Speaker:

so I want to jump

Speaker:

back to passive house

Speaker:

conversation here.

Speaker:

Why shouldn't we

Speaker:

build a passive house?

Speaker:

now you've stumped me.

Speaker:

I No.

Speaker:

I can't answer that.

Speaker:

Why?

Speaker:

we should all be

Speaker:

building them.

Speaker:

That should be the

Speaker:

minimum standard.

Speaker:

and like literally

Speaker:

everything we're doing

Speaker:

is Passive House.

Speaker:

So I, have some people

Speaker:

who don't necessarily

Speaker:

want to certify.

Speaker:

so the follow on to

Speaker:

this is every house

Speaker:

need to be certified.

Speaker:

if we want to do it right,

Speaker:

then yes, we should.

Speaker:

without certification,

Speaker:

we're losing quality

Speaker:

control and Passive

Speaker:

House, Coming from

Speaker:

Germany is very much about

Speaker:

quality precision, and

Speaker:

so we can't rely on one

Speaker:

person to do everything

Speaker:

perfectly all the time.

Speaker:

We're human, we'll

Speaker:

make mistakes.

Speaker:

So having someone else

Speaker:

look over that and check

Speaker:

it independently of us,

Speaker:

of the team, I think

Speaker:

is incredibly valuable.

Speaker:

so we've done heaps of

Speaker:

passive housework, right?

Speaker:

And still to this day our

Speaker:

passive house modeling

Speaker:

will do all the work on

Speaker:

our design documents and

Speaker:

the certifier will check

Speaker:

it and come back and say,

Speaker:

we need a detail of this,

Speaker:

or you need to change the

Speaker:

way this is connecting,

Speaker:

every job, we still learn,

Speaker:

I love that, I love that

Speaker:

we're learning, that's the

Speaker:

whole idea that we keep

Speaker:

improving, but without

Speaker:

that certification,

Speaker:

mistakes creep through.

Speaker:

I think sometimes

Speaker:

when Hamish and I have

Speaker:

talked about the Not

Speaker:

Every House needs to be

Speaker:

certified, I understand

Speaker:

there's new people coming

Speaker:

into this industry or

Speaker:

this side of building.

Speaker:

And when you're doing

Speaker:

your first 4, 5, 6

Speaker:

projects, yeah, they

Speaker:

should be certified

Speaker:

because you need to learn.

Speaker:

if you were to do a

Speaker:

project that wasn't

Speaker:

certified with Hamish or

Speaker:

myself, the product that

Speaker:

you're going to get at

Speaker:

the end of the day will

Speaker:

be very, very close.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Because we already know

Speaker:

what the expectation

Speaker:

levels that need to

Speaker:

come out of that are.

Speaker:

like, I don't change

Speaker:

my high performance

Speaker:

projects and my passive

Speaker:

house when it comes to

Speaker:

documentation, testing.

Speaker:

We still run a certified

Speaker:

blow it all test.

Speaker:

We still run the

Speaker:

thermal imaging camera.

Speaker:

We still get it

Speaker:

all approved.

Speaker:

We still take photos.

Speaker:

We still get those

Speaker:

same details.

Speaker:

It's just we don't send

Speaker:

it for that third party

Speaker:

independent inspector.

Speaker:

And I think that's

Speaker:

just the difference.

Speaker:

But I think that's the

Speaker:

issue in industry where

Speaker:

There's no one verifying

Speaker:

the work that happens.

Speaker:

You get a frame inspection,

Speaker:

and then you get a final.

Speaker:

And there's so much

Speaker:

shit that happens

Speaker:

in between that,

Speaker:

that is the problem.

Speaker:

I don't think that

Speaker:

we're there yet as an

Speaker:

industry, that we can

Speaker:

rely on all our respective

Speaker:

trades to deliver the

Speaker:

quality that's needed.

Speaker:

Insulation is a perfect

Speaker:

example, you know, and I

Speaker:

know there are inroads now

Speaker:

to improve our insulation

Speaker:

installation requirements

Speaker:

and they're working on

Speaker:

improving that side of

Speaker:

the industry, but you

Speaker:

know, gaps and cracks are

Speaker:

the nemesis of insulation

Speaker:

so if you think about it

Speaker:

on a broad scale, when

Speaker:

we do the mathematics

Speaker:

and the PHPP work.

Speaker:

So, we're applying an

Speaker:

insulation value to a

Speaker:

whole wall assembly, all

Speaker:

the little things that can

Speaker:

happen on a building site

Speaker:

to undermine that are not

Speaker:

being checked or verified

Speaker:

by anybody, you guys.

Speaker:

You're running two or

Speaker:

three jobs at a time.

Speaker:

You can't be across

Speaker:

every detail personally

Speaker:

and you train your teams

Speaker:

up magnificently and

Speaker:

they're all very well

Speaker:

educated, but someone's

Speaker:

only going to turn their

Speaker:

back for a minute and

Speaker:

the details missed.

Speaker:

actually disagree on that.

Speaker:

my team are well trained

Speaker:

and know very, very

Speaker:

well the details that

Speaker:

need to go into it.

Speaker:

And they are so over it.

Speaker:

They're actually real.

Speaker:

And I think the thing

Speaker:

with my team is like,

Speaker:

Last night, two of them

Speaker:

were sending me photos or

Speaker:

videos of one of Hamish's

Speaker:

jobs and Mark's jobs.

Speaker:

And like, this is

Speaker:

how they did this.

Speaker:

This is how they did that.

