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In this episode, I am thrilled to have Brian Johnson, founder of Centergy360, as our guest. Brian and I go way back, and his journey from construction to creating healthy living environments is truly inspiring.
Today, we delve into what it means to build a healthy home and why it’s so crucial, especially for those of us dealing with autoimmune disorders.
For the complete show notes and links visit inspiredliving.show/140
Today, we delve into what it means to build a healthy home and why it’s so crucial, especially for those of us dealing with autoimmune disorders.
For the complete show notes and links visit inspiredliving.show/140
Creators and Guests
What is Inspired Living with Autoimmunity?
The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.
Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.
In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!
we're like 80 percent water.
And so we're conductors,
we're just absorbing energy.
That's just what we are.
We're these energetic beings.
So if you have a metal bed frame, metal
conducts electricity and what do you
have in your walls, you have convenient
outlets to plug in lamps and, you know,
all kinds of things in your room, right?
So, If your bed is backed up
against a wall, what it's doing,
it's absorbing the energy.
Now you're just buzzing, so to speak.
And it just doesn't allow the
body to get to that place of
homeostasis because there's
something running in the background.
Brian, welcome to the podcast.
Oh, Julie, it's such an honor.
Uh, super exciting to be here,
especially with somebody that,
uh, We shared such amazing
experiences together and our growth.
So thank you for having me.
I am thrilled to have you here
and also excited for listeners
because I love what you're doing.
Um, and I've, I've watched it
develop and it is this, you are
creating such a needed service.
Um, so I want to just start with
your story, let listeners get to know
you a little bit, you know, what led
you to create Centergy360 and, you
know, more and more and more because
I know the, the, the whole business
model is kind of expanding as you go.
No, I mean, absolutely.
I mean, it's constant evolution.
Uh, we never stopped learning, right?
Like the moment that we, we stopped
learning, you know, there's, there's, uh,
we're, we're, we're, yeah, we're done.
We're, we're falling behind, you know?
Um, and.
You know, really, you know, individuals
like us, you know, we're, we're
pioneering, we're just, we're just blazing
away, you know, and so it's constant
research, you know, to say how did the
curve, um, and yeah, you know, and it's
interesting to, you know, how we met.
Is, you know, we're both on this path
of, and we're all on these paths of
like healing and, you know, whether
it's recovery from sports or recovering
for, you know, autoimmune, um, and
putting together protocols, you know,
I look at it at the end of the day
is just like optimization, right?
Like just health and just optimization
and what can we do to, to just
really optimize our health and
of course, find body and spirit.
Um, and.
You know, through through our
endeavors of, you know, even
working together in the past, um,
you know, back in 2000 and three.
You know, I've always
been in construction.
I come from the lumber industry, went
into construction in early 2000s, went
right into building concrete homes.
I was really, I always felt like I was
real progressive and I always wanted
to be ahead of the curve back then.
Um, building these concrete homes
and but then we had, you know, the
housing crisis head and just no one
was into the whole green thing and
sustainability and eco, it just kind
of fell to the wayside a little bit.
Um, and I went into more concrete
construction, but then I have
different divisions where I got
into doing a lot of industrial.
Um, and also to was involved
in a lot of mold remediation.
Um, I was a contractor.
Um, and then projects that we were
on would be remediated for mold.
Um, and this was in California
and a very dry climate area.
And, you know, fast forwarding
from that, you know, kind of back
in the day when we first met,
you know, I was really exploring
functional medicine, um, integrative
medicine, and just the practices of.
Really finding the root cause
instead of just the band aid, right.
And just, you know, just kind of
the, the mainstream of everything.
And, and, and once I came into, into that,
uh, I met some amazing, uh, functional
doctors created great relationships
and, and I was big in athletics.
And once I started doing all of this
testing, you know, on, you know, metabolic
testing and, you know, heavy metals and,
you know, all these amazing tests that.
That you, you know, help
interpret for your clients.
Um, you know, I, I was full of toxins.
I was full of, you know, mycotoxins
heavy, not so much heavy metals, but
just, you know, like toxic exposures.
And, uh, my doctor said.
Huh, that's pretty interesting.
Like, what are you exposed to?
And I'm like, well, no, you know,
she's cause she knows that I'm living
this like bulletproof, optimized,
clean, you know, like, and you know,
how rigid I was with my, my diet.
Um, but that stuff doesn't go away.
And, and I, I had always thought, you
know, kind of what the Western approach,
you know, Hey, your cells are always
rejuvenating and, you know, this whole
process and, you know, we're just,
you know, our bodies naturally heal
and, and come to find out, you know,
that was my bubble was bursted and,
and, and I was trying to like always
move to the next level and athletic.
