Founded in 1993, the company strives to surpass expectations by developing life-long relationships while delivering the highest quality product possible, which helps create a vibrant community spirit where everyone lives, works, and plays.

Family ties
Jim Cutter, Founder and President of Cutter Construction, nurtures client relationships from the start of projects to the final walk-through and beyond. His wife, Connie Cutter, has managed the company’s office operations for more than 20 years, handling accounts receivable and payable, quarterly taxes, payroll, and much more.

“It is hard to list out everything Connie has truly done for this company. Her accuracy and attention to detail is unmatched and provides a trusted source for our customers. I can’t think of anyone else that could better manage this position,” says Jim.

After returning to the family business last year, Connie and Jim’s daughter, Hope Cutter, also plays an important role, particularly in design and meeting customer needs. “I love the design aspect—helping with layouts, finishes, selections; that’s where my passion is,” says Hope.

Those family ties are strong, and it’s clear Cutter’s commitment has kept the company running smoothly over the years. What’s important to Jim are both his people and helping others.

“We care more about relationships than we do the profit, and it’s hard to find people like that,” Jim says, adding that he’s lucky to have employees who do. “It’s really hard to find people who care as much as we do.”

The role of remodeling
Certainly, the business has come a long way since it started doing small projects that Jim could handle alone, an approach that typically meant building one or two homes while still completing small projects along the way. These days, Cutter handles all types of projects: entry-level homes, custom homes, custom remodeling, and commercial contracting.

“We are glad to take care of a wide range of projects. From small projects—that could be installing a storm door or building a front porch—all the way to larger-scale projects like whole home renovations, or adding a second floor,” adds Jim.

Whether serving real estate developers to build a 14-family building, or a private homeowner to finish their lower level, Cutter Construction is ready to serve anyone with a residence, condominium, apartment, or multifamily building.

Jim emphasizes that the company’s continued success is largely thanks to the firm’s commitment to remodeling, especially during the recession years. “Many small custom-home builders couldn’t hold on because if they were only building three or four homes a year and that shrank to one or zero, they had no income. Our remodeling skills have kept us busy the whole time,” he shares. “Looking back, remodeling has always been a strong presence in the building of our business and helped get us through the leaner times, like the recession and COVID, when people weren’t building homes.”

Award-winning projects
Keeping a good roster of partners that Cutter can finish jobs with is vital, Jim stresses, and is essential to providing the quality customer service on which the company prides itself. Caring deeply for the company’s numerous projects while delivering top quality to clients is something that has not gone unnoticed by the broader industry, and Cutter Construction has been honored with its share of awards, including three Builder of the Year awards from the Home Builders Association of Kentucky and the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky.

“We are especially honored to receive these awards since they are selected by our industry leaders,” says Jim. For the last 10 years, Cutter has been ranked by the Cincinnati Business Courier among the largest 25 builders in the region. Cutter also received the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in 2011, a non-industry award that goes to a selected company proven to use excellent work ethics in their marketplace.

“There’s also the Bob Weiss Wisdom Award, an important award for dad,” says Hope. “Bob is a great person who was devoted to and led the state of Kentucky Home Builders Association for over 40 years. Dad was honored and shocked to receive this award.”

Adds Jim: “The Bob Weiss Wisdom Award is an important award to me because Bob ran our state Home Builders Association for over 40 years, so he’s been around every builder in the state of Kentucky and knows everybody in the country when it comes to home building. He’s retired now, and every one of us who knows him, even if not in Kentucky, knows what a well-respected person he is to our industry, and what a great leader he was.”

Additionally, there’s the 2007 Donald M. Wiedeman Lifetime Achievement Award, which Jim is also very proud of, for dedication, loyalty, and service to the association and industry.

Dedicated to the community
Ongoing community commitment has always been a driving force for Cutter Construction. This is exemplified in the company’s involvement in skilled trades and career pathway programs at the junior high and high school levels, as well as NaviGo, a non-profit offering an academic coaching model that helps young students find a career path, co-founded by Jim in 2010.

“It doesn’t matter to me whether they’re interested in construction, aviation, sales and marketing, or the medical field,” Jim says. “I spend a lot of time in schools and with families, helping students figure out their career path. I also sponsor many trade programs that provide skilled trade training to young people. It’s important to develop the next generation.”

In addition to supporting his alma mater, Newport High School, and Newport Central Catholic High School in developing leadership capacities, Cutter has sponsored more than 20 local sports teams over the years. Additionally, Cutter has held leadership positions with Kids Voting of Kentucky, the Diocesan Children’s Home of the Catholic Diocese of Covington, Northern Kentucky University, Campbell County Lodge Boys Home, NaviGo, and Children’s Inc. Cutter has helped fulfill multiple wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Jim has served on the Make-A-Wish-Foundation board for over 15 years.

Hope, too, is involved in the community, particularly as a Program Director with Oh She Built That, a non-profit traveling woodshop that trains girls and gender-expansive youth not only in woodworking skills but also in confidence and resilience, serving students aged 9 to 18.

“I love doing it. If Oh She Built That didn’t come to some of these schools, some of these students might not have access to these skills otherwise,” Hope says. “I went to a great public high school, and woodshop was never even offered. It’s great we’re putting power tools in the hands of girls who might not have thought they wanted to build something, but they walk away so proud they’ve made something with their own hands! Some of them may never pick up a drill again and that’s okay, but it is a lifelong skill they carry with them.”

Shaping the future
With everything Cutter Construction has going on, what is this team considering next? Jim has some thoughts on the importance of developing the next generation of leaders for his company and the broader industry. Indeed, while weathering COVID and the recession were challenges for the company, Jim’s more pressing goal is to retain and coach more like-minded people.

Again, it’s all about forging and maintaining relationships, he adds. “The amount of time we take and the focus we put on relationships with our customers exceeds anybody I know,” he says. “The commitment we have to satisfy all people and take good care of them is our core philosophy. It really does come down to the relationships and people,” he says. “Although we feel like we are really good at building, the reason our phone continues to ring every day is due to how we treat people.”

The post Building Relationships, Trust, and Dreams<p class="company">Cutter Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Understanding that space is always at a premium, both remodels and custom builds are planned for maximum functionality. The Glenaden Homes team guides clients to make informed choices that unlock their family’s style and meet their needs through options that create a home that is contemporary, energy-efficient, quiet, smart, and secure.

Honest and open communication at every step of the building and remodelling process means homeowners have full access to their project’s schedule, budget updates, daily progress reports, and decision-making tools thanks to Glenaden Homes’s cutting-edge software. Clients remain completely involved and informed wherever they are, guaranteeing peace of mind and confidence in the development of their dream home.

Owner-operator Daniel Burrows began modestly, obtaining a temporary position at a framing firm after graduating from university while deciding what to do for a living. He oversaw his own framing crew a year later, and soon after—thanks to his innate fascination and overall talent for “all things construction”—a builder he was working with hired him as a site supervisor and project organizer for several significant restorations in an exclusive area of Toronto.

“I started a contracting business because taking what I’ve learned through my education and framing just seemed like the obvious next step,” Burrows says. “Framing teaches you all the aspects of the build. As a framer, you go in and build the footings, which is the first thing you do for a house. You understand why you’re doing it, and who’s coming up after you.”

After discovering his passion, Burrows launched his own construction business and has been renovating houses and establishing a respectable company for more than 20 years. In turn, clients, architects, and designers continue to recommend Glenaden Homes because of its dedication to honesty, integrity, and high-quality service.

After 20 years of project management and operational process experience for F1000 technology businesses, Vicki Rollins joined Glenaden Homes in 2016, making the fulfilling transition from high-tech, Fortune 500 companies to residential building, helping clients realize their visions and goals. To keep projects on schedule and within budget, her objective is to continuously enhance project discipline and procedure.

“Construction is known for being chaotic; maybe you know stories about people not hearing from their contractor, not knowing what’s coming up next, being rushed to make decisions,” she says. “That’s just not the background I come from, so I quickly put some process, rigour, and systems into place around how we run our projects.”

This means Glenaden Homes employs very robust processes in how it manages projects, using construction software that gives homeowners, trades, architects, and designers access to the project portal where they can see a detailed day-by-day schedule. If clients can’t get to the job site personally, they can still receive frequent updates during the week.

“We do bi-weekly site meetings, and the portal also tracks their budget,” Rollins adds. “We have pretty detailed budgets for our clients, and we help them manage those.”

There’s a change order process, file repository, and everything that comes from the designer in terms of doors, trim profiles, crown moulding details, paint schedules, and tile layouts, all laid out coherently to ensure the process is easy to view and follow.

