Chris Magwood is obsessed with making the best, most energy efficient and carbon-storing, beautiful and inspiring buildings without wrecking the whole darn planet in the attempt. Since 2011, Chris has been a director and teacher at The Endeavour Centre, a not-for-profit sustainable building school in Peterborough, Ontario where he enjoys sharing what he’s learned over his 25-year building career and inspiring others to take this stuff seriously and do it well.

In 1996, he built his family a house. It was the first permitted straw bale house in Ontario, Canada.


​In 2019, he helped to establish Builders for Climate Action, and has been leading development of the BEAM carbon estimator tool for low- rise construction. He is working closely with many levels of government to develop embodied carbon benchmarks and regulatory programs, and helping developers and builders figure out how to reverse climate change with their buildings. Chris has authored seven books on sustainable building and is co- editor of the Sustainable Building Essentials series from New Society Publishers. His new book, Building Beyond Zero: New Ideas for Carbon-Smart Architecture, is co-authored with Bruce King and will be available in June, 2022 from Island Press.

Chris is an active speaker and workshop instructor in Canada and internationally.

For more from Chris:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-magwood-8a8a9738/
https://www.chrismagwood.ca/

• https://endeavourcentre.org/
• https://healthybuilding.net/
• https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/eccc/documents/pdf/climate-change/erp/Canada-2030-Emissions-Reduction-Plan-eng.pdf
• https://www.buildersforclimateaction.org/uploads/1/5/9/3/15931000/bfca-enercan-report-web.pdf
• https://endeavourcentre.org/resources-for-building-green/free-encyclopedia-of-sustainable-building-materials/?v=e4b09f3f8402

1:25 Casey Introduction
2:33 Chris introduction
5:30 Straw bale construction
10:00 Pre- ab considerations
12:00 Hard property costs, development cost, services
14:40 Don’t use brick, don’t build a basement
18:30 Hempcrete not replacement for concrete
24:30 Nexcam  - wood fiber ICF product  - have a cork insulation option
26:30 BEAM  - build emissions accounting materials, release end of april, free, just materials
38:00 Products to avoid  -  formaldehyde (glued wood particles), plastic and foam, flame retardants, voc’s, no VOC paint,

For more from The Conscious Builder and The Conscious Builder Academy:
Conscious Builder Academy: www.consciousbuilderacademy.com

How to Market and Sell Passive Houses PRE-SALE: https://www.consciousbuilderacademy.com/course/market-and-sell-passive-houses