So.
I was like, what are these hurdles?
Well, we found out what those hurdles.
And so my doctor inspired me.
She says, look, you're a builder.
I'm like, yeah, but I
haven't built in a long time.
You know, I'm doing other things.
She said, why don't you, why don't
you consider building healthy homes?
Right.
I mean, this, this goes
back some years ago and.
And I thought, you know, I've been
thinking about getting back into the
building industry, but you know, in all
this file hacking and now I'm going to
kind of like talk about like all the
things that even you and I are into red
light therapies and all the things and
saunas and air purifiers and in all of
these things that red lights that we can,
you know, replace in the home, right?
To to bio to to optimize our environment,
you know, um, mold tests and then
it gets into that whole thing.
And, you know, so I thought, you
know what, we're already living it.
This is it.
We need to build it like the home
needs to become the modality.
I love that.
Right.
And go ahead.
what your definition or, you know, for
listeners, when, when you say healthy
home, you did just list some things.
Um, and it's kind of like when we
start to talk about toxins, you
know, it can be so overwhelming
cause we're exposed everywhere.
What are, what are some of the things, you
know, if listeners are like, healthy home,
hmm, you know, that, that you consider,
because you have, especially now, because
you've done, really, you know, helped
with remediation work and all the things,
now you're building truly healthy homes.
What does that even mean?
Yeah.
So defining a healthy home.
Um, there's a lot of, there's just
a lot of washing going on out there.
Um, and, and I want to bring that up first
because the, the definition green, um,
Um, you know, sustaina, sustainability
and all these terms are, they're kind
of just washed in and it, it's kind of
misleading because somebody would think,
you know, if they're building green or
sustainable or, or whatever, it's healthy.
And, and that's not the case at all.
Um, a building, building a healthy home.
And by the way, um, Julie,
you know, even since.
You know, we first met like I've
developed a lot of, um, knowledge
through the building biology Institute.
Um, it's a great resource for all of your
listeners here to the bullet building
biology Institute and they have, you
know, for like contractors and just all
levels of what you're looking at all the
way from the basics of the one on one.
To, you know, the master certifications
and I've required all three of
their master's certifications for
building and environmental consulting.
And through that process, I've really
understood what the healthy aspects were.
And it's really, you know, like the
key features on a healthy home is like.
Water is a big one, you know, so bringing
in filtered water into the home, um,
and recognizing like all the fixtures
and you know, the pipes and everything
that the water is pushing through.
Um, that's a big one.
Um, uh, air quality, air quality,
it's, it's a really broad term
and air quality because it, it
defines what air quality is.
It's like, hey, do we have a lot of V.
O.
C.
S.
Volatile organic compounds outgassing
from like plastics and you know,
all these different synthetic
materials in building materials.
Okay.
Um, you know, ventilation, you know,
are we getting good ventilated?
Is the air being filtered
through like HEPA back?
Uh, excuse me, HEPA, you
know, filtration type systems.
Um, for the entire home is, is the home
free from any like moisture intrusion?
Um, do we have good ventilation in
the bathrooms and the showers, you
know, are the fans operating properly?
Um, so it's kind of like this moisture
management, understanding outgassing,
understanding good, uh, good centralized,
if you're using like centralized
heating and cooling systems, that
these systems are maintained well.
Um, getting into the EMF field,
which is the electromagnetic,
that one a little bit because I think
parts and pieces, you know, we've had
a a bunch of episodes that we talk
about toxins and VOCs and air quality
and water quality and not to the level
that you pay attention to in a home.
Um, but, but EMFs, I think, not I think,
Have to be an exacerbating factor.
It's not just that our toxic exposure
is, is higher, which it is, but I, you
know, and I know there's studies, like,
especially with mycotoxins, the EMF
exposure makes mycotoxins more active.
Um, and so I really think
it's a, it's an issue that.
It is really worth us digging into
and you are such a great resource for
listeners to, to understand in a way
where we're not scaring people that
there are things we can do as the world
is, you know, increasing and increasing
exposures and 5g and who knows what, you
know, 6g it'll be like, it's just crazy.
yes,
So, so let's talk about.
Kind of, if you will, I don't know.
I, I'm thinking like, okay, here's
what you do in your amazing, truly
clean homes, and here's what we can do
when we're already living in a home.
Like, just things, changes maybe
we can make, things like that.
yeah, no, um, you know, so this whole,
you know, and like you nailed it
too, just kind of, just kind of stick
with this, you know, we call it the
rain, the rain barrel effect, right?