Speaker:

Like, let's start with

Speaker:

that basis because

Speaker:

we can maybe do this.

Speaker:

Like, they're already

Speaker:

looking to improve on how

Speaker:

other people have done it.

Speaker:

And then what will then

Speaker:

happen is probably Hamish's

Speaker:

team will do the same.

Speaker:

They'll be like, this

Speaker:

is what they did.

Speaker:

We can improve

Speaker:

on it like that.

Speaker:

So I think when you got

Speaker:

a good team, when you got

Speaker:

good people who actually

Speaker:

care about this, those

Speaker:

details don't get missed.

Speaker:

They actually get improved

Speaker:

every single time.

Speaker:

unfortunately or

Speaker:

fortunately for the three

Speaker:

of us, we live in this

Speaker:

little bubble where we

Speaker:

think everyone's doing the

Speaker:

right things and everyone's

Speaker:

building high performance

Speaker:

and passive house and.

Speaker:

They want to recycle

Speaker:

and they want to

Speaker:

be sustainable,

Speaker:

that kind of stuff.

Speaker:

I mean, if you zoom

Speaker:

out like broadly as

Speaker:

an industry, that's

Speaker:

not happening.

Speaker:

what we want to do with

Speaker:

this podcast and the stuff

Speaker:

we're doing with SBA and

Speaker:

all the amazing stuff that,

Speaker:

Australian Passive House

Speaker:

Association are doing is

Speaker:

actually trying to educate

Speaker:

the industry more broadly.

Speaker:

Sven, I'm going to

Speaker:

throw a controversial

Speaker:

question at you.

Speaker:

Is a passive house?

Speaker:

A passive house if

Speaker:

it's not certified.

Speaker:

I want to say no, although

Speaker:

I understand it that

Speaker:

the Institute say yes.

Speaker:

So let's just confirm this

Speaker:

is your personal opinion

Speaker:

for anyone listening, so

Speaker:

no one gets sued here.

Speaker:

institute, I believe

Speaker:

I've read somewhere there

Speaker:

that they say, no, you

Speaker:

don't have to certify to

Speaker:

call it a passive house.

Speaker:

So I feel that passive

Speaker:

house now is a brand and

Speaker:

that that brand is earned

Speaker:

by doing everything and

Speaker:

all the ticks and check

Speaker:

boxes that need to be

Speaker:

done to deliver that.

Speaker:

And that if you don't

Speaker:

follow the process and

Speaker:

deliver the required data

Speaker:

and information, then

Speaker:

you don't get that stamp.

Speaker:

So, my opinion is that

Speaker:

you should be required to

Speaker:

certify to be able to brand

Speaker:

your house a passive house.

Speaker:

so I've got this from a

Speaker:

text message from Lex,

Speaker:

who's the CEO of the

Speaker:

Passive House Institute,

Speaker:

and the definition that

Speaker:

she has here, and I think

Speaker:

it's on the same page.

Speaker:

The Passive House Standard

Speaker:

is a performance standard.

Speaker:

If someone would like

Speaker:

to use the term to

Speaker:

make a claim that their

Speaker:

uncertified project

Speaker:

is performing at this

Speaker:

level, then they need

Speaker:

to be able to prepare

Speaker:

to stand in front of a

Speaker:

judge and show how this

Speaker:

performance claim has been

Speaker:

tested and can be proven.

Speaker:

would mean that you need

Speaker:

a certifier, that's how

Speaker:

you get the certification.

Speaker:

So I think everyone's

Speaker:

on the same page,

Speaker:

especially when it comes

Speaker:

to the way we build the

Speaker:

Australian Passive House.

Speaker:

But compared to the

Speaker:

International Passive House

Speaker:

Association, their wording

Speaker:

is a little bit different.

Speaker:

I also just wanna go on

Speaker:

the record as saying to

Speaker:

all those people out there

Speaker:

who aren't getting their

Speaker:

project certified, don't

Speaker:

hear this and think that we

Speaker:

are discrediting anything

Speaker:

that you do, you are doing.

Speaker:

Because what you are doing

Speaker:

right now is amazing.

Speaker:

0.

Speaker:

1 percent of homes

Speaker:

in Australia.

Speaker:

exactly, so if you don't

Speaker:

get a plaque on the wall,

Speaker:

don't think that we're

Speaker:

poo pooing it, right?

Speaker:

And just what part of

Speaker:

the narrative that we're

Speaker:

trying to do on our

Speaker:

social media now is that

Speaker:

we're calling it a high

Speaker:

performance home, but we're

Speaker:

following these principles.

Speaker:

And the projects

Speaker:

that we're aiming to

Speaker:

get certified, we're

Speaker:

going, we're targeting

Speaker:

certification, but we'll

Speaker:

call it a passive house.

Speaker:

When it's a passive house

Speaker:

and in my opinion that

Speaker:

is honoring the hard

Speaker:

work and dedication of

Speaker:

the entire team and the

Speaker:

clients to actually get

Speaker:

that plaque on the wall.

Speaker:

And that's the

Speaker:

reason I asked you

Speaker:

the questions Fenn.

Speaker:

I don't want people to

Speaker:

think to don't do it if

Speaker:

you can't get a plaque

Speaker:

because just be better.

Speaker:

We've had a chat with

Speaker:

Cam about this because

Speaker:

sometimes there is this

Speaker:

amazing view to the south

Speaker:

that you want to get, but

Speaker:

just make those windows

Speaker:

a bit smaller and just

Speaker:

understand the impact

Speaker:

that that's going to have,

Speaker:

because plaque on the wall,

Speaker:

but there's also how you

Speaker:

feel in your home too.

