GBRC

The Budget is now settled, and the Chancellor is polishing the statement he will give to the Commons today (23 March) at 12.30pm. It's been touted as a Budget for growth. Will it be a Budget for green growth?

It's now been 8 months since the builders moved out and we moved back into our refurbished 1960s house in Brighton. Thankfully the exhaustion and stress of working on my own home has fully subsided and we have been enjoying the fruits of our labour. More than that - it's fantastic!

I had a very fun morning talking about the Great British Refurb to the British Institute of Interior Designers.

It’s that time of year again.  Speculation builds on what is going to happen to our taxes, what will happen to fuel duty and then on Budget Day the Government claims the Budget will help the environment.

Saving water in the home has huge potential to help reduce CO2 emissions and energy bills; and it also helps restore and protect hundreds of rivers across the UK.

As you must have noticed, we almost always focus on energy efficiency. But a truly sustainable house is about more than insulation or PVs. It is about water use (you can read our water blog) and the materials we choose to use. Read Colin’s blog on why forests matter – from Bourne to Borneo

Linking up government policy and practice can oftentimes be tricky. In the home refurbishment arena, pioneering low energy retrofits are pretty few and far between across the UK and getting them promoted to an appreciative political audience is a thankless task in the high-octane circus that is the media cycle.