Working primarily in the west end of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), over the years Glenaden Homes has elevated its offering to service discerning, luxury-minded clients. “We do a lot of major structural and complex renovations because there’s not a lot of barren land in Toronto,” Rollins explains. “Most people, due to limitations with the city, find it easier to renovate an existing house versus a new build.”

Burrows’ structural background in particular helps in those aspects, and he’s been sought after by certain architects who have complex renovations and trust him with that work. “Probably one of the biggest differences we find in our space, with builders we’re competing against, is there are a lot of strictly management companies at our level,” Burrows says. “I can’t call myself a master builder, but I have all the traits, knowing about every aspect of a build: how to wire, how to tile, how to do the trim, and pulling out the details in architectural and designer drawings.”

Very quickly, Burrows started working with an architect/designer, Rollins tells us, learning how to execute the quality finishes that many clients expect. And those clients often have very particular specifications, with each project presenting its own unique details and complications that Glenaden Homes needs to solve for.

“Everything we do is custom finished for the client, so there’s no A, B, or C tile package to choose from or a builder’s grade kitchen package,” says Rollins. “For our clients, the world is their oyster when they’re selecting their finishes, and then we work with them and their design team to find unique details.” These details can include glass floors, elevators, and saunas, to name a few.

Keeping these requirements on track and on budget is key for Glenaden Homes when it comes to servicing its many clients who expect top-notch quality service from beginning to end. “One of our customers, who’s a lawyer, had a client complain about how they didn’t know what was going with their reno,” says Rollins. “Our client pulled up his own project portal and said, ‘Here’s my schedule. I know everything that’s happening next week.’”

Indeed, Glenaden Homes’s rigorous step-by-step process (starting with pre-construction, which could take anywhere from two or three months to six months, depending on the size of the project) stresses the importance of making all the interior design decisions for the project ahead of time to ensure ease and satisfaction. “We have all the details, so once projects start, clients aren’t stressed making decisions, and we have a good handle on everything,” says Rollins. “We make sure we order products and materials with long lead times on time, so we don’t have any hiccups.”

To be sure, reducing stress during a potentially hectic time is something the Glenaden Homes team prides itself on. “We keep open lines of communication through various means as much as possible,” Rollins shares. “We try not to be shy about things; we never have a client calling us to ask what’s happening. Never. It doesn’t happen.”

The Glenaden Homes team is also passionate about working with designers who have distinctive visions and ideas for a project, while understanding and trying to stay in their own lane as much as possible. “We’re the implementation team, and working with architects and designers, we understand and appreciate everyone’s value,” says Burrows. “It makes it fun for us. If we were in design-build, we wouldn’t be introduced to some of the unique details we’ve executed. We are happy to work with different architects and designers that homeowners have chosen, and then they come to us, so we get to implement lots of different ideas.”

Along with ensuring customer satisfaction, Glenaden Homes’s commitment to superior quality is imperative, and this stems in part from working with designers. “They all want their product to be Instagram-worthy and photographable to the point where they can highlight their work, and so we keep that close to our hearts,” Burrows says. “We want it to look as close to what the designer wants as possible so they can brag about their work, and then we can quietly brag in the background,” he laughs.

Glenaden Homes also strives to select first-rate craftspeople for its subtrades, utilizing robust quality assurance processes and bringing both the designers and homeowners in throughout the process so everybody sees what’s happening. This commitment has paid off in numerous ways. While the company has been a member of BILD for several years now, this was the first year it decided to put some of its projects into the ring for the organization’s RenoMark™ awards.

“We were thrilled to find out we placed in the top three finalists for both of the projects we submitted,” says Rollins. “We didn’t win, but to be a top finalist the first time you submit two of your projects was very rewarding.”

In the renovation world, challenges are numerous, particularly when it comes to constantly “digging up the unknown.” This is when it becomes vital to be able to shift and pivot, says Burrows. “We see it time and time again; we make assumptions on how things are put together, and it’s just not that way,” he says. “Then you have to have the wherewithal to say, ‘we’re not going in this direction now, we’re going in this direction,’ and not lose time.”

While it comes to renovations, you never know what you’re going to find when you start “peeling back the layers,” he adds. “We’re always problem-solving because of that.”

Looking ahead, he says that Glenaden Homes hopes to be continually challenged. “If we can have projects that keep getting more interesting and exciting, like how it’s been so far, we’ll be happy,” he says.

And keeping clients happy means staying the course with the company’s trademark dedication to organization and communication. “Having a process in place is definitely something that helps us,” Burrows says. “We have a tight project management process, and we also have high-quality customers.”

Glenaden Homes also works from a solid trade pool, aiming to use the same trades for every project, ones who appreciate the company’s vision and goals. “Everyone knows what we’re all gunning for,” Burrows says. “We appreciate finer things.”

Rollins agrees. “All of our crews and trades really take pride in what they do, and that’s important. When you’re doing something like this, it’s important to have that coming from everybody involved in the project.”

Essentially, it takes more than skill to build a house: creativity, passion, commitment, and organization all come together to create a rewarding result. “You’re always problem-solving,” says Rollins. “No two days are alike, but I think our process helps make them not chaotic.”

The post Finer Things: Building with Integrity, Intention, and Communication<p class="company">Glenaden Homes</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Boasting a fleet of more than 700 units, service assets, and accessories such as boom lifts, scissor lifts, telehandlers, mast forklifts, small dirt equipment, and more, GM leases a variety of aerial and material handling equipment, and offers custom hydraulic hoses, electrical and hydraulic maintenance, and diagnostics. Along with renting out brand-new, well-maintained construction equipment that has undergone a comprehensive inspection and received OSHA approval, and offering timely, trustworthy customer service, GM Equipment also provides repair services on site or at its facilities, with highly skilled service specialists performing boom inspections on a quarterly or annual basis.

Another recent accomplishment was the company’s ability to elevate its Hydraulix offering, a bucket truck repair division established in November 2020 as part of a continuous endeavor to differentiate itself, remain current, and carry on its legacy of variety and advancement. Hydraulix services include DOT inspections, yearly boom inspections, hydraulic repair, electrical diagnostics, lathe and mill work, dielectric testing, and custom hoses of all sizes, in addition to the hydraulic and electrical repair of various boom, bucket, and derrick trucks. Since its inception, the division has grown to serve a wide range of clients with varied needs at offices in Columbus, Ohio and St. Marys, Pennsylvania.

“As of January 1^st this year, we separated that company as its own entity and put a focus on driving that business to newer heights,” says General Manager, Drew Dobson. “So far this year, it’s been a really good story. We’re employing more people for good-paying jobs, expanding our services line, and taking a lot of pride in gaining more customers and performing good work.”

GM still has hurdles to overcome, however, including finding, training, and retaining the skilled personnel required to keep the company running smoothly, an industry-wide concern.

“It’s what I’m hearing in our industry across the board, whether it be from our customers or the contractors performing the work; they’re struggling to find mechanics and truck drivers,” Dobson says. “At the end of the day, what it comes down to is we can only be as successful as those around us. If we get full support from our employees and our vendors, we can be successful.”

While GM has certainly enjoyed success over the past 20 years, there has “definitely been a shift downhill” recently that’s making it tougher, specifically since the onset of the pandemic. GM, however, remains committed to meeting the challenge.

“It’s important for everybody to be accessible and make sure we’re turning things around quickly, because it all hinges on that,” Dobson says. “We still have great partners who help us every single day, whether they be our employees or our vendors, but it’s just been tougher for everybody all around.”

Today’s troubling economy has also served to increase expenses while slowing delivery and progress across the board, compared to pre-COVID times. “Even in the midst of those hurdles, we’re still doing everything in our power to be a top player,” Dobson, says, adding that GM’s reliable workforce plays a large part in that.

GM employees themselves remain committed to ensuring the company continues to thrive despite these challenges. That dedication to quality and service has helped employees find not only success but longevity, unusual in today’s workplace, and truly a testament to what GM is doing right.

“We know we have our share of turnover here and there, but our core group of employees have been here a long time,” Dobson says. “We have employees who have been here for over 15 years now, and in today’s market, we really think that that’s a good testament to how well we try to take care of them.”

What makes GM a great place to work? A combination of factors, with the foremost being good pay and solid benefits. “On top of that, we try to think outside the box and offer our employees some things that other businesses don’t, such as paid time off for birthdays,” says Dobson. Another is being flexible with time, offering every employee the opportunity to work 4/10s in a week in order to take a Friday off once a month, he adds. “As far as I know, there’s nobody else in our industry doing that. We’re constantly working on ways to improve benefits, such as 401(k) with a match, to take good care of our people.”