Speaker:

That's also

Speaker:

really important.

Speaker:

I have a house

Speaker:

that's impossible

Speaker:

to get certified.

Speaker:

of,

Speaker:

Literally, we can't.

Speaker:

It's a retrofit.

Speaker:

We physically can't

Speaker:

even with, I think,

Speaker:

unlimited budget.

Speaker:

We physically can't get

Speaker:

this house certified.

Speaker:

It's in Brunswick.

Speaker:

There is a huge triple

Speaker:

story next door.

Speaker:

It blocks all the

Speaker:

north lighting.

Speaker:

It's got heritage overlays.

Speaker:

It's boundary to

Speaker:

boundary already.

Speaker:

We can't do anything.

Speaker:

I don't think we can even

Speaker:

get it to low energy.

Speaker:

I think we can go close

Speaker:

to the component method.

Speaker:

We still can't go

Speaker:

to component method.

Speaker:

what you're doing

Speaker:

with that project.

Speaker:

You're still going

Speaker:

through that recipe.

Speaker:

You're still going

Speaker:

through the recipe

Speaker:

book and going through

Speaker:

all the ingredients.

Speaker:

You're trying to tick

Speaker:

them off and you're

Speaker:

understanding everything.

Speaker:

You're not just going,

Speaker:

oh, well, fuck that.

Speaker:

We can't hear that.

Speaker:

So who gives a shit?

Speaker:

It's actually

Speaker:

understanding, well,

Speaker:

this wall over here might

Speaker:

have some risks Wolfie,

Speaker:

Wolfie analysis on it.

Speaker:

So let's just see

Speaker:

if there is a risk.

Speaker:

In that wall

Speaker:

assembly there.

Speaker:

So we're still following

Speaker:

the same process, but

Speaker:

the outcome might not

Speaker:

be a pluck on the wall

Speaker:

it starts with modeling

Speaker:

ends with testing.

Speaker:

when I say a model, it

Speaker:

is PHP modeling, not that

Speaker:

hers modeling if you want

Speaker:

to call your project, a

Speaker:

high performance project,

Speaker:

you need to model early

Speaker:

model often design it

Speaker:

around that model and

Speaker:

then test it at the end.

Speaker:

And then that can be

Speaker:

referred to as what I

Speaker:

would say high performance,

Speaker:

because you should still

Speaker:

have all those basic

Speaker:

building principles, which

Speaker:

we hate using the word

Speaker:

principles, but it should

Speaker:

still tick all those

Speaker:

boxes because you've gone

Speaker:

through the modeling stage.

Speaker:

Is that fair?

Speaker:

Or am I probably being

Speaker:

too hard on that word

Speaker:

high performance now?

Speaker:

Because I think that's

Speaker:

another term that, fuck

Speaker:

me, everyone's a high

Speaker:

performance builder now.

Speaker:

And it's like, just

Speaker:

because you put some

Speaker:

solar panels on the roof.

Speaker:

Doesn't mean it's

Speaker:

high performing.

Speaker:

That's a technology.

Speaker:

Yeah, look, I think the

Speaker:

same things happen with

Speaker:

sustainability, you know,

Speaker:

and the greenwashing

Speaker:

that came around with

Speaker:

that, everyone's eco

Speaker:

this and green that, but

Speaker:

ultimately, what have they

Speaker:

really changed in their

Speaker:

practice to deliver that,

Speaker:

I'm going to call

Speaker:

it out right now.

Speaker:

And it's architects

Speaker:

declare because at the time

Speaker:

there was the bushfires,

Speaker:

everyone signed up to

Speaker:

this thing and we're

Speaker:

going to change our power.

Speaker:

We're going to make change.

Speaker:

And I want to know how many

Speaker:

of these people, they've

Speaker:

got 1200 signatories.

Speaker:

How many of them are

Speaker:

actually doing something

Speaker:

rather than making these

Speaker:

claims that we're doing

Speaker:

this, we're doing this.

Speaker:

Like, that is greenwashing

Speaker:

and I'm going to call

Speaker:

it out right now.

Speaker:

And if you're listening

Speaker:

to it and you think

Speaker:

you're one of them, you

Speaker:

probably most likely are.

Speaker:

But you can change.

Speaker:

You can get better.

Speaker:

You once signed up,

Speaker:

it doesn't mean you

Speaker:

can't change now.

Speaker:

if only there was a

Speaker:

group that was born

Speaker:

out of that little

Speaker:

declared movement, that's

Speaker:

actually doing something

Speaker:

And you are.

Speaker:

Sustainable

Speaker:

Builders Alliance.

Speaker:

They're doing something.

Speaker:

They're actively trying

Speaker:

to educate the market.

Speaker:

Where architects declare,

Speaker:

fuck me, just because

Speaker:

you change your power

Speaker:

to be green energy

Speaker:

doesn't change anything

Speaker:

from the homes you're

Speaker:

producing and building.

Speaker:

yeah, when that came

Speaker:

around, I had a look at

Speaker:

it we're already doing

Speaker:

stuff, you know, and I'm

Speaker:

sure what we're doing now

Speaker:

is a lot better than what

Speaker:

we're doing then, but for

Speaker:

me at the time to sign an

Speaker:

agreement or document or a

Speaker:

commitment or whatever you

Speaker:

want to call it, it made no

Speaker:

difference whether I signed

Speaker:

that or not, for me, it

Speaker:

was about, well, let's just

Speaker:

keep pushing boundaries

Speaker:

and doing what we can

Speaker:

do to make things better

Speaker:

and let's just roll on,

Speaker:

don't know if this is a

Speaker:

conversation I had with

Speaker:

you, but technically they

Speaker:

weren't letting you sign

Speaker:

that petition because

Speaker:

you weren't an architect.