You know, when, when the toxic barrels
full, it starts overflowing and then
we start these symptoms, you know,
just they become more magnified and
then one thing leads to the next.
Right.
Um, and EMF definitely,
and I'm going to define it.
Um, EMFs definitely.
Push that, push that, right?
So it just takes this perfect storm
of all these different things.
It's just not one thing.
It's, it's everything.
And that's what Synergy 360 is all about.
It's a holistic approach to the
complete environment that we're inside,
you know, as far as specific to home
building, but EMFs, just, I just
want to break this down real quick.
Um, there's EMFs.
We have electrical fields, which is
put out by 60 or 60 Hertz cycle of
what electricity comes into the homes.
For the power lines and
distributed into the homes.
That's called electrical fields.
We can't get away from that because that's
how we have all the modern amenities.
We have a C magnetic fields, which
is generated by an electrical
field, um, a C magnetic fields.
Those that's that's what we have.
That's the quiet, that's
the silent deadly one.
Um, you know, obviously you wouldn't
want to live next to a, right next
to a power line, you know, um,
because it's generating a high
amount of AC magnetic fields.
Um, we have, um, RF radio frequencies
from 4G, 5G, Bluetooth, Wi Fi,
Um, you know, docked phones, baby
monitors for all your listeners
out there with the baby monitors.
Um, they, the wifi signals put
out, they're putting out like
5g signals within your home.
So if anybody's alarmed about the
whole 5g thing, you want to be just
equally as alarmed as, uh, uh, wifi.
So that's RF.
And then the fourth one
is what we refer to.
A lot of people hear the term
dirty electricity, which is
microelectrical surge pollution.
And what that is, that is a simply
line noise, uh, it's harmonics
that feeds back in a couples.
And through the electrons through the
wiring into the home So now we're having
just by the electrical system in the home.
We're exposed to dirty electricity And
what generates dirty electricity are
things like switch mode power supplies
from a computer Plug in to to charge
or you know to charge your computer or
to plug your computer in Uh three way
dimmer or excuse me dimmers for anybody
listening, of course Dimmers are a big
factor, uh, because what it does is
it's changing the frequency of the light
by dimming, and it dumps this dirty
electricity right back into the line.
Um, you know, solar panels within
proper inverters, they lead to
this whole thing, so the concern
about solar panels for everybody.
Ultimately, it's the power.
It's when it converts from D.
C.
To A.
C.
Within the home, it creates
this dirty electricity.
Okay.
Um, and just for takeaways, you
know, and I'll just keep it at that.
So those are the four types of EMFs.
Okay.
And, you know, the, the electrical
fields, we're not going to get away
from that, you know, but it's being
very mindful of your exposure.
So here's the cool
thing about electricity.
It drops exponentially.
So the fields of that, you know, so
if it's a field like this, um, you
know, four feet away, it's going
to be decided by finger, you know,
so it drops exponentially, right?
Um, and just, and think about this,
if we're sleeping, Now, keep in
mind, we're like 80 percent water.
And so we're conductors,
we're just absorbing energy.
That's just what we are.
We're these energetic beings.
And, and it's not that we're not demon,
you know, demonizing electricity or we
need it, but we could use it to in our
favor and still optimize our health.
So by distancing ourselves, so
if you have a metal bed frame,
keep in mind a metal bed frame,
there's, these are some takeaways.
Metal conducts electricity and what do you
have in your walls, you have convenient
outlets to plug in lamps and, you know,
all kinds of things in your room, right?
So, If your bed is backed up
against a wall, you know, there's
wiring behind the wall, what it's
doing, it's absorbing the energy.
And then it's just now, now
you're just buzzing, so to speak.
Okay.
It's just, and it just doesn't
allow the body to get to that place
of homeostasis because there's
something running in the background.
You know what I mean?
Sure.
Well, we're supposed to be healing
and detoxing when we sleep.
So,
yes, yes, yes.
And, and there's, there's solutions.
Um, and that's the whole goal.
That's the goal here, right?
Um, and there's solutions just
like quick, you know, like you
could work with an electrician.
Um, you could even put a kill
switch in the room to kill the
power to the complete room.
So now you're in a complete EMF free zone,
you know, well, From an electrical field.
Um, you know, but keep in mind when you
have that lamp, or hopefully our listeners
here aren't still plugging in your cell
phone next to your band, but no judgment.
Okay?
Um, you know, I did it until I really
kind of started putting it together.