Additionally, the relationship between management and employees is one of open communication, encouraging everyone to come forward with any issues or problems. “We tell everybody here, we’ve got a job to do,” Dobson says. “This company has turned into a real machine, and it takes a lot of energy to fuel that machine, but at the end of the day, our core principles of being a family-owned company haven’t faltered. We take great pride in it being a laidback workplace, where if an employee has a question or issue, it’s an open-door policy,” he says.

“We take a lot of pride in listening to our employees. Their ideas and thoughts on whatever may be in front of us are valuable,” Dobson says. “Two heads are always better than one, and if we can work to make a better process or situation, or just answer a simple question, that’s always the way that we want to go.”

All of these efforts have successfully created a company that has not only grown for the past 20 years but will continue to do so well into the future. “Moving forward, it’s about looking to the next milestone, like the 25-year or 30-year anniversary,” Dobson says. “There are no direct plans at this moment for a large expansion, but we’re also the type of people who are never going to pass up a good deal or a good opportunity. We’re always open to the next big thing.”

Reaching future milestones will depend on maintaining quality employees, and Dobson reiterates the importance of bringing in skilled and dedicated employees who will help usher in the future of the company. If you’re one of those people, he adds, there is a place for you at GM Equipment Rentals. “If you’re a motivated individual, you want to work hard and be rewarded as such, and you want to have the ability to move up and exceed your goals, this is a good place for you. Our history can attest to that. Our other employees can attest to that, that we’re always looking to grow and expand and do the next big thing, and we need more people to help us do that.”

Finding those types of committed and eager workers shouldn’t be difficult for a company of this stature. “That’s the biggest thing: we tell everybody, it’s not that you have to necessarily be an expert in your position, but we need you to almost be an expert in motivation. We’re willing to teach, and we’re willing to help. You’ve got to be willing to put the work in.”

He adds that encouraging young people to venture into trades out of high school is also a necessary and positive step to help create a solid and secure future in industries that have so much to offer.

“I think we as a society have finally come to that realization here in the past year,” he says. “We’re in this period where everybody was being told, ‘you’ve got to go to college.’ The trades suffered from that, and now we’re realizing it, but it’s going to be a while before the turnaround happens, where we can get back to a more normal distribution of talent.”

With skilled tradespeople retiring at a steady pace, finding those younger, skilled workers will be an ongoing concern, but companies like GM Equipment Rentals provide strong incentives to enter this healthy and lucrative field of employment.

Until then, GM plans to continue on its productive path forward, serving both its loyal customers and skilled employees, to ensure a bright future, banding together to handle any potential challenges the company and the industry may face.

Dobson is assured they will succeed. “There are other factors just plain out of our control already working against us, and if we can do our best to ensure a good working relationship or a good outcome for the customer, that’s what we need to do,” he says.

And that’s where GM Equipment Rentals’ focus has stayed, ensuring success over the past 20 years. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on,” he stresses. “Despite all the other hurdles, we’re focusing hard on making sure the customer is taken care of. We’re trying to take care of our employees, keep them happy, keep them around, and keep them employed here for a long time. Our goal is for every employee to want to retire from our company.”

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Fabricated in its Watertown, South Dakota facility, Enercept’s SIPs are expertly designed to help save time, reduce energy expenses, and guarantee a long-lasting, worry-free structure that increases value over time due to superior insulation and factory-built accuracy.

Touted as a “smarter” method of building, SIPs are transforming the way buildings are formed, with Enercept leading the way, manufacturing custom SIPs that combine framing, insulation, and sheathing into a single high-performance panel. These SIP systems simplify construction, reduce energy costs, and provide unmatched strength and efficiency, making them the smart choice for residential, commercial, and agricultural builds.

Found in a wide variety of projects, including custom homes and cabins, multi-family housing, commercial and light industrial buildings, farm shops, barns, agricultural storage, offices, schools, and churches—and in many net-zero and LEED-certified buildings—SIP systems are fully customizable and engineered to meet code in all 50 states.

A composite building material made up of three key components—a solid EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) insulation core with two outer layers of 7/16” Oriented Strand Board (OSB) laminated together under factory-controlled conditions—these panels are used to construct walls, roofs, floors, and foundations, providing superior thermal performance and structural strength in one system.

Common “cold spots” or thermal bridging typical of conventional insulation are essentially eliminated by Enercept’s solid EPS core, with pre-assembled wall and roof panels manufactured in a climate-controlled facility and supplied straight to the construction site, resulting in a more efficient building procedure. Because SIPs are prefabricated, construction can proceed more quickly, lowering labor costs and shortening the project’s overall duration.

Additional benefits include every SIP being cut to exact specifications thanks to factory-built precision and an off-site construction method, which reduces job site errors. Better installation then results in a tighter, more energy-efficient envelope, which can save heating and cooling expenses by up to 60 percent, while framing time is also significantly shortened. In addition, combining more value with less waste means SIP homes are up to 2.5 times stronger than conventional wood-framed buildings.

Proudly building trust and accountability since 1981, Enercept celebrates its 45^th anniversary this year as a pioneer in the production of its panels. “It’s been a fun ride,” says Neal Mack, Senior Regional Sales Manager, who has 30 years of experience at Enercept. Over that time he has seen a positive shift in acceptance of SIPs, as well as greater familiarity with them on both the builder and the consumer sides. “When I initially did trade shows back in the day, people would come up and say, ‘What is this?’ And now the reaction I get is, ‘Oh, my neighbor did this,’ or ‘Our church did this.’”

Although SIPs are definitely seen more often these days, many still consider them a newer technology, even though it’s been close to 100 years since the first one was used experimentally, Mack says. They have now been in regular use for the past 40 or 50 years for a variety of applications, but builders are still slow to change and acceptance takes time, he adds.

There are many different reasons why people use SIPs today, with the obvious one being their noted energy efficiency compared to conventional stud framing and fiberglass insulation, as well as their speed of assembly. “The length of time it takes to put them up is quite a bit quicker, being that the systems are built in our factory,” Mack says. “The changing of the building codes makes SIP panels more desirable as well, and that seems to be a driver for a lot of people in a lot of areas.”

With knowledge of these benefits, why is their use still not commonplace? Part of it is that SIPs tend to represent a bit of a paradigm shift for builders, Mack says, who typically have their tried-and-true system they use when they build. Moving to SIPs means adapting and changing, especially in terms of planning and working on approval drawings ahead of time.

“[With SIPs] they can’t work on the fly like they sometimes will,” he says. “There’s some planning that takes some time on the front end, but prior planning always prevents poor performance in the field. So that’s a change for builders that a lot of them have a challenge with, because it’s a little bit different than what they’re used to.”

It’s difficult to deny the ongoing and notable advantages of SIPs, however, particularly when it comes to green and sustainable building. The traditional method of wall framing is labor-intensive, often uneven, and prone to energy leaks, resulting in delays in development, bloated costs, and future increases in energy costs. Enercept’s wall panels are precisely designed and pre-assembled at its factory, with each panel having headers constructed, wiring chases built in, rough holes pre-cut, and high-performance EPS foam insulation sandwiched between oriented strand board (OSB), making it ready for on-site installation. This results in less waste, as precut parts reduce on-site mess and disposal expenses.

As for roofing, conventional stick-framed roofing systems can be difficult, time-consuming, and prone to irregularities and thermal gaps. Both during construction and over the building’s lifetime, poor insulation, age-related sagging, and labor-intensive assembly can cost extra money and time. Enercept roof panels are precisely pre-made SIPs that provide strength, insulation, and a smooth installation. By reducing thermal bridging and producing a strong, continuous insulating shell, these roof solutions keep extreme weather out and conditioned air inside. This produces an airtight, energy-efficient envelope that is quicker to build, more effective, and long-lasting, allowing for comfort and functionality in buildings that boast fewer air leaks, quieter interiors, and lower utility costs.

“For some people, that’s a real driver for them, but for some it’s not,” Mack says of the desire for sustainability and greener building within the industry. “We tend to try to assimilate to our clients’ needs and what they’re looking for. I’ve had some clients where energy efficiencies are sometimes not even in their top five [priorities]; rather, it’s the speed of assembly. Each of them has different reasons why they’re utilizing SIPs, and certainly, energy efficiency is one of them. Being green means using less dimensional lumber, and there’s a lot of that in what we do and what people want, but it really does vary for different clients.”

Of course, the versatility and customization of SIPs are also vital for each project Enercept undertakes, whether it’s the MLCV Urban Housing Project in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, the North House Folk School Welcome Center in Grand Marais, Minnesota, the Dakota Zoo SIP Penguin Exhibit, or a variety of affordable community SIP housing. Enercept’s work—and its unique SIPs—encompasses a wide range of structures for a variety of industries.