Speaker:

Am I right in saying that?

Speaker:

Surely not.

Speaker:

probably, probably.

Speaker:

I mean, it we had some

Speaker:

articles written about

Speaker:

our work and they referred

Speaker:

to us as architects.

Speaker:

And the Institute came

Speaker:

after us legally and said,

Speaker:

you need to now make sure

Speaker:

they change the wording on

Speaker:

those articles because you

Speaker:

Sven are not an architect.

Speaker:

And so even to the

Speaker:

point where I have two

Speaker:

architects that work in

Speaker:

our practice, I can't call

Speaker:

them architects from a

Speaker:

legal perspective, right?

Speaker:

Even though they're

Speaker:

registered and insured and

Speaker:

have their own licenses.

Speaker:

On my website, I

Speaker:

cannot call them an

Speaker:

architect because that's

Speaker:

what's in the act.

Speaker:

I'm not allowed to use any

Speaker:

wording or anything that

Speaker:

refers to architectural.

Speaker:

So my, my degree,

Speaker:

Associate Diploma of

Speaker:

Architectural Drafting,

Speaker:

I'm not allowed to use

Speaker:

the word architectural

Speaker:

legally, right?

Speaker:

It doesn't make

Speaker:

sense to me.

Speaker:

I think it's an antiquated.

Speaker:

Law or act that

Speaker:

needs to be updated.

Speaker:

I don't have any problem

Speaker:

with them protecting

Speaker:

the term and, and

Speaker:

keeping it for those

Speaker:

people that those people

Speaker:

that have done that

Speaker:

degree should be allowed

Speaker:

to use that no matter

Speaker:

where they work and

Speaker:

what they do, because

Speaker:

they've earned the right.

Speaker:

and we're not poo

Speaker:

pooing architects.

Speaker:

Actually

Speaker:

I'm going to go on

Speaker:

record that the good

Speaker:

architects of what they

Speaker:

can produce are unreal.

Speaker:

And the detail that we get,

Speaker:

the conversations that we

Speaker:

have they're the ones that

Speaker:

usually push the envelope

Speaker:

and do some things.

Speaker:

What I'm calling out

Speaker:

here is the fact that,

Speaker:

signing a piece of

Speaker:

paper means jack shit.

Speaker:

But

Speaker:

hold yourself accountable.

Speaker:

And you know what, like,

Speaker:

Hamish and I, you've

Speaker:

probably spoken about it.

Speaker:

I once said I was a

Speaker:

green builder, that I

Speaker:

was sustainable and I did

Speaker:

nothing that was green.

Speaker:

I think the most

Speaker:

sustainable thing I did

Speaker:

was use It's just pine

Speaker:

in my frame, which I

Speaker:

had to use anyway, to be

Speaker:

really honest with you.

Speaker:

So yeah, you start

Speaker:

somewhere and the

Speaker:

information now is there.

Speaker:

It's out there.

Speaker:

You don't have

Speaker:

to look for it.

Speaker:

It's all over your

Speaker:

social media, CPD points.

Speaker:

It's all there.

Speaker:

When we had to find it,

Speaker:

we kind of had to find it.

Speaker:

Now like the information

Speaker:

is just literally,

Speaker:

you can't not see it.

Speaker:

So that's what frustrates

Speaker:

me more than anything

Speaker:

when there's so much

Speaker:

education around this.

Speaker:

and you fail to acknowledge

Speaker:

it and then you don't

Speaker:

do anything about it

Speaker:

but you understand it.

Speaker:

I'm just going to go

Speaker:

back to a phone call

Speaker:

that I had from you a

Speaker:

couple of months ago.

Speaker:

and I think it was after

Speaker:

the podcast that I.

Speaker:

kind of let a

Speaker:

lot of stuff out.

Speaker:

I was feeling quite

Speaker:

emotional at the time and I

Speaker:

I remember I got a

Speaker:

phone call from you

Speaker:

and It was a really

Speaker:

beautiful moment for me.

Speaker:

Can I just ask your

Speaker:

side of that phone call

Speaker:

and why you decided

Speaker:

to pick up the phone?

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

So I think the fact that

Speaker:

you had been so vulnerable

Speaker:

and so honest in that

Speaker:

public forum and I was,

Speaker:

listening to all of your

Speaker:

podcasts and that one it

Speaker:

really struck a chord with

Speaker:

me because I've, had my own

Speaker:

challenges mental health

Speaker:

challenges and, and that's

Speaker:

been ongoing and probably

Speaker:

still is on, it will go

Speaker:

for a long time, but.

Speaker:

When you showed your

Speaker:

hand like that, it just

Speaker:

really struck a chord.

Speaker:

And I wanted to reach out

Speaker:

and thank you for that

Speaker:

because it meant a lot to

Speaker:

me that you had done that.

Speaker:

And so, I don't think I

Speaker:

got to talk much about

Speaker:

me or anything like that.

Speaker:

I just wanted to thank

Speaker:

you and what you've done.