But, um, what, what you're doing is
that, that extension cord, now you're
taking that wiring from the wall
and you're just bringing it up even
closer to your head at your bed lamp.
Okay?
So.
You know, go to like, go to a battery
operated, you know, if you're into the
red lights and amber lights, you know,
you can buy them on Amazon now, you
know, maybe distance your bed away from a
power outlet, you know, maybe go to some
battery operator for like reading lights.
Um, these are things that
we can do on our bedrooms.
Um, the, the thing.
And those are just some quick takeaways,
you know, you know, go, go to like
a, go, go to like a wood bed frame.
Um, you know, if, if you don't have
the resources right now to work with
electrician to put a kill switch in
the thing about the AC magnetics,
again, what happens is with AC
magnetics in a home, if there's
wiring errors, um, sometimes of, uh,
Electricians come in even on a new home.
Sometimes they might cut a
corner and they'll share a
neutral and they'll create it.
They'll jump another circuit off of that
just because they don't want to, you know,
do a new home run or either trying to
pull power for a switch here and there.
This is all the mechanical stuff.
I'd like, uh, like, you know,
um, excuse me, electrical work.
But, um, but what you wouldn't
know until you measure it.
But, like, as a new builder, we're very
cognizant of that, so we're running
dedicated circuits, and, and, and
the reason, what happens, here's what
happens, you know, you have one wire,
uh, delivering electricity, and you
have another wire coming back, so you
have a hot and a calm, and there's two
wires, when they're close together,
they, they cancel themselves out,
so power lines sit like this, right?
That's, that's why they're
generating this field, right?
It's like a PEMF on steroids, right?
Um, it's it's putting out of frequency.
And so what happens is when we have
these a c magnetic issues with the home.
This is just one.
There's several reasons.
Um, it could be that when they
pulled a circuit this way.
Well, then there's a circuit
going this way around the room.
And now it's creating this electrical
this magnetic field or if there
was a power line outside of your,
um, outside in front of your house.
You know, that could be producing
a high amount if it's outside
of the house externally.
Sometimes they can be a
real challenge to remediate.
But if it's in the home, it's just
a matter of having like a consultant
come in with the meters saying,
Hey, you have some high values
and I'll work with an electrician.
We found a wiring error.
We fixed it.
Okay, so there's solutions
to that, but it's it's it's
that's the real important one.
Um, solutions for RF radio frequencies are
if you are going to use a Wi Fi router.
I'm on a Wi Fi router now,
everyone, but I have it on a switch.
So when I'm doing my networking, so
when it's time for bed, or if I'm just,
I don't want to have the frequencies,
there's a lot of people that have, you
know, these electrical hypersensitivities
that cannot be exposed to that.
Right.
Um, you know, so like a
router is not even an option.
Um, but just for most of our listeners,
if you're using that, put it, put it
on a switch and just literally just
shut it off when you're not using it.
Okay.
have mine's on a timer because I
don't want to have to remember to shut
it off all the time, you know, and
so I can shut it off when I'm
not using it, but also I, it's
always shut off when I'm sleeping.
Cause so I don't have to think about it.
Um, and maybe there's, you
know, a drawback to the timer.
I don't know.
No, no, that's
perfect.
to make stuff easy, you know, so that.
Uh, you know, and they're cheap.
Like it's not, it's not even expensive.
timer could be five to 10.
And like you said, save you the time
laying in bed, you know, halfway
across the house where the timer
might be going, did I
remember to shut it off?
You
know?
for my workaholic clients, it's a
beautiful thing because oh, wifi is down.
If you're not already in
bed down, it's time to,
nice.
No, I like that.
We, we
it's like a double, double end there.
Yeah.
And I want to highlight You said
it and we both have said it.
I want to say it one more time.
This is there is no perfect
and there is no avoiding.
So we're talking about
optimizing and reducing exposures
where we can control it.
And in our homes is
where we can control it.
And so it's not about perfect.
It's about better.
So yeah, because I, I know it's
like there's so many rabbit holes.
Um, it can be overwhelming.
Julie, that's where you're
just amazing in your coaching.
Right.
Because it's like, we're not,
you know, we're not striving.
Nothing's ever going to be perfect.
Right.
But You know, what are, what are
actionable steps that, you know, we can
create step by step at a time, you know?
Um, and so for, thank you for bringing
that in, because this is full disclaimer
here, like I'm here to help bring
solutions to the building industry and
to bring solutions for our clients.
Um, and not to scare people, you know,
there's, unfortunately in this business.
