Episode notes
If you’ve ever wondered why Australian homes feel freezing in winter and brutal in summer, this episode makes it painfully clear. “Suppliers in Australia are still delivering single-glazed aluminium windows,” and that one sentence explains a lot about comfort, energy bills, condensation, and why so many people feel worn down inside their own homes. We sit down with Monika Rogers from Eco Sky Windows to talk high performance windows, Passive House certified systems, and what “thermally broken” actually means. We discuss U-values, why the whole window unit matters (not just the glass), and how…
Podcast
Mindful Builder
Matthew Carland and Hamish White · Learning · English
Join Matt from Carland Constructions and Hamish from Sanctum Homes in a podcast discussing sustainable building practices and passive house concepts. They also talk to experts from all avenues of the building industry to share their knowledge and insights on what the industry looks like today.
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E134 · 13 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
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E133 · 6 Sep 2026 · 35 min
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E132 · 30 Aug 2026 · 37 min
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“If you keep ending up with bad clients, that’s a you problem.” Matt doesn’t sugar coat it, and honestly, he’s right. In this episode we kick off our pre-construction series by talking about the building clients we refuse to work with, and why picking your client is one of the biggest risk controls in a construction business. This is a practical chat for builders, tradies, architects, and homeowners who want a smoother build. We talk about why most client conflict comes from a lack of structure, unclear expectations, and messy communication. Matt shares his early filters like enquiry forms,…
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E131 · 24 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 39 min
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"How rock bottom do you have to let me hit before you actually help me?" Brad McEwan’s words hung in the air after we wrapped, because they’re all too familiar in the building industry. In this episode, we go past the surface stuff and talk honestly about what it looks like when you’ve been carrying it all, hoping someone will notice, and then realising you’re running out of road. From the outside, Brad looks like the guy who’s got it sorted, with business, family, and good people around him. But he shares how quickly “I’m fine” can turn into snapping at work, shutting down at home, and…
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E130 · 16 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
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E128 · 2 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
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In this episode, we sit down with Joel from Heidi Build and Andrew “Hoppo” from Hoppo Construction for a no-script, no-agenda chat. It starts with what makes tradie creators actually work online: being approachable, having an opinion, and showing up as yourself. Joel breaks down why the polished, curated Instagram approach did nothing for him, then the one raw timber-quality rant that finally cut through. From there, we get into the stuff people don’t always say out loud. The stigma that tradies aren’t intelligent, why that stereotype still lingers, and the moment Joel’s own brother hit him…
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E127 · 26 Jul 2026 · 52 min
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E126 · 19 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
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“The difference between a good businessman and a bad businessman is the good one fails and learns.” A tradie builds momentum fast. Makes money fast. Spends it faster. Learns the hard way about GST, tax, super, and the cost of looking like you’ve “made it”. Then the pressure stacks up, burnout hits, and the whole thing starts to wobble. Andrew Hopkins (Hoppo from Hopkins Construction) walks through the real comeback: rebuilding a construction business with better boundaries, a stronger brand, and a work week that actually fits parenting. It also gets practical on social media for tradies…
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E125 · 12 Jul 2026 · 55 min
The Estimating Mistake That Costs You Thousands
“You’re at the mercy of the quality of the 2D plans.” We sit down with Tom from Vision 2 Estimating (V2E) to talk about why traditional construction estimating and 2D-only take-offs are costing builders real money. If you’re quoting off PDFs, squinting at elevations, and hoping the details sort themselves out on site, this conversation will hit. It’s about accurate building estimates , protecting margin, and pricing work properly in modern Australian residential construction. We take a look at why 3D modelling for builders is not about pretty renders; it’s about clarity. Tom explains how 3D…
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E124 · 5 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
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“If you can’t hit 0.6 ACH on a brand-new build, you probably shouldn’t be building.” Let’s stop tip-toeing around the reality of the Australian housing market. We are throwing up volume-built boxes and high-density apartments that are practically end-of-life before they’ve even seen their first winter. We sat down with Linden Thorley, architect, Passive House designer, and chair of the Australian Passive House Association Retrofit Committee. We take a look into why retrofitting the existing 9.5 million homes in Australia is the single biggest business opportunity for trades over the next…
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