Speaker:

So, yeah,

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

And this is by no means

Speaker:

virtuous virtue signaling,

Speaker:

by the way, I guess I

Speaker:

just wanted to point

Speaker:

out that, you know, Sven

Speaker:

picked up the phone and

Speaker:

called someone when he

Speaker:

was at, you know, I knew

Speaker:

the background to where

Speaker:

Sven was at at the time,

Speaker:

you know, we, we talked

Speaker:

quite a bit like, I felt

Speaker:

really honored that That

Speaker:

I had someone in my life

Speaker:

who felt that they could

Speaker:

just pick up the phone

Speaker:

and, say, Hey, thank you.

Speaker:

I'm having a shit time.

Speaker:

It really resonated with

Speaker:

me and I just really needed

Speaker:

to hear that right then.

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And just on mental health

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and all that kind of

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stuff's been like, I

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know, our relationship.

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goes back a lot further

Speaker:

than having our businesses

Speaker:

working together.

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Like we trained together a

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lot at CrossFit Blackburn.

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I'm just interested to

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hear from your side, how

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you've got a busy life.

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You've got a young family.

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Lots and lots of

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things going on.

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What, what are some of

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the things that you do

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in your life to help

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you navigate some of

Speaker:

those trickier times?

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Is there things that I know

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you talk that you love golf

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for a long time I didn't

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do much exercise as a kid.

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I just played sport

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all day, every day.

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I loved all sports.

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And then for, through my

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late twenties and thirties,

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I didn't do a lot.

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And then I started

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exercising in my

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late thirties.

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CrossFit was the

Speaker:

first thing I really

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got back into.

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But exercise has been

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now an absolute key.

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So even this morning, the

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alarm went at ten to five

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and I was out on the bike,

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Yeah, it's really nice to

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connect with other blokes

Speaker:

and exercise socially.

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I quite like that.

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And I know cyclists

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get a bad rap from

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a lot of people.

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I think there's a healthy

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mix of good and bad

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cyclists, just as there

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are good and bad drivers.

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But we go out nice and

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early to avoid the traffic.

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We stop, we have a coffee

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at the end, a quick

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debrief, 10 minutes

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and we're off, home.

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I'm in the door at 7

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o'clock and I'm getting

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lunches made, quick shower.

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I've got this at 8 o'clock

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and, but if I didn't do

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that ride this morning,

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I'd be sitting here

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like, what am I going

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to, how am I going to get

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some exercise in today?

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And that happened

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to me yesterday.

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I got up early to ride

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and it was raining

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so I couldn't ride.

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I'm the same.

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I was up at five 30

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this morning training

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in my home gym.

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And you talked about

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connections there with with

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other blokes and like if

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I think about what humbles

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me and what calms me and I

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guess a place where I can

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kind of feel vulnerable.

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It's in that on

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that gym floor where

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we're working out.

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We're feeling good

Speaker:

and we're talking.

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I'm one of those wankers.

Speaker:

That's just bought

Speaker:

a cold plunge too.

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So it's basically curing

Speaker:

everything I might add.

Speaker:

because cold

Speaker:

plunges do that.

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But yeah, no, man we

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train, I feel good.

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I've got up, had breakfast

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with the family and now

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we're here having this

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conversation and I'll

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be exactly the same.

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If I didn't do

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that, I'd be itchy.

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I'd be like, when

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am I training today?

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I had eggs on

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toast with, mr.

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Ben Cooper, who's the

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executive chef at chin

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chin, his famous chili

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oil on top of it, and it

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was absolutely delicious.

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Yeah.

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Beautiful.

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Well nailed mate.

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So I think connections is

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a really interesting point,

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Amish, and I'll just be a

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little bit selfish here and

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talk about something I did.

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There's a couple of things.

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So through COVID, everyone

Speaker:

was getting very fatigued

Speaker:

with our lockdowns.

Speaker:

And I came home one day and

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said to my wife, I think we

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need to set up some family

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challenges so that families

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can connect through

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conversation on WhatsApp

Speaker:

about these challenges.

Speaker:

So we set up,

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silly stuff, right?

Speaker:

So one of them was the

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dress up in fancy dress

Speaker:

and walk around the

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Blackburn Lake Sanctuary.

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Now, that was a two fold.

Speaker:

Challenge.

Speaker:

One of them was get

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out of your comfort

Speaker:

zone and have a laugh.

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Stop taking yourself

Speaker:

so serious than being

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down in the dumps about

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the shit we were in.

Speaker:

Secondly, you'll walk

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past someone else and

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they'll laugh, right?

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And it'll have this flow

Speaker:

on effect of happy people.

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You know, once you smile

Speaker:

and have a giggle, your

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day improves, right?

Speaker:

You feel better in

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yourself, right?

Speaker:

So that was gold.

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We got so many photos.

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We had about 150 families

Speaker:

come into this whatsapp

Speaker:

prep in the local area.

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Oh, so it just wasn't,

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it just wasn't your

Speaker:

family directly, like

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you actually went

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No.

Speaker:

So we sent it out to all

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the school families and

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then it went out to other

Speaker:

school families and all

Speaker:

those people got involved.

Speaker:

So we had all sorts of

Speaker:

different challenges.

Speaker:

There were baking,

Speaker:

drawing, running.

Speaker:

There was a ride your

Speaker:

bike in fancy dress from

Speaker:

Blackburn station to

Speaker:

Ngunnaw wedding station.

Speaker:

You know, one family got

Speaker:

in their wetsuits and

Speaker:

goggles and rode their

Speaker:

bikes and tied themselves.