There's a lot of opportunistic, um, you
know, situations going on out there.
And, but I, I feel like within our
realm and with our network, we're all
pretty true to what we want to do in
our mission and ultimately is here.
We're, we're here to create, you know,
or for me, it's to create healthy
healing environments and for you to
help navigate that client through.
Through the journey to get there,
you know, from all factors, right?
absolutely.
And but you, you raise a good point
because it, you know, like you
talked about greenwashing, which
comes up in so many, you know,
whether it's food or products.
I mean, it's just, it's
a marketing tactic.
Um, and, and so for people to find
somebody who's trusted, Yeah, absolutely.
And not a shyster.
Um, you know, do you recommend
that they, they search through
the building biology Institute?
Like how to, how do people know?
Okay.
Absolutely.
100%.
Um, I would say the building biology
is probably for all of your clients.
Um, I refer to it on my
webinars all the time.
They really set the gold standard.
The building biology started
post post World War Two.
It was developed in, um, Germany post
World War II, like in the 60s, when
they started discovering all these
environmental illnesses post all the homes
being destroyed and rebuilt because now
it's the turn of the century and we're
building mercury and lead and copper and
asbestos and all these things, right?
Um, And it's, you know, and
so that's where they started.
And then it was brought to the U S
and like 19, I think officially 1986.
So they've been around matter.
And so here I'm into the whole
optimization and healthy home building.
And it wasn't until later on that I
found out about the building biology
institute and I, when I found them,
like, where have they been all my life?
Like, this is like.
This
is the
not know?
That was like me on functional medicine.
I was like, wait a minute.
I thought I, I thought I knew things.
yeah, right.
Exactly.
love that you bring up, um, Which
again is like our, our modern
technology create can also give us
answers, but sometimes is part of
what's creating more problems, right?
Like, we were talking about 5G.
I was just thinking about when you
were talking about World War 2 and,
and rebuilding, um, my daughter has her
master's in architectural preservation.
And so she did, she did her thesis on
mold on, on, you know, the, because.
It's mortar used to breathe back,
you know, 200, 300 years ago.
And then we got, we got
crafty and creative, right?
And we started, so it's like,
Oh, this will last longer.
Yeah.
And it's also holding the moisture in.
You do a lot with materials
in your new building.
Can you share a little bit about what are
some of your favorite building materials?
Because I want listeners that are
thinking of building a new home.
To maybe lean in a little bit and
realize that they can contact you.
100%.
And your daughter and I have to
sit down and have a conversation.
And, and, uh, because you threw the
building biology and, you know, so
everybody, if you want to know more, you
want to find a consultant, um, somebody
to help point you in the right direction.
That's really, truly passionate that has.
You know, we all have our stories of
what brought us here and you're gonna
find everybody that's so heartfelt,
like, well, not everybody, but I'm
going to say everybody that I met
through the Building Biology Institute.
I spent the last couple
of years very involved.
Um, they have an amazing resource
that you can go under their website,
the Building Biology Institute.
I don't know if it's not org, I think
maybe, but we'll have to, you'll have
to post that later, Julie, but, um,
Yeah, we'll find it, but you can go
on there and you can find, um, you
can find like, you know, providers or,
you know, specialists through there.
Yeah.
And they, they, they do really good.
Matter of fact, I get, I get, I get
leads from time to time and I, you
know, I'm just on there on the reason,
you know, on there, uh, you know, the
referral or what, not the referral, but.
What am I trying to say?
They're, uh,
specialists.
certified specialists.
Yeah.
And I get calls, um, you know,
but like for Arizona, they're
like, or California even.
And yeah, they're all over the country.
So they've got, they've got you covered
and it's just a matter of resonating with
somebody that, that fits where you're at.
Um, and.
You know, look at BBEC, which is Building
Biology Environmental Consultant, which
is kind of more kind of rounded, just
everything they're looking at indoor
air quality and, you know, the EMFs and
just they're looking at everything to
come up with a program, a protocol, just
like what you do for your clients, you
know, like, Hey, what are action steps?
What can I do?
You know, what are these little
things like I was just kind of
giving short demonstrations on.
Um, Um, you know, you know,
me as a builder kind of
switching gears just a little
bit,
I want to just touch on the new homes
that you're building and your approach.
Yeah.
Thank you.
And so you nailed it with the whole
breathing thing and everything that your
daughter did her research and thesis on.
It's fascinating.
And in those homes have been
around for like, A long time.
You
Yeah.
She studied, she's, she studied in the UK,
so those were some pretty old buildings.
you know, 800 years old, you
know, eighth generation types
home, stuff like that, right?
