The Build Insite Podcast

You can't control what you don't measure. And in most homes, no one's measuring anything.

Recorded on site straight after the final blower door test at the Callery Creek House project (4.1 air changes an hour, for the record), this episode brings back one of Build Insite's most popular guests, Jess from Climashore. Third time on the show, and she's brought a whole new rabbit hole with her.

Jess walks us through her path from doing energy efficiency star ratings for the building code, to realising that what gets designed, what gets assessed and what actually gets built can be three very different things. That realisation set off a domino chain: blower door testing, ventilation, Passive House, hygrothermal modelling, and now building biology. We also get into her own podcast, the international guests she's landed, and the internet's very strong opinions about insulating brick cavity walls

Then things get interesting. Jess has just started working in the EMF space, taking radio frequency, electric field and magnetic field readings on a certified Passive House site before the slab was even poured. Plus the everyday stuff most people never think about, like what happens to particulate matter when you fry an egg on a gas cooktop, and why the CO2 in your bedroom is probably sitting at more than double what it should be.

What you'll learn:
• Why a blower door test is the cheapest, easiest way to measure how a building actually performs, and exactly what it exposes (window installs, downlights, skirting gaps, even your key lock)
• When you can test mid build on a membrane system, and why anticon makes that a lot harder
• What EMFs are, how they're measured, and why "you can't control what you don't measure" applies here too
• The indoor air quality numbers worth knowing: CO2 targets, particulate spikes from cooking, and the monitors Jess uses at home and on the road
• Practical advice for younger builders who want to build better but don't know where to start

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:50 - What Jess has been up to at Climashore
02:12 - From star ratings to building science
04:30 - Starting a building science podcast
10:01 - The brick cavity wall insulation debate
11:56 - EMFs explained
14:52 - Indoor air quality: what you can't see
19:34 - Where builders should start with testing
23:29 - What a blower door test actually is
25:27 - The best and worst results Jess has tested

Host: Luke Callery
Guest: Jessica Kismet from Climashore

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

The real test of a building business isn't the boom times. It's how you communicate, hire and hold your ground when things get tight.

 

In Part 2 of this conversation on the Build Insite Podcast, Dean and Luke continue the chat with Brett Way from VW Building Projects. This time, the focus shifts from heritage craftsmanship to the engine room of running a strong building business through uncertain conditions.

 

Brett opens up about VW Building's Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process, how they educate clients on the unknowns that come with heritage homes, and the challenges of navigating council delays in Victoria. He also gets candid about the current pressure on pricing, fuel costs and material escalations, and how transparent conversations with trades, clients and team are more important now than ever.

The discussion moves into team structure, apprentice development, building culture across two divisions, and Brett's personal approach to staying present at home while running a high-performing business. He also shares where he gets his best learning, his honest take on AI in construction, and what the future looks like for VW Building.

What You'll Learn:

- Why Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) protects both builder and client
- How to have honest pricing conversations with clients and trades in tough markets
- What real apprentice development looks like across multiple sites
- How to set clear communication lines so problems get solved at the right level
- Why networking and collaboration are now non-negotiable for solo operators

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:18 - Educating Clients Through Heritage Content
02:33 - Managing Client Expectations and Unknowns
04:13 - Council Delays and Approval Challenges
05:19 - Navigating Price Hikes and Tough Conversations
10:02 - Inside the VW Building Team Structure
11:43 - How They Train and Retain Apprentices
13:19 - Team Events and Run Melbourne
14:22 - Staying Healthy and Switching Off
17:32 - Best Learning Resources and AI in Construction
20:44 - Future Plans and Pipeline for VW Building
24:51 - One Thing to Change in the Victorian Building Industry
26:25 - Rapid Fire Questions
29:30 - Where to Find Brett

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

A heritage facade with an architectural extension is one thing. Conserving Australia's oldest sandstone castle from 1849? That's an entirely different game.

In this episode of the Build Insite Podcast, Dean and Luke sit down with Brett Way, co-founder of VW Building Projects. Brett and his business partner Josh started out as childhood friends turned carpenters, working under the same mentor for nearly a decade before going out on their own. Today, VW Building operates two divisions across Melbourne and the Geelong/Bellarine Peninsula, with a sharp focus on true heritage conservation and high-complexity architectural builds.

Brett walks us through the story behind Corriell, the oldest building on the Bellarine, where his team is undertaking real restoration work on an 1849 sandstone property once owned by the founders of Drysdale and Newcomb. From six metres of underpinning beneath untouched stonework to hand-stencilled fretwork replicas, this is heritage building at its most demanding.

He also opens up about making the sea change to Barwon Heads, splitting roles with his business partner, building culture across two locations, and why VW Building hires the right people first and builds the role around them.