“There really isn’t anything that SIPS can’t be used for in either residential or commercial construction,” Mack says. “We can take conventional drawings and plans and convert them to an SIP and put it into our program to be panelized. We’ve done some really unique projects that we thought might have been beyond the realm of possibilities, but with computer programs, designs, and drawings that we can do, we’ve been able to push that envelope quite a long way.”

As a custom shop building to its customers’ wishes, Enercept’s challenges have included the volatility of the raw materials market over the last five years post-COVID—which seems to have subsided and is calmer now—but the company is currently facing potential movement in the oil market that could influence some of those material prices again—and already has, Mack tells us. “Taking that into account, we have great, trusted trade partners that we deal with that help us out as much as they can in providing materials to us,” he emphasizes. “We pride ourselves on not having allocations or having limited sources for materials.”

He notes that Enercept also continues to embrace a fully RTA (ready to assemble) system, which is one of the company’s biggest differentiators from others in the industry.

“We really pride ourselves on not having to do a lot of field manipulation of panels or field installation of materials,” he says. “We try to do as much of that in the plant as we can, as it’s more effective if we do it here in the plant as opposed to most of our contractors in the field. It just works so much better, and we try to accommodate that with them whenever possible.”

No company is successful without a team of skilled and trusted employees, and Enercept is no exception, with many celebrating numerous decades with the company, a testament to its superior company culture and one that Neal Mack himself can attest to.

“I think there’s some real positivity to that, and that comes from having solid ownership,” he says. “It’s a good and enjoyable place to work. I tell people I have a ‘get to’ job, not a ‘got to’ job. I get to do this, I don’t ‘got’ to do it, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”

That sentiment is one that seems to be shared widely throughout the Enercept corporation. “Some employees have been here 30-plus years, or even pushing 40 years,” Mack shares. “We’ve lost some good employees to retirement, but we’ve got a number of new, young, and aggressive ones now, which gives me hope for a future where we can continue to grow and expand our business and our market share going forward.”

The post Pushing the Envelope for Smarter, Simpler Structures<p class="company">Enercept</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Building since 1979, Norse Log Homes relocated to Vancouver Island in 1984 to be near the best supply of house logs in the world. The company uses primarily Douglas Fir but also Western Red Cedar and yellow cedar depending on the purpose and customer’s preference. Exporting a lot in the ’90s, Norse Log Homes ran three tower cranes on two yards and built about 40 homes a year. Today, the company runs out of one yard and offers more than just log packages—it helps customers reach a variety of building stages based on location and how active the customer wants to be in their build. Norse Log Homes often handcrafts about 12 projects annually, with highly qualified artisans building custom projects spanning a wide variety of sizes.

“My dad’s goal was that everyone should be able to afford a log home,” says President Laura Kandall, whose father, John Dahle, took over the company and relocated it to the Island in 1984. “It wasn’t just for the rich. He was trying to create something that was a good product for a fair price, and he was able to do it.”

Because Dahle was adept at keeping costs down, he could sell products at more competitive prices, a practice that Kandall continues to employ in the business today, in part by tracking external costs such as log export pricing.

And while labour is expensive in British Columbia right now, the actual log wood that is utilized in the houses is not exorbitant. “Logs are really economical to build with,” says Kandall. Additionally, while some construction companies rent all their equipment, Norse owns its own tower crane in its yard and a crane truck for setups, which helps the company remain fair and competitive with both pricing and time.

Based in British Columbia, Norse has sold homes around the world to devoted enthusiasts, including Japanese clients who “love log homes because they like Canadian wood,” says Kandall, noting that log homes are also notoriously well-suited to withstand earthquakes. Norse has also built in Hawaii, Ireland, and extensively in the United States, as well as in the Yukon, Manitoba, and all across Canada.

The company’s unique process starts with pre-building homes in its yard in Lantzville, then taking about a day to number and disassemble them and load them onto a truck or container for shipping to a waiting foundation anywhere in North America or around the world. After reaching their destination, it takes another day or two for setup.

Norse’s projects come in any size, says Kandall. This year alone, the company built both a sauna under 100 square feet and a 5,500-square-foot house delivered into the mountains of Colorado at 11,000 feet above sea level. In addition, Norse completed Santa’s Village in its neighbourhood mall as well as several other projects, including playgrounds for children, picnic tables, and gazebos, as well as retirement homes and single-family cottages.

While the company has built large houses and commercial projects before from beginning to end, its customers often finish the houses themselves, with Norse building the log package or handling the foundation, roof, windows, and exteriors and the customer finishing the interior flooring, electrical, plumbing, kitchen, and bathrooms.

When it comes to using logs versus traditional home-building materials, Kandall finds Norse clients are generally health-oriented or conscious about how they live, which dictates their desired dwelling. “A lot of people don’t like the chemicals in houses,” she says, which include manufactured beams and drywall. “I’ve got a lot of customers who don’t like the idea of drywall in their home. They like the idea of using solid wood and knowing where it came from. Additionally, the logs we’re using are handled very little, keeping handling costs down.”

For those desiring energy-efficient homes, logs are already a low-carbon building material due to their minimal handling and the way carbon is stored within a log. “We have a home we’ve proven over time can be really energy-efficient and have a low carbon footprint in our world,” says Kandall. “I think people are gravitating toward those more natural building materials if they can.”

Not only does Norse provide those sought-after natural products, it also personally oversees the entire process. “Logs are coming from the bush. They’re cutting them down in the bush, putting them on a truck, and taking them to the sorting yard. They’ll sort them by quality and size, and then they bring them to us, and we cut them all in-house,” Kandall explains.

Norse does all the peeling and cutting with a chainsaw, allowing for minimal handling of the wood. In comparison, a framed home’s dimensional lumber represents a much heavier manufacturing and logistical footprint.

For those concerned about price, they may need to take a closer look. While many people assume log homes are out of their reach, in fact they’re very similar to traditional homes. “When building a house, a lot of the cost is the same, whether it’s a log home or a framed home,” Kandall says. “If you were going to take a house and make it into a log home, you’re just getting rid of your exterior walls, so all of your site work cost is the same: hookups for utilities, foundation cost, roof, windows, doors, all of your interior finishing—it costs the same.” The big difference is that those exterior walls are made of logs, so you no longer need framed 2-by material, plywood, building paper, rain screen, siding, interior drywall, interior insulation, or interior trim—all of it is replaced by logs.

Essentially, everything Norse does today stems from John Dahle’s initial commitment to ensuring the homes remain affordable for anyone who wants one. “He’d meet people who wanted a little hunting cabin or fishing cabin, and he would always find a way to make it work with their budget,” Kandall says.

Clients may want Norse to supply a log package and nothing more, meaning Norse doesn’t put a roof on the structure or install windows and doors, and those customers arrange all of that themselves. Or they may want Norse to pair with a general contractor and complete the entire building. Each build is customized to the client.

And not only does the finished product look beautiful, but it can also last a lifetime. “A lot of people realize these can be a really nice, generational home for their kids and their grandkids.”

However, it’s vital to utilize a good design when building any log home, especially in British Columbia’s climate, stresses Kandall. “We call it the ‘wet coast.’ It rains all the time, so the design is really important.” This can include employing proper style, such as overhangs, leaving space for corners and window sizes, and employing a skilled builder who will do a good job constructing it.

Then there’s maintenance to consider, she adds. “With any wood-sided building, there’s some care that goes with it. But to have something last a really long time, you need all of those things. If you don’t have a good design or build properly, your maintenance will be very heavy, and you need to be prepared for that. But if you have all three of those things, it doesn’t take a lot of time for maintenance if the design is good.”

As one might imagine, skilled and knowledgeable log home builders are both hard to find and hard to train. “Because it’s such a specialized thing to do, the training has to come in-house,” Kandall explains. “To get good at it, it takes years.”

As in all trades, a lack of high school-level training and a failure to encourage students to pursue trades at a higher level are felt everywhere across many industries. Fortunately, high schools are starting to put trades back into the curriculum, Kandall says, but in British Columbia, there still aren’t a lot of young people coming out of school with enough experience. Additionally, the skill behind designing and building these amazing structures could be endangered if the outgoing generation of workers fails to pass that knowledge down. But, while once considered a dying trade, Kandall has seen a recent spurt of popularity in log homes, with longstanding companies being bought by younger people who are “making a go of it.”

