Construction is at a turning point, and electrification is at the centre of it.

In this episode of Built To Code, Rory Smith is joined by Jolene McLaughlin, VP of Climate & Sustainability at EllisDon, and Matthew Jackson, Senior Director of Marketing at Hilti North America, to unpack what job site electrification really looks like in practice.

From battery-powered breakers and charging infrastructure to data visibility, grid constraints, and total cost of ownership, this conversation explores:

• Why construction-phase emissions are underestimated, and why that matters
• How electrified tools and equipment can reduce carbon without sacrificing performance
• The role of data in understanding energy use, efficiency, and waste on site
• Why collaboration across contractors, manufacturers, and trades is essential to scaling change

It’s an honest discussion about innovation, adoption, and the realities of transforming one of the world’s most complex industries.

Construction is at a crossroads. After decades of flat productivity and a looming labour shortage, the industry is under pressure to change—and fast.

Rory Smith sits down with Mike McGowan, CEO of Hilti North America, and Brandon Milner, CIO of EllisDon, to explore what real transformation looks like. From fixing broken processes and unlocking the power of data, to finding the right role for robotics and automation, discover why collaboration (not competition) could be the key to accelerating change.

Is construction slow to adopt technology?

Rory Smith sits down with EllisDon’s Matthew Coombes and ForwardPath AI’s Andrew Viola to unpack the real-world challenges of adopting technology in construction. From language gaps and legacy workflows to the need for bottom-up insights and top-down support, they explore why tech adoption often stalls—and what it takes to make it stick.