Speaker:

Yeah, there's incredible

Speaker:

memories

Speaker:

from

Speaker:

was all,

Speaker:

time.

Speaker:

So And so from that you

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know, I sort of felt like I

Speaker:

needed to connect more with

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my community around me.

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So the dads at the primary

Speaker:

school, I remember hearing

Speaker:

stories about nights of

Speaker:

mine at their schools,

Speaker:

and they had all these

Speaker:

social gatherings with

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their dads at their school.

Speaker:

And why don't I have

Speaker:

that at my school?

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I'm going to organize it.

Speaker:

So I started getting dads

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together and we'd go to

Speaker:

the pub and have a drink.

Speaker:

This is post COVID now.

Speaker:

And we do a barefoot bowls

Speaker:

and one another dad said,

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Hey, I'll organize a dads

Speaker:

and kids camping weekend.

Speaker:

And so in a few weeks

Speaker:

time we're going and

Speaker:

there's going to be

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50 different families and

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133 people all from our

Speaker:

school go camping together.

Speaker:

And the connection

Speaker:

that's come just from a

Speaker:

couple of phone calls,

Speaker:

it's just everyone's

Speaker:

craving it and needs it.

Speaker:

Why is he selfish?

Speaker:

Can we go back to that

Speaker:

point where you're

Speaker:

saying you're going to

Speaker:

be, this is selfish.

Speaker:

How is he

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Well, I guess I feel like,

Speaker:

the opposite.

Speaker:

yeah, it's, it's the

Speaker:

greater good of course,

Speaker:

but yeah, it was, I feel

Speaker:

really good about that

Speaker:

I'm listening to this

Speaker:

story and I genuinely

Speaker:

have goosebumps

Speaker:

thinking about it.

Speaker:

Like I, for all those

Speaker:

people living in Melbourne

Speaker:

and Victoria, like it was

Speaker:

a shit time during COVID

Speaker:

and all those lockdowns.

Speaker:

So isolating and we

Speaker:

Lost those connections

Speaker:

that I'm going to steal

Speaker:

this quote from someone,

Speaker:

but, you know, and I do

Speaker:

listen to a bit of Brene

Speaker:

Brown, but Brene Brown,

Speaker:

you know, world leader

Speaker:

in vulnerability says

Speaker:

that being vulnerable

Speaker:

with people actually

Speaker:

creates those really

Speaker:

deep connections and

Speaker:

circling back to.

Speaker:

That moment that we

Speaker:

had spent, like, I feel

Speaker:

in for me, like our

Speaker:

relationship changed at

Speaker:

that point because we had

Speaker:

that deeper connection.

Speaker:

And I think that's really

Speaker:

important to remember just

Speaker:

generally in life that we

Speaker:

are all on this fucking

Speaker:

spinning globe, feeling

Speaker:

the same things we were

Speaker:

all feeling the same things

Speaker:

and to smile at someone.

Speaker:

To ask someone how they

Speaker:

are, to be vulnerable

Speaker:

with someone, are really

Speaker:

all easy and important

Speaker:

things that we all

Speaker:

need to do, because

Speaker:

I guarantee you will

Speaker:

feel better afterwards.

Speaker:

Not saying you can fix

Speaker:

it, because we've all got

Speaker:

shit, but there's really

Speaker:

simple things that you

Speaker:

can do to, I guess, help

Speaker:

you navigate your way

Speaker:

through life day to day.

Speaker:

I remember that

Speaker:

phone call from Sven.

Speaker:

Like, it was, oh,

Speaker:

man, it was beautiful.

Speaker:

I was crying, he was

Speaker:

crying, everyone was

Speaker:

crying, I was just

Speaker:

think

Speaker:

it was that moment

Speaker:

where I knew Matt, that

Speaker:

we were onto something

Speaker:

with this podcast.

Speaker:

what has completely

Speaker:

shocked me with running

Speaker:

this podcast and probably

Speaker:

something we'll talk about

Speaker:

on one of the last episodes

Speaker:

of where we've come from

Speaker:

this year, blew my mind

Speaker:

is the amount of people who

Speaker:

needed help, that wanted

Speaker:

help, that didn't know

Speaker:

how to get help, and have

Speaker:

actually reached out to us.

Speaker:

And this is why we've

Speaker:

actually, it's a venture

Speaker:

way that Julie's now, want

Speaker:

a regular guest to help

Speaker:

us navigate this space.

Speaker:

Because we started having

Speaker:

people reach out, I was

Speaker:

like, oh, I don't know, I

Speaker:

know what to do, but like,

Speaker:

I'm not qualified for this,

Speaker:

like, what do we do here?

Speaker:

And that, like, we've had

Speaker:

like, what, over 30 people?

Speaker:

I would say,

Speaker:

I want to loop this back

Speaker:

to PassiveHouse because

Speaker:

with PassiveHouse, it's a

Speaker:

very us first them thing.

Speaker:

And at the end of the

Speaker:

day, PassiveHouse is

Speaker:

just, feels like this

Speaker:

little cultish, we drink

Speaker:

the Kool Aid, whatever.

Speaker:

But at the end of the

Speaker:

day, I think the big thing

Speaker:

about the PassiveHouse

Speaker:

community is everyone is

Speaker:

willing to help each other.

Speaker:

Everyone else is willing

Speaker:

to go out of their way

Speaker:

to work with someone

Speaker:

they haven't worked with

Speaker:

before, or have an open

Speaker:

conversation because you

Speaker:

all have the same goal

Speaker:

and the same outcome.