“My dad passed away years ago,” she says. “There are a lot of skills lost when you lose that generation, and a lot of the designers designing houses right now have never actually built log homes before, so they’re designing blind. They can do the computer program to put a house together, but they don’t really understand it when they’re designing it.”

Kandall’s goal is to keep those invaluable skills—and that passion—alive, while showing clients the beauty and affordability possible through Norse’s log homes. “I’ve gone to look at houses we built 40 years ago, and the sense of accomplishment I have from looking at buildings we put up that long ago that are still in amazing condition is incredible,” she says. “You wouldn’t even know how old they were. If you take care of a log home, it can last hundreds of years.”

The post Expert Design and Timeless Beauty<p class="company">Norse Log Homes</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Located in Minden, Ontario, Quantum Passivhaus prides itself on its prefabricated panels and energy-efficient building design, with construction techniques to help accelerate the North American construction industry’s shift to net-zero building standards.

The company was founded in 2017 by President and CEO, Abby Xerri, and his wife, Angie Horner, Vice President and COO, and the couple’s commitment to sustainability and innovation has created a client-focused company built on empowering people through a collaborative culture that is strategic, hands-on, and deeply invested in making “green” building accessible.

“They make a really good team,” says Eddie Faria, Head of Marketing. “Together they’re a good synergy of people.”

Xerri’s extensive construction background coupled with Horner’s passion for sustainability resulted in embracing Passive House construction as the way forward. “It was a good marriage of both their skills,” adds Faria. “They’re big on the Passive House principles, energy savings, and building in a way that’s future thinking, while also seeing the pitfalls of traditional construction methods.” With rising energy costs and the onset of tighter constraints and building codes—along with keeping in mind Canada’s 2030 net-zero goals—this was the perfect venture to tackle, he says.

Quantum Passivhaus analyzes construction needs at its factory in Minden, where it builds panelized walls that meet the absolute highest criteria of energy sustainability achievable in the world at two different levels: net-zero ready and above, and Passive House, the absolute best. “Three of our panels are Passive House certified, and in terms of sustainability, we’re not only focused on energy conservation, but also just green building in general,” says Faria.

Because Quantum can build panels in a factory and ship them to the site, there is far less site waste compared with conventional construction, allowing the company to construct on even rural sites with a minimal environmental footprint. “We’re really conscious of not disturbing the surrounding environment in a build site,” says Faria. “A lot of our clients appreciate that.”

In fact, much of the decision-making in terms of going with a Passive House stems from conscientious clients who don’t want to disturb the natural environment, and Quantum is able to mitigate that impact, a huge bonus in terms of energy costs. While perhaps not as noticeable—yet—in larger cities where natural gas is affordable, in rural communities, fuel sources can be much more prohibitive.

“Passive House just makes sense in terms of where the future is going, because the building envelopes are so airtight and well insulated that even a home up north loses very little heat,” Faria says. “The systems required to heat it are so minimal and highly efficient, there’s very little energy waste.”

Quantum, he adds, is focused on conserving as much energy as possible in the building envelope. Panels built in the factory are precision-engineered, whereas stick building adds to the framing time and risks exposing the building envelope to the elements for weeks or months on end. “Ours are precision-engineered and thoroughly tested before they go on to the site and are installed. Additionally, Quantum panels have minimal embodied carbon in them.”

While a Passive House purchase seems a natural—and smart—choice these days, education of both builders and the general public remains challenging in terms of cost, affordability, and benefits, both now and for the future. “It’s not really widely well-known yet. There’s still a lot of education that needs to happen in this space,” Faria says. “People hear Passive House and think it’s very expensive and only for people who have a lot of money. That’s just not the case, especially with panelized construction.” Quantum can assemble on site within a three- to seven-day span, which reduces costs and trade coordination in erecting the building envelope, making projects on par with standard construction.

“People don’t know enough about it, and some traditional builders are wary of it because it’s a completely different building methodology,” Faria says. “You have to think about airtightness first and getting a tight building envelope; that’s the priority. With all the techniques that come along with that, for traditional builders, there’s a bit of intimidation in terms of the learning curve and how to properly install Passive House.”

However, interest is rising as building codes keep tightening and energy costs go up, he adds, with more conversation now around energy efficiency and green building. And whenever Quantum does work with interested builders, the company trains them on site in how to properly install the building envelope.

“Expansion is definitely on the horizon,” Faria says of Quantum’s capabilities. “It’s a very exciting time for this because we’re seeing an increased interest, so it’s forced us to grow as a company pretty rapidly.”

Interest and education, of course, start with Quantum’s employees themselves, and how quickly they realize the benefits and advantages of Passive House building. “I learned as I worked here, and the light bulb came on. When I build my house, I’m definitely going to build this way. You get excited about it because you start seeing that this is a really high-quality product. They’re onto something here, especially on the panelized side of things and the speed and the efficiency at which construction happens. It’s really game-changing.”

Quantum’s panels comprise a floor, wall, and roof system, with all components built right in its factory, precision-engineered to a certain thickness that meets Passive House standards. Top quality material in terms of airtight layers and the membranes used ensures that moisture passes through the wall efficiently.

“The best way I can describe it is like Lego® pieces,” Faria says. “We build the pieces in the factory, and then we assemble a building on site using a crane so it goes together very quickly, again, because it’s essentially built in a factory beforehand.”

That being said, there is an extensive plan made out well ahead of time, he stresses. “This is a very technical field. There’s a lot of science and math that goes into everything we do compared to a normal code-minimum home. It’s very precise in terms of the calculations that go into a highly energy-efficient home.”

But the results are nothing short of amazing, he adds, with a focus on the end user’s comfort and overall experience. “A lot of what we’re hearing is the comfort aspect,” he says. “When you walk into one of these homes, you immediately feel a sense of deep peace because of how quiet it is, how much external noise is eliminated because of the quality of the insulation. A lot of our homeowners say that, when they have guests over, people sleep really peacefully.”

The air quality, he adds, is exceptional. “You get really high oxygen content, so you just feel good in the house—you’re able to concentrate longer and it’s dust-free. I’ve walked into four different homes, and the experience was immediately the same in every single one of the homes.” Every room is consistent in temperature and comfort, with no temperature swings and a “substantially” lower monthly energy bill owing to the combination of all Passive House principles.

“Owners are really impressed with how efficient the home is in terms of costs. We had a giant ice storm last year that knocked out the power in our area for about five or six days, and people were scrambling for generators; their homes were immediately cold. But in Passive Homes, people lost maybe three degrees over the course of six days.”

As time goes on, people will realize we’re all going to need these at one point and that they make the most sense, he adds. “That’s why it’s exciting to be in this field, because we can see the trajectory going in that direction as energy costs rise and code tightens.”

Faria—and the entire Quantum staff—works by the philosophy of CEO Abby Xerri, he adds, which is, ‘Everybody should have this.’ “At Quantum, we want everyone to have these homes. It’s not an elite-tier thing that only a certain demographic can afford,” he stresses. “Our goal is to make this available for everybody, and that’s why we also focus on those sustainable developments and affordable housing.”

The company also partners with and works closely with NRCan, with many of its panels going through rigorous testing in their envelope testing facilities. “They test how long our panels can sustain the wind and rain. They have facilities to do that,” Faria explains. “We work really closely with the government to develop the best possible product we can to help meet those energy goals in the future and rising energy goals in Canada.”

And it is the company’s panelized applications that help make its Passive Houses as accessible as possible, Faria stresses. “Not a lot of people know about the panelized approach and how it can save money down the road,” he says. “If you’re building a home you’re going to potentially stay in for the rest of your life, why not look at Passive House, which is the highest building standard in the world in terms of energy efficiency, and do it right? As energy costs rise, build a house that’s actually going to help you out in the future.”

The post Going Green for Good: Passive Housing Made Manageable<p class="company">Quantum Passivhaus</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“One of the things we’ve kept consistent through the different ownerships of Bercum, and even more so for us now, is quality over quantity,” says owner Bruce Young, who, after serving as both Site Supervisor and Construction Manager, purchased the company in 2022. “We’re not a high-volume builder; we’re very particular about our quality, and we attract clients looking for high-quality projects.”

Building a team with an impressive skill set to handle high-quality materials is vital for this approach and has proven invaluable. “We’ve been in business for so many years because of keeping the attention to detail,” says Young.

Allowing clients their privacy is imperative but can be challenging when it comes to advertising finished products, he adds. But it’s not about the Bercum brand; it’s about building for clients, such as NHL players relocating or retiring to the Okanagan; lawyers, doctors, business owners, and executives, some of whom are building second and third homes; or retirees moving into the Okanagan from different parts of Canada or the world.