Um, and they were, it
was the brick and mortar.
It was clay.
It was all these natural
building materials.
So fast forward where I'm at today.
As a builder and I'm currently actively
building, um, building thermal mass.
So it's just basically these big massive
walls, but now I'm evolving more into
what's rammed earth building, which
is, which is a very specific specialty.
In my opinion, it's like the healthiest
way to build a home on the planet.
For listeners who don't
know what is rammed earth.
Rammed Earth is basically
taking all of our local source.
That's what's beautiful about it
because it's truly a green, recycled
product that we're giving back to the
Earth even after the cycle of the home.
But, Um, it's all locally
sourced dirt and aggregate.
What we do is we build these forms and
these folds of the walls and the, you
know, the window openings and creating
amazing masterpiece architecture.
And we're actually pouring
layers and we're putting just a
little bit of cement into it and
creating this really solid matrix.
And we're hitting PSI strengths
that blow that exceed concrete.
And then we ram it.
And so that's the hints,
the term ram dirt.
So that's, that's a very specialty one.
So anybody that's interested, I
could just blow your mind with it.
Um, you know, there's a company that
I, that I work with, they've built
800 structures around the world,
world class, um, architecture.
Um, uh, there's another
building thermal mass, which is.
I that's my favorite, but I've gone with
a green version of this and it's called
insulated concrete form construction.
And so we do use cement with a
combination of, like, non toxic.
We didn't get into that, but non
toxic, like, um, insulation and
we're using, like, natural plasters,
Julie, that again, because we're,
we're, we're creating a breathable.
Environment, right?
This, the home becomes the
microbiome we talked about, right?
I love that.
right.
And we, we want the home to have
its own natural ways to acclimate.
We don't want to be using,
you know, all these sprays and
disinfectants and antimicrobial stuff.
Like for everybody listening, you know,
you definitely want to, you know, just,
I would not recommend that at all.
And the way that we build, we're doing it
naturally just with building materials.
So the goal is.
Is to use the most
natural building material.
Now I didn't bring up wood framing.
There's nothing wrong with wood
framing, but it's all new growth.
Um, it's not the old growth
that we used to have.
Um, you know, there's,
there's the potential issue.
So if you are having a contractor
build your home, you know, sometimes
there's a lot of mold on this lumber
that they're framing these homes with.
I posted on my Instagram all the time
and, you know, it's a serious thing.
And we didn't really get
into the mold, but when
Well, and people tend to think, and we
have discussed it before on the podcast,
um, you know, we think of like, oh, old
Moldy homes, but new homes are built, you
know, to pass inspection in my county.
It has to pass a certain airtight
test and like you're saying, you
know, if you're building materials
were wet or moldy and not dried out
properly before drywall goes up.
Like, it's it can be in there.
So I think that, um.
It's good to touch on that it's
not just an old musty moldy
at all.
building, but, and that's why even
I'm, when I moved to Colorado 22
years ago, I was told, you know,
there is no mold in Colorado.
Yeah, there is.
Even in Arizona, it's
80 percent of the earth's
biomass is fungus.
Oh, wow.
There you
80 percent of the world of
the earth's biomass is fungus.
It's like, yeah, everyone
just full disclaimer.
There's not one state, not one
continent, nowhere that you're
going to go that you're, you're
going to get away from that.
You know,
And not all fungus is bad and
not all mold creates illness.
So, you know, um,
Yeah.
Not to
scare everybody
thing back when you were barely eating
any foods either, you know, I wouldn't
eat things that I'm like, Oh, that's not
the kind of mold I have an issue with.
But I still, I still
use really clean coffee.
I do, you know.
Oh, Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, what talks in the actor
to, you know, all these different
types of things that are, I mean,
they're in the food, you know, so
it's, it's good to source all that.
So it's the same thing.
It's like, we're sourcing it, the food
as a builder, I'm reading the labels.
Right.
And, you know, I wish it was just.
You know, simple five ingredients.
But when you're building a
home, you're working with about
8, 000 different materials.
So just imagine me reading the
labels and that's what I do as
building science and as a builder.
Every product that I'm designing,
I'm building with, there's a
rhyme and there's a reason, and
there's an understanding behind it.
And also lastly, just talking about, so
if you're building a home that is non
toxic or if you're remodeling a home that
you want to be non toxic, it's, if you're
using and you're sourcing and you're
working with somebody like me to source
these types of non toxic alternatives
that don't have gas or have smalls or.
Or smells that are, you know, for
people that are chemical sensitive
in things like that, right?