Speaker:

And it's very defined,

Speaker:

very quickly on.

Speaker:

PassiveHouse.

Speaker:

org And I think the

Speaker:

relationships that I've

Speaker:

found and had now, have

Speaker:

made me a better person,

Speaker:

a better builder uh,

Speaker:

hopefully a better, uh,

Speaker:

husband, better friend.

Speaker:

And I think this is

Speaker:

the thing that people

Speaker:

get so scared of about

Speaker:

Passive House sometimes

Speaker:

is it's not the actual

Speaker:

Passive House thing,

Speaker:

it's extra thing that

Speaker:

happens in the background.

Speaker:

Sven, you connect with your

Speaker:

friends because you have

Speaker:

a joint interest, right?

Speaker:

You're connecting over your

Speaker:

bike riding, so you feel

Speaker:

comfortable in that space.

Speaker:

I connect with my mates,

Speaker:

who I train with, and we

Speaker:

feel good after training,

Speaker:

so we're, we're being

Speaker:

vulnerable with one other,

Speaker:

we're helping each other.

Speaker:

Surely that's the same

Speaker:

thing when we're talking

Speaker:

about this passive house

Speaker:

space, because we're

Speaker:

all connecting over

Speaker:

this common interest.

Speaker:

Yeah, I think to a

Speaker:

degree, I think you're

Speaker:

largely correct.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

about four years ago, my

Speaker:

cousin, who we're going

Speaker:

to get on at some point,

Speaker:

she's a I think business

Speaker:

psychologist is her

Speaker:

background, but she made

Speaker:

a comment and she said to

Speaker:

me maybe reach out to some

Speaker:

other builders and create a

Speaker:

friendship group with them.

Speaker:

And I was like, why

Speaker:

would I ever do that?

Speaker:

I don't want to give

Speaker:

them all my information.

Speaker:

I don't want them

Speaker:

to know about my

Speaker:

business structure.

Speaker:

When now we have a text

Speaker:

message group between

Speaker:

how many builders called

Speaker:

Dodgy Builder Chat.

Speaker:

It's about 12 builders

Speaker:

and it constantly

Speaker:

goes off from, Hey,

Speaker:

who's this trade?

Speaker:

Have you got a

Speaker:

trade for this?

Speaker:

This kid reach out

Speaker:

for apprenticeship.

Speaker:

Anyone, this person's

Speaker:

asking for this role.

Speaker:

Anyone keen?

Speaker:

What would you do

Speaker:

in this situation?

Speaker:

What detail would

Speaker:

you do here?

Speaker:

it goes off all day and

Speaker:

we have this community

Speaker:

of helping each other and

Speaker:

we're all competitors,

Speaker:

but we're not competitors.

Speaker:

And it's taken me, I think

Speaker:

that's where people need

Speaker:

to, I start to understand

Speaker:

if we work together and

Speaker:

go through this whole

Speaker:

collaboration thing,

Speaker:

like if you just work

Speaker:

together, the outcome is

Speaker:

so much easier and it's

Speaker:

so much less stressful.

Speaker:

I don't think we have

Speaker:

that at the moment in the

Speaker:

design community as much.

Speaker:

I think we did

Speaker:

have it pre COVID.

Speaker:

We go back to BDAV

Speaker:

days which is now

Speaker:

design matters.

Speaker:

And I was on the Committee

Speaker:

of Management at BDAV

Speaker:

for five odd years.

Speaker:

And you'd go to a

Speaker:

seminar, an in person

Speaker:

event, you know, not

Speaker:

this on camera rubbish.

Speaker:

You'd actually be in

Speaker:

the same room together.

Speaker:

And there'd be 100,

Speaker:

200 people at some

Speaker:

of these events.

Speaker:

And you have a beer

Speaker:

afterwards in a chat

Speaker:

and you connect about

Speaker:

a challenge that you're

Speaker:

facing, I've got to try

Speaker:

and solve this structural

Speaker:

issue or regulatory issue

Speaker:

and I did that last week,

Speaker:

bring this person there.

Speaker:

Great.

Speaker:

They'll help

Speaker:

you solve that.

Speaker:

We don't have that now.

Speaker:

And so we've got like

Speaker:

a Facebook group and

Speaker:

things like that.

Speaker:

That's great.

Speaker:

You reach in.

Speaker:

Hey, I need an arborist

Speaker:

in Queenscliff and you get

Speaker:

three names straight away.

Speaker:

It's fantastic.

Speaker:

It's quick.

Speaker:

It's easy, but

Speaker:

it's less personal.

Speaker:

And there's not as

Speaker:

much vulnerability

Speaker:

associated with that.

Speaker:

I don't think so.

Speaker:

You don't connect

Speaker:

in the same way.

Speaker:

So, I'm really keen

Speaker:

to sort of get back to

Speaker:

these in person events

Speaker:

and start connecting with

Speaker:

our design community again,

Speaker:

so that we aren't all

Speaker:

beating down these same

Speaker:

bridges at the same time

Speaker:

with our own approach.

Speaker:

this is the problem

Speaker:

that I have though.

Speaker:

Why don't we just have them

Speaker:

with architects, builders,

Speaker:

and building designers?

Speaker:

Why don't we just have

Speaker:

one big thing together?

Speaker:

Isn't that just

Speaker:

make way more sense?