“The Okanagan is quite a playground for those who like to be outdoors in the winter when we have good snow, mountain biking, hiking, or visiting wineries,” says Young.

When asked about the company’s advertising model, he says he doesn’t really have one, and that word of mouth has created a loyal customer base that gives Bercum what it needs to thrive exactly where it is. “We’re doing four houses every two to three years, and some renovations in between. But for the most part, we’re not looking to expand. Our clients expect a certain level of service. It’s very difficult to provide that service on a high-volume production building.”

At the moment, Bercum comprises Young and his wife, who own the company, and a staff of nine. “We work together, it’s manageable, and I can still have a life,” he shares.

Working with leading professionals, consultants, envelope engineers, and structural engineers has created a collaborative approach that also enhances education, especially as building codes continually change in Canada. “I’ve learned over the years that we’re continual learners,” says Young. “We look to improve on every project. One of our mottos is we’re never satisfied. We learn something on every project, and then we implement that into upcoming projects.”

Sustainability is another point of pride for the company, particularly when building amidst nature. As Bercum is often working on lakefront properties, the team takes great care to protect the water.

“Almost everybody on the team either mountain bikes or skis or likes to be out in nature,” Young says. “We build a lot of lakefront properties or mountain properties, and we are invested in them enduring for generations.”

This means providing, whenever possible, renewable energy—with the easiest being solar panels—but also harvesting rainwater and greywater out of the house, recycling it, and using it for irrigation and fire suppression. “Fire has always been an issue for us out here,” says Young. One particular project involved burying two large cisterns to collect water year-round and store it for use in both outdoor irrigation and supplemental city water to fight potential fires.

The company is also a net-zero builder and strives to provide those qualities whenever possible. “Our biggest attribute is we try to build really efficient homes,” Young says. Even in non-certified net-zero homes, there are still excellent insulation values.

“We love to be sustainable, but one of the things that gets a bit lost is that we can build a really efficient home now more than ever, and it doesn’t need to be done with renewable resources per se. If we use fewer resources, like less gas and less electricity, it’s actually much better for the environment.”

Bringing in employees who feel just as passionately about these attributes is a mainstay for Bercum, and one that has kept the company flourishing. “We’ve really tried to adopt a culture where people feel valued, and we’ve been able to retain our staff after we bought the company.”

Maintaining a positive culture includes getting together outside of work for ski days, mountain bike days, or winery days, along with a “pretty fabulous” Christmas party every year. “We really value our staff,” stresses Young. “We all live in the Okanagan because we want to live here, and we enjoy it. We value family time, so we don’t work weekends, and that’s non-negotiable with our clients.”

For Young, having a healthy staff and a healthy life is more valuable than being solely driven by the dollar, which only serves to burn people out. It’s an approach that calls for supporting staff as much as possible, whether that’s providing parental leave, supporting career growth, or encouraging clubs and teams; it’s all about creating a place where people want to be. “Work is hard enough, and I think this creates a sense of community,” he says. “I’m really proud of that. I was a cabinet maker, I’ve worked in the industry my whole life, and I’ve worked for some challenging people. I expect a lot of our staff, but I don’t do it in a way that’s demeaning. I always want to bring them up to the best of their ability.”

On every project that reaches the rough-in stage, all of Bercum’s staff participate in a walkthrough to share their thoughts and observations, fostering ideas from different perspectives and helping to create an ongoing collaborative environment.

Bercum is also fully committed to building to the client’s wishes. With homes ranging in size from 3,500 square feet to 11,000 square feet, there is certainly a wide variety, but most have a view of either mountains or lakes. Everybody wants large windows or sliding wall panels, and making those homes efficient is a unique challenge that Bercum is always up for.

“We’re legitimately a custom home builder,” Young says. “Our client comes to us with drawings already done, or with no drawings and we help them find an architect or house designer. For us, it really doesn’t matter what the design is; we don’t have a preference. We enjoy building all styles.”

Some of the biggest challenges the company has faced recently include building and coordinating complex homes with multiple challenges; working on building sites with steep slopes and bedrock; making expansive homes, with many large windows and sliding doors, as energy-efficient as possible; working with out-of-town clients; changing codes and requirements for home building in BC; building homes with unique elements such as rammed earth and gabion basket exterior walls with unique cladding materials; and the development of green roof systems within the workable parameters of the envelope. “We build a lot of lakefront properties that are on steep slopes, so we’re dealing with bedrock and challenging sites. We are working with a product called rammed earth, a natural building material made by mixing soil and cement powder and using a pneumatic rammer to compact the materials; this has been invaluable in the building process.”

As Bercum looks to the future, the company aims to continue doing what it does best, which means meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations; streamlining its process from the initial client meeting to the occupancy and turnover of clients’ homes; deepening relationships with trade partners; continuing to improve the culture; and developing strategies to ensure clear project parameters for each stakeholder from tender through to completion.

“What’s really important to me is continuing to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations,” Young stresses. “That’s a mainstay of the Bercum model. Our clients often ask us to do challenging things, so we take the time to figure it out.” Clear lines of communication from the office to the site to the client are made possible by Bercum’s taking on only a few projects at a time, affording the opportunity to provide every client with the care and attention they deserve.

Bercum’s clients hold the company to a high standard, and 99 percent of the time, their expectations are met. Young says it’s about doing your part, reading people quickly, and understanding what they want. “We’re the facilitator of building our clients’ dreams, but it’s our trades and suppliers that really do the heavy lifting of the project,” says Young. “It’s collaborative.”

It’s not all about Bercum, he adds; it’s about meeting clients’ expectations and ensuring the finished product is ideal, all while maintaining a company culture that matches the Bercum model. “That’s really important to me. Work takes up a lot of your life. We all have bad days, but if every day is a bad day, you should find something else to do.”

The post Quality Over Quantity: Building Better Homes in BC<p class="company">Bercum Builders</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Sustainability remains at the forefront of its daily operations. “Wood is the only significant construction material that is both natural and renewable,” says CEO Shawn Hicks, who, with partner COO Dan Dunkley, strives to ensure the company’s green message is upheld throughout all of its operations. “Our business can demonstrate the chain of custody from forest to customer, and our main suppliers hold certification from the FSC,” he says.

Buying from FSC-certified forests that use the world’s best management practices allows for the protection of wildlife while ensuring reforestation of the land after harvest to help supply lumber for generations to come.

“Trees and lumber utilization are a huge part of the carbon cycle story,” Hicks tells us. “CPS buys salvaged lumber from the lumber mills—essentially leftover materials from the construction industry. We cut out the bad portions, areas where the lumber didn’t make construction grade, and upgrade the rest in shorter lengths to make our customer quality products.” CPS then shreds the waste and sells it to the farming community for animal bedding, and in turn, the chicken farmers sell their waste to mushroom farms to fully ensure the utilization of the lowest quality of lumber from the sawmills.

As for the company’s pallets and crates, they yield a net 1.1 pounds of carbon trapped per board foot of lumber sold up to 1,000 miles from its factories.

“We have the greenest packaging product available, and we fully utilize every piece of material,” explains Hicks. “For our waste outside of lumber, we send near zero waste to landfill—one 40-yard bin per month.”

CPS also prides itself on its excellent relationships, both with its 500 employees and its numerous clients, who are treated like members of the CPS family and viewed as partners. “One of the cornerstones of CPS is our vendors,” Hicks stresses. “We couldn’t do what we do without them. For 40 years, the key area of our success has been taking care of suppliers well.”

This means paying on time, taking discounts if offered, and ensuring the company is the lumber mills’ first choice to sell to. Rail siding is key here, as CPS can accept lumber directly from the mill to its yards in both Cobourg and Martin, Tennessee. Boasting industrial-grade materials, CPS is the only customer of most mills with direct access to receive lumber by rail. “We work very hard to be the first-choice customer for our supply base,” Hicks says.

Another vital aspect of the company’s ongoing success is its dedication to automated operations, with its cut line being state-of-the-art and a key differentiator between CPS and its competition, resulting in the lowest cost of material ready for final assembly. “Our ongoing investment includes a $3 million assembly machine due to arrive in June of this year,” adds Hicks.

Utilizing new technology such as machine/robotic pallet assembly lines and high-volume output using industrial-grade automation—alongside new staff working on AI adaptation and implementation in the office and on the production floor—results in standardized quality across pallet and crate construction, and ensures CPS’s position at the top of the industry.

Sustainability also means addressing the company’s own carbon footprint. “Due to the cost of electricity in Ontario for many years now, our procurement team is always looking for ways to reduce energy costs across all locations,” says Hicks. “Our forklifts have been converted from propane to electric on 75 percent of our fleet, along with a 1.305 GWH annual solar panel system installed in Cobourg.” Renovations of CPS offices have also allowed the company to upgrade to efficient heat pumps as well as improved Insulation R-values, he adds.