Um, you know, that, that's a,
that's a big factor right there.
So that's something to really
take into consideration.
So if it's non toxic, it's green.
So we shouldn't be talking about
green, but you know, the word
toxic kind of alarms people.
So, you know, it's not the most
popular word when you, but when you
put the word non in front of it.
So, so we're, we're
I'm identifying qualifier.
Yes.
hundred, a hundred
percent, a hundred percent.
What is, I'm going to throw
you under the bus here.
What is like the one thing, say
somebody is building a new home and
they're not going all in, they're
not working with somebody like you.
Is there one material that if
they traded out one material,
it would make a big impact?
Or not really.
I know,
me on the spot.
Um,
wasn't to be mean.
I'm just really curious.
Like, I'll, like in my, I didn't know
much when I built this last home, but
I knew enough to tell the electrician,
you know, I don't, I don't want any
LED or compact fluorescent lights.
And they were, he was like,
well, we don't, we don't do that.
I'm like, well, you do this time.
You know?
I, you know,
Is there like a thing that, cause again,
it's what, you know, something, it doesn't
have to be the number one, but something
that reduces burden a little bit,
oh my goodness, Julie is like 20
things come to my mind and I would
feel guilty if I left one thing out.
Um, but I think even, I know I'm
not, I can't answer this because
I'm going to have to give you 20.
Um, but, uh, but I think it's
when you're starting a project.
Working with a builder doing a remodel.
It's really working with somebody
like me or a good architect that
understands, you know, the whole non
toxic like, Hey, you know, I have
multiple chemical sensitivities or I
have this or that it's working with an
architect or somebody mindful of that.
So that
I think is really like the perfect
answer because, You could do what I did.
You're not going to get the results.
I didn't know this was seven, eight
years ago, um, to take a regular
builder and a regular architect, and
that's not their wheelhouse and then
tell them, but I don't want this.
And I know I don't want that.
And, um, so actually I think
know what
beautiful answer is to really work with
people that are in the, this realm.
And, and you already gave the really good
resource of, of the building biology.
So.
it's like you, you know, you're,
you're coaching your clients
on the direction of health.
Um, you know, it's the
same thing with a builder.
Like you're working with a builder, an
architect that understands the goal.
You know, what's most important,
like, Hey, you know, I'm concerned
about mold, you know, in my home.
Hey, you know, we have these,
we inspect all the lumber.
We're going to do a good
ventilation and, you know, heating
an air system that's breathable.
We're going to build a breathable system.
We're going to use these
materials that are non toxic.
You know, and it's just
really an understanding, like.
You know, on this whole EMF factor,
we can build homes and we can
wire homes for them to be safe.
This isn't some special thing of EMF.
These are just going back to the
principles and going back to the basics.
And so working with a contractor,
it's just somebody, Hey, you know
what, I have electrical sensitivities
to these types of things, you know.
to where, hey, okay, let's work together
and maybe we'll work with a consultant.
Um, you know, Hey, we'll go to the
building biology Institute, you
know, and we'll, we'll work with
somebody to help guide us and make the
recommendations through the process.
I think that that's, that's brilliant and
really good advice, especially I say it,
it is, I love the analogy that you made.
It is, it's like going to a traditional
allopathic Western medicine doc
to get autoimmunity reversed.
Well, that's not their wheelhouse.
They'll give you the medication
to treat the symptom.
But, so it is, it's a totally, and what,
what came up was I was thinking, you
know, if your builder tells you it's, that
doesn't matter, or that's not important,
or this isn't a problem, EMFs, mold,
all the things, that's your, that's your
signal that you need to find somebody
who's, who's really serving health.
And, and there's a lot of that too.
And that's a good point.
I think ultimately everybody's don't,
don't just take, you know, a builder's
word for it or whatever, because if
they're not listening to your goals,
that's not the builder for you.
Yeah.
Amen.
Amen.
I love it.
So I already, I asked a very specific one
thing question and you did end up giving
us actually like the most important thing.
Um, but we always end the podcast
with one step that listeners can take.
starting today to improve their health.
It could be building related.
It could not be, you have a wealth
of knowledge in the wellness world.
So share with us an action step.
You know, I think it's, um, I
think it's just, it's looking
at everything and it's really.
Knowing that it's just not one thing.
Um, you know, nature's the gold standard.
I want to bring that.
I think that's really important.
Um, you know, for, for healing
is, you know, the whole grounding,
you know, because everyone,
that's what I'm creating.
I'm creating homes that
I'm building nature, right?
