Building Good

Dec 19 2023

Building Good Podcast artwork

This is a show about building a better world. Literally. The construction industry might seem like a conservative place, but we’re changing it. Building Good is a platform for conversations around topics like indigenous architecture, hiring and retaining women in trades and building sustainable energy grids. We want to build a better world, and we think the way to do that starts with the construction industry… so come and help us build good.

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Architecture is about stories - with Chris Cornelius

Dec 19 2023 33 mins

Buildings from around the world represent the culture they were built in. From gothic cathedrals in Europe to glittering glassy office towers. So why don’t we always think about local culture when we start designing? Why don’t we talk to the community and ask for the stories they grew up with, so they can tell us about their culture? That’s what Chris Cornelius, founder of St

Rethinking road space - with Dana O’Born

Nov 28 2023 33 mins

If you head downtown in any major Canadian city you will see a lot of construction, and it is mostly large residential towers that are going up. That means more people living there, but the roads stay the same size. More residents, more cars, more traffic. So we have to rethink how we use those roads, and how we get people on to more efficient modes of transport. The cheapest, easi

The future is coming, ready or not - with Molly Connor and Markku Allison

Nov 15 2023 30 mins

Human nature makes the future a scary place. Scientists had predicted pandemics for decades, but the Covid-19 pandemic still felt like it came out of nowhere. Our tendency is to react to events, rather than get ourselves ready for likely eventualities. Markku Allison and Molly Connor have developed a free tool to help change our thinking and learn how to be ready for the future. Th

Construction work is social work - with Nora Spencer

Oct 31 2023 27 mins

If job sites can be hostile environments for women and nonbinary people, how do we get them into construction in the first place, so they can change those workplaces? Nora Spencer founded Hope Renovations. They run a programme to bring women and nonbinary folks in the trades, which includes training on dealing with job sites and then they employ them in internships. They’re also

Keeping people in their “dream” jobs

Oct 17 2023 31 mins

When we’re starting a new, dream job, we can overlook some annoyances, thinking they might get better. As we get older, more experienced though, we might realise that annoyance was a red flag. That coworker’s “jokes” were actually a sign of an intolerant attitude, and that promotion you wanted is given to someone less qualified. You still love what you do, but would you tel

Profit and purpose aren’t mutually exclusive - with Afdhel Aziz

Oct 03 2023 28 mins

Afdhel Aziz is a “recovering marketer”. His purpose used to be helping some of the biggest brands on the planet sell their products, and he did that by connecting them with “cool”. Now, he thinks that “cool” has been replaced with “good”. He’s even written a book about it: Good is the New Cool. He joins us to talk about how companies need to have a purpose beyond

More condos, but for who? - with Cheryll Case

Sep 19 2023 27 mins

Heading into downtown Toronto you see a forest of cranes and partly built condo towers. These buildings are providing new, much-needed housing… for a certain type of resident. They’re mostly small, with good amenities and high fees. So where will all the families live? Where do our low and fixed income neighbours move to? Cheryll Case is an urban planner who puts affordable hou

When is a “smart city” too smart? - with John Lorinc

Sep 05 2023 26 mins

Cities are phenomenally complex, living spaces that can generate an overwhelming amount of data, so collecting, managing and using that data is also phenomenally complex. There are huge pitfalls to avoid, privacy being the obvious one, and misuse by private entities another. Data is an incredibly valuable tool though, especially as we look to manage massive increases in electricity

Good Guys - with The Workplace Allies

Aug 22 2023 33 mins

What’s so scary about being the man who speaks up for women at work, especially when courage and accountability are traits that so many of us feel “make a man” in the first place? David G. Smith, PhD and W. Brad Johnson, PhD are “The Workplace Allies”, and they’ve drawn on their military and academic experience to write “Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Wom

Synthetic cities - with Myrna Bittner

Aug 08 2023 27 mins

Planning cities requires a lot of data. That data can be difficult to penetrate, and that’s where synthetic cities come in. Myrna Bittner and RWI Synthetics create complex visual models of cities that are used to experiment and model what might happen with new projects like transit, housing or even if every resident owned a guinea pig. If you’ve ever played SimCity you’ve pro