This ongoing commitment to environmentalism and sustainability stems from an understanding of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), a strategic framework for identifying, evaluating, and addressing organizational goals and activities, a company’s carbon footprint and sustainability commitment, workplace culture, diversity and inclusion commitment, and overall ethos regarding corporate risks and practices. This organizational concept has grown in significance, particularly for socially conscious investors who wish to put money into businesses that share these same values.

The three main pillars of ESG include environmental commitment, which covers all aspects of a business’s dedication to sustainability and its effects on the environment, such as waste, energy use, carbon emissions and footprint, and environmental responsibility; social commitment, meaning the internal working culture of an organization, employee retention, diversity, satisfaction, and health and safety; and corporate governance, which includes compliance, internal corporate culture, pay ratios, business ethos, and leadership responsibility and openness as part of a corporation’s commitment to corporate governance. Companies acknowledging a dedication to justice and equality in the workplace and the ability to adapt to changing laws and regulations are always of interest to investors, according to CIO.com.

As the effects of climate change worsen, companies’ environmental initiatives will only become more crucial, and it is anticipated that businesses that use resources such as water, coal, oil, and power more wisely will do better in the future when those resources become scarce in some places. Additionally, a firm dedication to appropriate governance and compliance will be essential for maintaining a business’s operations as more rules and regulations pertaining to technology, most notably General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), come into effect.

CPS’s commitment to sustainability and forest stewardship (the company also offers pallet recycle programs and repair programs) are just a few aspects that help set it apart, along with its rail siding on site, which lowers the cost of inbound materials, and state-of-the-art operations that allow staff to fully cut, resaw, notch, and stack over a railcar of lumber per shift.

“Our assembly lines are the best in the world and procured from all over the world,” adds Hicks. “This results in customers placing an order and then not worrying about it because we deliver on time, every time, at a consistent quality that our customers expect.”

Recent challenges for the company have included lumber and duty prices, which are “very much” top of mind in all of the lumber industry right now; duties and tariffs went up to 45 percent last August, and at the time, lumber costs in the U.S. were very low. “It was an easy pivot to just buy U.S. material in the U.S. and Canadian material in Canada,” Hicks shares. “At the moment, the U.S. material costs are rising so fast that they’re ahead of the cost of the Canadian material, and it’s causing a lot of pivots.”

The marketplace in general is being heavily impacted by tariffs, but CPS has operations and assets on both sides of the border, providing the company with a buffer that helps protect its clients as well, remaining “very well equipped” to supply customers regardless of tariffs.

Looking forward, CPS’s commitment to the utilization of all materials will remain at the forefront. “We’re literally selling $50,000 a month in animal bedding waste, where many companies are just giving that away or paying to get rid of it,” Hicks explains. “We have an asset there that we’re utilizing, but it’s really just the automation. The railcar access and the automation give us the lowest cost of material ready for assembly versus every competitor in North America. That puts our customers in a good position from a cost perspective, but also puts us in a pole position on being able to compete.”

In terms of retaining customers, CPS offers several customized programs, such as looking at clients’ schedules and plans and supplying their needs proactively. “For our largest two customers, we operate in a replenishment of inventory scenario, not a purchase order. Traditionally, they look at what they need and place an order,” Hicks says. “We go outside the box on that one, and we take care of them. Sometimes they don’t know how we know their demand so well.”

This level of quality of care is absolutely a priority for the company, Hicks stresses, along with embracing growth and maintaining a true devotion to sustainability. “We have always been committed to [sustainability] and will continue to further reduce our carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions,” he assures, whether that’s zero waste to landfill or maintaining an ethical supply chain through forest stewardship.

Social factors for CPS will focus on its workplace culture, diversity, community engagement, and human rights, as well as fostering a collective experience to keep longstanding employees satisfied and foster employee development.

Whether it’s supporting community service and philanthropy or assisting customers with a wide range of issues and logistics that need solving to keep their business running smoothly, CPS’s longstanding experience, knowledge, and skill can handle it all, Hicks says.

“We find an issue that needs solving, and we solve it.”

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Founded in 1991 by brothers Pete and Wayne Peters, who were drawn to timber framing and committed themselves to learning the craft, Cornerstone Timberframes operated out of a tiny barn in the early years, with the brothers manually unloading timbers and using a single-sided planer to surface and square the wood, while hand saws, ship’s augers, and chisels were used to cut joinery. Cornerstone expanded along with growing demand, and in 2002, the barn was replaced by a larger shop with contemporary equipment after a successful tradeshow in Minneapolis, allowing for the completion of more challenging projects with exacting attention to detail.

After joining Cornerstone in 2001 to assist with office operations, Pete’s daughter Tanya Bachmeier became engaged in the design and finishing aspects of the company, offering clients advice on stain and finish options, eventually applying finishes to timber frames. Tanya took over as Cornerstone’s CEO in 2015 when the brothers were ready to retire, and her husband, Nevin Bachmeier, joined the company in 2016, bringing with him a love for innovative ideas and a planner’s approach. Adhering to the family’s fundamental principles of honesty, excellence, and service, this leadership has brought Cornerstone into a new era of mass timber and commercial work.

Cornerstone started using glulam beams in 2016, with the first of two CNC timber cutting machines added in 2018, and shortly afterward, cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels that could span large distances as walls and floors were introduced.

Additionally, the company remains dedicated to cutting back on waste, promoting ecological health, and being worthy ancestors to future generations.

“Cornerstone Timberframes was started by my father and my uncle, who had a passion for timber framing,” says Tanya Bachmeier, Chief Executive Officer. “It started as a very traditional timber framing company, and over time, it grew in size. They spent a lot of time blazing a trail in Manitoba and the surrounding areas, because timber framing was a very new concept there.”

Making awareness a priority, the brothers spent valuable time educating people and helping them understand the benefits of moving to timber framing. As the company slowly grew and added more employees, it moved from small to slightly larger production shops, where everything was done by hand.

“About 11 years ago, my dad and uncle were ready to retire, so they sold the company to my husband Nevin and I, and I took over the company,” says Bachmeier. “At that transition, we introduced automation to take some of the heavy lifting of the timbers and do some of the generalized, larger, more challenging saw cuts for the joinery details.”

A used CNC machine was employed to start that process of automation, and eventually, over time, a brand-new machine was added. At the time, that machine was the largest CNC equipment for mass timber fabrication in the country. “It really launched us more into the commercial world of mass timber and mass timber fabrication,” Bachmeier says. “The new CNC automated equipment allowed us to push through timber sizes and lengths that weren’t possible for us previously, and gave us the capacity to do more large-scale commercial projects.”

As the company’s capacity and capabilities changed, it shifted its focus away from smaller residential projects (although it still does small residential heavy timber custom cottages and similar projects) to focus more on the commercial side and the sustainability of using mass timber as a structural component, as opposed to concrete and steel in large projects.

Major accomplishments early on in commercial endeavours include assisting on a six-storey mass timber building in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the first of its kind. “We felt privileged to be a part of that project as it was the commencement of using mass timber in a multi-story structure in Manitoba,” says Bachmeier. “We were really excited to be a part of that.”

The company is also proudly female-led in an industry that has historically been primarily male-dominated (but is “definitely” changing). “It’s certainly been really exciting to see new female engineers, architects, builders, and general contractors enter the construction space,” Bachmeier says. “It’s been a fantastic transition for the whole industry.”

With just over 60 employees, more than 50 percent of Cornerstone’s employee base is female, but Bachmeier stresses a focus on having a diverse employee base and including a variety of people with wide-ranging skill sets and strengths. The company aims to place each employee in a place where they’re able to best use their strengths and feel comfortable.

“We’re always looking to hire the best person for the project or specific position,” adds Bachmeier. “As far as it being a contributing factor to the industry or the success of the company, being female-led, I don’t know that it’s necessarily that much different than a male-led company. I try to lead with integrity, compassion, and respect for my co-workers and clients. I don’t know that that’s because I’m female or maybe that’s good leaders in general, but those are some of the things I try to highlight.”

While there may still be some surprise expressed toward her position within the industry, Bachmeier says she doesn’t think about it much. “It’s what I do. I do the best that I can, but it’s not something that’s constantly top of mind.”

Respecting Cornerstone’s family history, however, is something she thinks a lot about, consciously embracing the ways she approaches different situations and opportunities based on the foundation she received from her dad and uncle over the years.

