Building a Culture of Asking Questions with Steve Baczek

In this conversation on Build It Forward, Nick Falkoff of Auburndale Builders sits down with Steven Baczek, Architect, and Amy Lieb, Executive Director of Studio HPDC, to talk about carpentry training, learning culture, and how people actually grow in the trades over the course of a career.

The conversation explores how carpenters and builders learn on the job, why mentorship and asking good questions matter more than memorizing answers, and how training programs can help accelerate learning without replacing real-world experience. Steve draws on his background in the trades, architecture, and building science to explain why teaching the right questions is often more important than providing solutions.

This episode also looks at the cultural side of construction, from how builders and architects communicate to how crews develop confidence, discipline, and responsibility over time. It's a real, practical conversation about what it takes to keep learning in an industry that should never stop changing. #LongLiveOurBuildings

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – Steve's path from the trades to architecture
04:00 – Teaching trades and teaching culture
07:30 – Learning by asking better questions
11:00 – Why information is not the same as training
15:00 – Creating safe spaces to learn and ask questions
18:30 – Architects, builders, and responsibility
23:00 – Training as an investment, not a cost
27:30 – Learning never stops
32:00 – Closing thoughts

This episode was filmed at Studio HPDC's 200-year-old Passive House teaching barn.
www.studiohpdc.org

Connect with:
Steven Baczek, Architect
Instagram: @stevenbazcekarchitect
www.stevenbaczekarchitect.com

Amy Lieb
Studio for High Performance Design and Construction
Instagram: @studiohpdc
www.studiohpdc.org

Work with Auburndale Builders on your high-performance build:
[e-mail]

Music:
"Welcome to the Johnsons" from the album Bird Mode
by E*Lightning aka Jon Erickson, CPHB
distrokid.com/hyperfollow/elightning/bird-mode-2

Made with PRMEABL_

#BuildItForward #AuburndaleBuilders #HighPerformanceBuilding #BuildingScience #TradesEducation #CarpentryTraining #StudioHPDC #PassiveHouse #StevenBaczek

What is Build It Forward?

Build It Forward is about the people, ideas, and decisions shaping the future of high-performance residential construction. Hosted by Nick Falkoff, GM of Auburndale Builders, and produced by PRMEABL_, the name is a play on “pay it forward.”

Conversations range from technical decisions and process to people, culture, history, and collaboration — exploring what’s working, what isn’t, and what might be interesting to try next.

These conversations are worth having, and worth sharing, because the best buildings come from communities that share what they know and build forward together.