So the quality of light, so sunlight
therapy, getting into the light,
natural
grounding.
do one thing, Brian.
No, I know, but it's, it's, I've
Let's go with the grounding.
There's an action step people can take,
even if it's not built into the home.
Let's, what can people do for grounding?
Uh, it's it's simply, um, bare feet.
There's just, there's all the signs and
I know we're talking about it today.
Um, but the homes that I build, I'm
taking that into accountability so you
can walk, you can walk in your home
barefooted and actually be grounded.
right.
But for people living in, you know,
regular dirty homes, they could
just go step outside onto the earth.
they could do, you know what, let
me, and also too, like, I, I, I gotta
switch gears here 'cause I'm just
thinking, just be really mindful of
all of the chemicals in your home.
You know, just no different than
the chemicals, you know, we're
always about putting, you know,
chemical free, you know, whatever
on our skin, whatever our homes.
Just look at the, look at
your labels on all of that.
If, if you have under your
cabinet, under your kitchen sink.
One of the big things my pet peeve
is the kitchen sink is designed to
be able to have access to plumbing.
Everybody puts all their
stuff under the sink.
You know, that stuff is like
outgassing and it's leaching,
it's leaching things into the air.
Get rid of that.
I know it's inconvenient.
Maybe put some civil
court cleaners in there.
Put everything out into a ventilated
area in the garage, ultimately in
another ventilated area beyond that.
Um, but I think really be mindful
of, of just everything being stuck
under there and do observations,
take a flashlight, look around, you
know, like, Oh, Hey, there's a leak.
It's been leaking there for two years.
Well, you know what that's
going to lead to, you know?
So, um, I think just really being
mindful of these simple little things.
Um, it, it keeps going,
but I'm sorry, Julie.
Well, and I'm going to highlight
what you just, you know, I love
the, just start to pay attention
to the products you're using.
You know, we're talking about home
and that's like a whole big thing.
So it's a great place to start.
And you've said it a bunch of times.
You've you, you do it in your business
all the time, but reading the labels.
I mean, it is.
That's the homework.
There's that's where
greenwashing loses its power.
If you'll read the labels.
So that is, is wonderful advice
But back to the nature piece.
I just kind of, the reason I went
to grounding is like, if you're
inside, you're locked up all
day long and you do have the air
purifiers and that's all great.
You know, and those are simple
little actionable steps you can take,
you know, before you really start
going beyond that, but get outside.
You know, as much as you can just get
just breathe the air outside ground if you
can the sunlight there because I'm really
big into incorporating nature within
the home, but it starts outside as well.
I love that.
I love and I love just the whole idea, you
know, we think this is like so new age and
fancy and complicated, but that's such a
beautiful way to put it is where it's just
getting back to nature, bringing nature
back into the home, which is amazing.
Yes.
Brian, for people that are listening on
the go and aren't going to check the show
notes, where's the best place to find you?
Um, I'm on Instagram.
You know, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to
always, you know, try to keep up
with Instagram and put stories.
I have years, a couple of years
worth of like building stories
that I've put on there, what I'm
doing, what I'm up to date with.
Um, it's, it's synergy, S
E N E R G Y synergy 360.
So you can find me under
synergy 360 on Instagram.
That's a good one.
You can even message me on there.
I'm, I'm good with that.
Um, or my website, which is Synergy360.
com.
Um, and you can just, you know, send,
um, send an inquiry through there.
And of course, you know,
reference, you know, Julie.
So then I, that I know where,
you know, you know, where,
Where we found you
we found, but
and Brian has great
reels on Instagram too.
I highly recommend you check out
some of his, his reels and, and
cause it shows, you know, the, the
process of you building these homes,
which is, is so fun and inspiring.
but yeah, no, at least.
At least if I know that it's somebody
that you're working with, I know that
they're under that care, right, that
they're, they're being driven a direction
of, hey, you know, I heard you on Julie's
podcast, and I'm really curious about the
home, you know, so that way I know that
that person's on, on track instead of
just, you know, just from the beginning.
So somebody's already working with you.
They've got a lot of insight already.
Well, and a lot of listeners aren't
working with me, but they've been
on this path and on this journey.
So I say, you know, Brian's been a
friend for a long time, reach out.
He's not only a wealth of knowledge,
but just an amazing human.
So Brian, I thank you so much.
You've given us amazing gold today
Uh, you've been, you've
been an amazing friend.
Thank you, Julie.
for everyone listening.
Remember you can get those show notes and
transcripts by visiting inspired living.
show.
I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.
I'll see you next week.