“I’ve been here for a long time, working together with my dad and my uncle, and I learned a lot from them,” she says. “From the way they led and from the examples they were for me—making sure to put employees first, giving them as much opportunity and giving back as much as possible, was a primary concern for my dad and my uncle, and it’s something I do as well.”

For Bachmeier, it’s been important to honour the company her family started, and even though it’s a very different company now than it was then, it’s been vital to recognize the values they instilled while ensuring its success.

Maintaining the longstanding company culture is an important element as well. “It’s something we put a lot of focus on,” Bachmeier says. “We have two different streams within our company: the sales and design side, and then the production, fabrication, finishing, and installation side. There are a lot of different components and types of positions within the company, and we try to make sure we stay united as a team and focus on a common goal.”

Encouraging company unity also entails arranging excursions or events once a month that include the entire group, while a biweekly video presentation features different fun happenings, highlighting individual employees and special projects to keep everyone informed and connected.

Indeed, keeping employees united and passionate is key to Cornerstone’s mission of designing and delivering timber and mass timber structures across Canada and the United States, with a “very rapid” growth pattern seen in the company over the last eight years or so. As the company evolves and grows, its expertise and strengths do so as well, says Bachmeier.

“Our background as traditional timber framers has given us a focus on quality and precision, and with the ever-changing landscape in the mass timber market, we’ve found our deep knowledge and experience in the mass timber and heavy timber industry has been a huge asset for us to guide clients through projects, taking them all the way through from the design, to production, to the finishing and install phases of the project,” she shares.

Even though mass timber is still a newer concept in the commercial construction space, having that foundation and experience in Cornerstone’s team has allowed for the smooth execution of various types of unique and challenging large-scale commercial projects. With growth comes its own challenges, and Cornerstone has had to deal with the integration of automation, a big step and a big challenge, but certainly a very worthwhile advancement.

“It’s similar to educating the industry about mass timber in the same way my dad and uncle originally educated the province and surrounding areas about timber framing in general,” explains Bachmeier. “Now it’s the same idea with mass timber, with it being in a commercial space where it’s a structural component. That’s new and different for a lot of general contractors. Getting information in the hands of people who need to see it—engineers, architects, and general contractors—has definitely been a challenge.”

Maintaining the pace of growth Cornerstone has been operating on is also vital, she stresses. “Because it’s an exploding market right now, we want to stay at the forefront and make sure we’re increasing our capacity for the demand.” The company has handled it well by bringing together an “incredible” team of people who are all focused on a common goal: successfully executing a number of large-scale commercial projects and playing a role in advancing the mass timber market.

Looking ahead, Cornerstone aims to expand its reach in the U.S. market while staying focused on continuing growth and advancing the mass timber sector. And Bachmeier stresses that this is all made possible due to an amazing, talented staff that ensures clients’ dreams and visions become reality.

It is those employees, armed with extensive knowledge and experience coupled with an integrated process, that will help determine future success.

“Most companies in this space do pieces of the process, but we’re able to take a client right from connection to detailed design and procurement, through component fabrication, pre-finishing and installation,” Bachmeier says. “Having that all within our portfolio is something that’s definitely more unique to the industry, and allows us to ensure a smooth process, because we have all of those stages within our company. That’s something that definitely sets us apart.”

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While it’s been a “roller coaster” of a year in terms of interest rates and economic uncertainty, Kindred Homes has stayed strong in its dedication to offering customers the best service and product, particularly by continuing to provide home personalization. “Buyers have a lot of options, as it’s more of a buyer’s market than it has been in recent memory,” says Roger Lasater, Director of Sales. “You have to sell a product and a service that customers really want, and it’s a great time to buy a house.”

This means superior service that stands out now will end up paying dividends down the road, he adds. The market has shifted, but Kindred Homes has persevered in its ongoing efforts to stay ahead in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Founder Trent Horton attributes much of Kindred’s continued success to its commitment to both customers and employees. “As a family-owned company, we approach every relationship that way,” he shares. “We treat our employees and our buyers like family.”

When it comes to building, Kindred aims not to directly compete with the national volume home builders, instead focusing on larger homesites and select locations. “Some of our communities are structured differently and serve lot types that many builders aren’t able or willing to pursue,” says Horton. “We try to stay a little more custom, at a slightly higher price point, and avoid going head-to-head with the large production builders.”

As part of its upcoming communities, Kindred will introduce a new product line aligned with its long-term growth strategy. “We’re focused on expanding our brand in high-activity neighborhoods where buyers are seeking strong home value,” says Partner Todd Miller. “We’re intentional about where we build and continually refine our product to meet buyer needs and complement each community.”

To support this shift, Kindred is expanding into new communities that include 35-foot lots, creating more attainable entry points for today’s buyers. “As Roger mentioned, it’s definitely a buyer’s market,” adds Miller. “For many families, pricing has made purchasing a new home more challenging, so we’re intentionally broadening our offerings to meet a wider range of needs.”

In addition, new neighborhoods are coming soon to Waxahachie featuring one-acre homesites along with traditional 60- and 75-foot lots, allowing Kindred to deliver a diverse mix of products that align with evolving market conditions and affordability needs.

“We’ve been fairly busy with good opportunities,” Miller shares. “We’re fortunate that we’re getting some good locations for us for the future, and we’re beginning to add, in addition to the 25-foot product, some new 50-foot products we’re excited about. These will give us more options to meet buyer demand that may be missing today.”

Having had more time to design the product with extra thought has been a bonus for Kindred, he adds. “Our entire business has really evolved this year, and our build times have probably improved by 30 days, which is pretty significant. This allows us to deliver our houses quicker and also at a better quality.”

As for strategic direction, although it’s been a down year economically, the company is looking ahead with positivity and an eye to profitable growth and reinvestment. “We’re building ourselves back up and grew about 15 percent this year,” Miller adds.

The company is anticipating similar growth ahead, reinvesting the majority of profits into new land deals, all while experiencing an impressive lower employee turnover. “Most of our team members are celebrating two, five, 10-year anniversaries, which is pretty exciting,” Miller says, adding that it’s imperative to continue to reinvest in the business, move into new neighborhoods, get Kindred’s name out there, and ensure customers know the company is committed to truly deliver the idea of home, whatever that may be for each individual.

During COVID, Horton adds, there was a huge migration of people to Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and the Carolinas, and as people moved, prices pushed up on the finished home product side, the land side, and cost of goods, at a rapid pace. “It will take time to get back on track,” he says.

Beyond housing, Kindred Homes prides itself on its deep dedication to giving back to its community whenever possible. “We’ve always had a charitable drive to us,” says Lasater. “We’ve always given to Toys for Tots, Hometown Heroes for veterans, and this year we participated in the Builders for Babies Diaper Drive by HomeAid where we donated money, time, and resources for diapers for families in need.”

Builders for Babies was the first major project facilitated by the new HomeAid North Texas chapter, which kicked off with multiple other homebuilders across the Metroplex through HomeAid, raising more than $330,000. As an organization dedicated to helping combat homelessness, HomeAid offers programming services and safe, respectable accommodation by utilizing its connections in the building sector to access in-kind labor and material donations.

This year, Builders for Babies recognized the need for more than 28 million diapers in North Texas, with local diaper banks only able to supply just over 10 percent of the demand. “It was a unique experience for our team and our management group to get out there, and it was good to give back,” stresses Lasater. “You can see the impact.”

A positive, community-focused mindset continues to drive Kindred Homes’ success, and maintaining that family-owned culture is what keeps the team moving forward, says Horton. “One of our greatest strengths is our size. Because we’re a smaller, family-owned company, we’re able to adapt quickly, make decisions efficiently, and pivot when needed without layers of red tape. That flexibility allows us to respond to changes in the market and keep momentum on our side.”

In turn, Kindred is able to take those lessons learned, reach out to its customer base, and receive feedback. “This has led to the product we’ve designed and to targeting some of these new areas that are probably underserved,” says Lasater. “It’s something we think we can do really well and, combining that with the ability to personalize a home with that one-on-one service and touch, we’re really excited for the future.”

Additionally, from Kindred’s ownership to its management team, and even some team members, many have worked in the corporate world and have come to understand the importance of being readily available to customers. “It’s the accessibility,” Lasater says. “If you’ve got a legitimate issue, it’s easy to get a hold of us and talk. We can adapt plans and do things a little quicker than some of the big builders can.”

Amidst myriad market shifts, Kindred Homes is still growing, staying the course and looking toward the future. “We want to deliver a quality product and first class customer experience. That’s not just a company slogan; it’s a commitment from our family to yours and something all of us at Kindred Homes make a priority.”

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