What You'll Learn:
- Why heritage conservation demands a completely different skillset to standard renovation
- How to split roles across two locations without losing momentum as a business
- What it actually takes to underpin a 175-year-old sandstone wall
- How to manage team culture and communication across two divisions
- Why hiring for the person, not the position, pays off long term

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:18 - Brett's Journey into Building
03:07 - Finding the Heritage Niche
04:05 - Splitting the Business Across Two Locations
05:54 - Inside the Corriell Restoration
08:12 - Underpinning 175-Year-Old Stonework
11:31 - The Sea Change to Barwon Heads
13:09 - Avoiding Burnout as a Business Owner
14:42 - Advice for Builders Considering a Sea Change
17:19 - Managing Culture Across Two Locations
20:26 - Hiring the Right People

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery 
Guest: Brett Way co-founder and builder from VW Building Projects

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

Every builder has a different DNA. The way you trench plates, wrap a cavity, run your crews. It all changes the price, the program, and the product. So why are most builders still being handed a one-size-fits-all quote?

In Part 2, Dean and Luke continue the conversation with Tom Lawson from Vision 2 Estimating, going deeper into how V2E tailors every model to the way your business actually builds. From pre-model meetings and onboarding through to integrating directly with Buildxact and price book setup, this episode is a behind-the-scenes look at what makes their process tick.

Tom also opens up about where V2E is heading next, including some serious investment in AI tools, a new model viewer release, and plans for an AI chatbot built into the model itself. It wraps with rapid fire questions, plenty of laughs, and a reminder that the builders winning in 2026 are the ones treating estimating like the engine room of the business.

What You'll Learn:

- Why your "Builder's DNA" should drive every estimate, not generic plan notes
- How pre-model meetings catch the costly stuff missing from drawings
- The smart way to integrate estimating data into Buildxact and your price book
- Why a "measuring stick" beats gut feel when reviewing subbie quotes
- Where AI is heading in construction and how V2E is leading the charge

Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
00:20 – What is "Builder's DNA" and why it matters
02:38 – Onboarding and pre-model meetings
04:25 – Inside the V2E team: building the right mix of skills
08:05 – Integrating with Buildxact the smart way
12:00 – Building your price book for instant pricing
14:30 – Why empathy with builders is the V2E difference
16:00 – Using data as a measuring stick against subbie quotes
19:08 – When to bring V2E in and what you need
22:30 – What's next: AI tools, model viewer, and chatbot integration
24:33 – How Michael first reached out to Luke
25:24 – Rapid fire questions
26:35 – Final advice and where to find V2E

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Tom Lawson from Vision 2 Estimating (V2E)

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

"A builder who doesn't estimate properly in 2026 is going under." Tom Lawson didn't sugarcoat it, and what follows is a masterclass in why the old way of pricing jobs is leaving builders exposed.

This week, Dean and Luke sit down with Tom Lawson from Vision 2 Estimating (V2E), fresh off the Build Insite Hub Launch and Live event at Circa and Bowens in Port Melbourne. Tom flew in from Adelaide to unpack how 3D construction modelling is reshaping the way builders price, plan, and deliver projects.

From his early days bouncing between structural engineering and architecture, to seven years detailing roof trusses at K&B Timber, Tom walks through the path that led him to co-founding V2E with Michael. What started as a "why can't we do this for the whole project?" idea has grown into a 17-modeller team helping builders nationwide resolve plans before they hit site.

If you've ever been buried under conflicting documents, frustrated by square metre rate guesswork, or burned by design issues that only surface mid-build, this one's going to hit home.

**What You'll Learn:**

- Why traditional estimating is setting builders up to redo work twice
- How 3D modelling catches engineering and design clashes before site
- The key differences between SA and VIC frame and truss design responsibilities
- Why square metre rates don't reflect what your build actually costs
- How visual estimating brings clients into the conversation and unlocks smarter decisions

**Chapters:**
00:00 – Introduction
00:27 – Welcome Tom Lawson to the studio
01:15 – Tom's journey: From engineering to architecture to detailing
04:00 – Inside K&B Timber and the world of frame and truss design
05:23 – The idea that sparked Vision 2 Estimating
07:11 – SA vs VIC: How frame design responsibilities differ
10:00 – What is Vision 2 Estimating?
11:04 – Why the traditional estimating process is broken
13:36 – The problem with square metre rates
15:07 – Managing 10+ sets of documents on every project
16:18 – Catching design issues before site (real examples)
19:55 – Helping clients visualise the final build
21:55 – Educating clients through 3D visuals
22:57 – Wrapping up Part 1

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Tom Lawson from Vision 2 Estimating (V2E)

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite