The Ontario Construction Report – April 2009 – PAGE OCR 11
Building Knowledge Canada Inc:
New name, same great service
system performance, IAQ, sales and marketing of high to properly translate this technical information into simple
MATTHEW DESROSIERS
– The OCR Construction Report Special Feature
performance homes and green homes. They pride them- language will give sales agents an edge when dealing with
selves on continual training in these areas. clients.
Once known for HRV sales and R-2000 house evalua- “We like everyone in the company to commit to regular, As of March 1, Cooke and his building services team
tions 20 years ago, Air Solutions Inc. has evolved and ex- consistent, continuing training on as many new topics as have begun serving the needs of its building industry
panded its knowledge base to offer a more complete range we can possibly do,” said Cooke. “What we have done clients under the new Building Knowledge Canada name.
of services to the building community. within the company also is designate specific people to “The name indicates we’re a knowledge based com-
To better reflect these expanded services, the company have specific expertise.” pany, offering a wider, deeper set of solutions to builders
has been divided into two separate companies, creating a Currently, builders are most interested in being green based on building science,” said Cooke. “(We are also)
new entity called Building Knowledge Canada Inc for its and energy efficient, but in a cost-effective way. The team able to help builders communicate that both to their trades
Builder Services and Consulting & Training division. Air at Building Knowledge Canada takes a very practical ap- and to their homeowners, so they build efficiently and
Solutions will remain as a sales agency, supplying quality proach with these builders, finding solutions that work at homeowners understand that this is the most affordable
innovative products such as HRVs, an affordable level. way to build.”
solar hot water heating systems and Gord Cooke They help builders benchmark The name has changed but everything else has stayed
high efficiency boilers. Contact in- current construction practices and the same!
formation for the company won’t then work with them to create a
change plan for continuous improvement of
“More and more, I’m having overall building performance. It’s
builders ask me questions that aren’t important for builders to know a
just related to ventilation and air planned approach can be very cost
quality,” said Gord Cooke, president effective.
of Air Solutions and Building The building science and sales
Knowledge Canada Inc. “I felt the training program Cooke offers are
change would allow me to commu- designed with an interactive ap-
nicate to builders that, in fact, we’re proach to recognize the different
able to offer a wider and deeper learning styles for people within the
breadth of information.” industry. Since hands on experience
Having started in ventilation and indoor air quality, is particularly valuable, participants are often taken on site
Cooke and his team quickly learned more about houses as for a guided discovery tour of risks and opportunities re-
a system, and building science. Over the last 10 to 15 lated to building science performance of house elements.
years, many things in housing have changed simultane- “The training is always in the various aspects of build-
ously, he said. ing science, so it’s from design through to the various
“Little tiny changes that all interact together end up trades.”
being more complicated issues,” he said. “What we’d like However, sales agents are able to benefit from one of
to do is help builders approach these issues with a knowl- Cooke’s most unique training programs.
edge background, rather than throwing solutions at it. We “One of the unique pieces of training I’ve been doing
want to continue to build that client base of builders who is being able to translate very detailed technical informa-
need (that) knowledge based approach, to solve a much tion into very simple messages that sales agents can use
wider range of problems.” when dealing with homeowners,” he said.
The company is able to handle a wide range of topics, Often homeowners aren’t fully aware of how various
including energy efficiency, water intrusion issues, HVAC parts of the system benefit them in their home. Being able
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