural Resource Canada (NRCan) on that spans six municipalities in Canada.

• The huge retrofit project that she is documenting for a Youtube series!

habitstudio.ca

Host/Producer - Shawna Henderson [email protected]

Producer - Tanya Chedrawy [email protected]

Technical Producer - Michael Boyd [email protected]

Social Media – Anita Kirkbride www.twirp.ca

A Production of: Blue House Energy bluehouseenergy.com/

Tanya Media tanyamedia.com

Podcast Atlantic podcastatlantic.com/

Blue House Energy’s Website by R & G - The Sustainability Agency https://www.rgstrategic.com/

Music from Arches Audio - https://archesaudio.com/ Title of Song - "Road Trip"