Speaker:

Can we get the

Speaker:

building surveyors

Speaker:

Yep, building today

Speaker:

is

Speaker:

in on that same

Speaker:

Yeah, I think, like,

Speaker:

what, like, it needs to

Speaker:

be inclusive and not this

Speaker:

divide and, I know tomorrow

Speaker:

we've got the SBA, we've

Speaker:

got with our building

Speaker:

science for dummies sort

Speaker:

of thing we're doing

Speaker:

and Hamish is a complete

Speaker:

mix of what builders,

Speaker:

architects, tradies,

Speaker:

Totally.

Speaker:

and we've all purposely

Speaker:

done it on a Friday

Speaker:

afternoon on daylight

Speaker:

savings so you can

Speaker:

stick around, have a

Speaker:

beer, go to the pub

Speaker:

after it if you want to.

Speaker:

Like that's how you

Speaker:

get to know each other.

Speaker:

That's how you learn

Speaker:

from each other.

Speaker:

That's how you develop

Speaker:

trust from the start

Speaker:

and that trust then

Speaker:

goes into projects.

Speaker:

Like people just

Speaker:

overcomplicate this

Speaker:

so much and want to

Speaker:

keep their guard up.

Speaker:

totally agree.

Speaker:

I hate these in

Speaker:

person things.

Speaker:

I don't even really like

Speaker:

the events where you

Speaker:

sort of sit down like

Speaker:

the builder's breakfast

Speaker:

or anything like that.

Speaker:

And I know people do them,

Speaker:

but I don't like being

Speaker:

stuck next to someone.

Speaker:

I want to get around

Speaker:

and have a chat to

Speaker:

different people.

Speaker:

I just think that it's

Speaker:

way, it's more exciting

Speaker:

that way and, and there's

Speaker:

plenty to be learned.

Speaker:

Like, I don't know

Speaker:

everything, you don't know

Speaker:

everything, but together

Speaker:

we kind of might, or might

Speaker:

be able to get there.

Speaker:

Totally.

Speaker:

you share your

Speaker:

experiences, can't you?

Speaker:

I'd

Speaker:

Yeah,

Speaker:

love to get to that

Speaker:

event tomorrow.

Speaker:

I've got a site meeting

Speaker:

and then I've got to

Speaker:

coach my son's basketball,

Speaker:

so I'm sadly not gonna

Speaker:

be able to make it.

Speaker:

we have someone filming

Speaker:

the event, so we will,

Speaker:

um, post it up into three

Speaker:

parts on the Sustainable

Speaker:

Builders Alliance website.

Speaker:

Although it might sit

Speaker:

behind a member portal.

Speaker:

So

Speaker:

just letting

Speaker:

everybody know where,

Speaker:

I totally think

Speaker:

people should

Speaker:

yeah, we are, we're just,

Speaker:

we're, I'm going to let,

Speaker:

let the cat out of the

Speaker:

bag a little bit, but we

Speaker:

asked SBA is moving to a

Speaker:

member structure shortly

Speaker:

but it's going to be some

Speaker:

incredible things sitting

Speaker:

behind that member portal,

Speaker:

And rumor you've got a

Speaker:

calendar coming out

Speaker:

too that you're on as

Speaker:

well, Hamish, isn't it?

Speaker:

Like the firefighter

Speaker:

I'm on every page.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

, every single page I'm on.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Hey, Sven.

Speaker:

Thanks so much

Speaker:

for coming on.

Speaker:

I reckon we could

Speaker:

bloody talk for hours.

Speaker:

I know we do chat for

Speaker:

hours when we catch

Speaker:

up on the phone.

Speaker:

generally when we talk

Speaker:

about what you and I

Speaker:

have actually caught up to

Speaker:

talk about, it's usually

Speaker:

two minutes at the end.

Speaker:

, but yeah, I'm incredibly

Speaker:

grateful that, uh, you

Speaker:

know, I can call you a

Speaker:

friend and,, you know,

Speaker:

it's been amazing To be

Speaker:

working with you over

Speaker:

the last few years.

Speaker:

And, um, I'm excited

Speaker:

about you designing a

Speaker:

home for here, for my

Speaker:

family, that is completely

Speaker:

natural, plastic free,

Speaker:

petrochemical free.

Speaker:

the challenge for you.

Speaker:

It's going to happen, mate.

Speaker:

think that just shows the

Speaker:

trust there in itself,

Speaker:

that Hamish, as a builder,

Speaker:

you're trusting Sven

Speaker:

to design your home.

Speaker:

is there any bigger

Speaker:

selling point?

Speaker:

Yeah, well, I actually

Speaker:

don't even care

Speaker:

what it looks like.

Speaker:

Cause I just know what,

Speaker:

whatever Sven and his

Speaker:

team come up with is,

Speaker:

going to be awesome.

Speaker:

He's always wanted to

Speaker:

live in a glass dome.

Speaker:

if anyone wants to get onto

Speaker:

you Sven, they're looking

Speaker:

at designing a house how

Speaker:

can we reach out to you?

Speaker:

DMs on Instagram?

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

the best way.

Speaker:

So have a look at some

Speaker:

of our work, read some

Speaker:

of our articles, our

Speaker:

contact page is there.

Speaker:

We've got a little video

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series explaining Passive

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House and the pros and

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cons and challenges.

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So jump onto that,

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have a watch.

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Yeah,

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and if any, yeah, if

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anyone's failed to

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do that, you're happy

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to reach out to us.

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We're happy to point

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you in Sven's way.

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But thank you very much

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for joining us today.

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We really do

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appreciate it, mate.

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Thanks,

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guys.

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Good

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to see you both.

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Catch up.

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Cheers.