Blog entries

Cash boost for home improvements?

Darren Shirley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:50:21 +0100

Success for the Great British Refurb! For the last year we have been calling for the Government to introduce financial incentives such as Stamp Duty or Council Tax rebates for people who improve their home energy efficiency.

This is vital to give the home eco-refurb market a kick start. Yesterday, we received some exciting news via the British media. The Times, Telegraph, and Daily Mail (twice in one day for them!) all wrote about the potential reforms to Stamp Duty being investigated byRead More...

MPs debate energy efficiency and the Green Deal in the House of Commons

Lotte Blair — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:22:59 +0100

On the 30th June MPs spent more than six hours debating energy efficiency issues in the House of Commons and the Green Deal featured heavily as part of the debate. The full transcript of the debate can be read here but we've put together a summary of the highlights of the debate, relating to low carbon home refurbishment:

Greg Barker opened the debate with a speech about what Read More...

we don’t expect to see curtains moving when the Autumn gales hit the back of the house any more

Emma Rowlstone — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:38:56 +0100

Late last year, Emma won a £1000 worth of Eco- retrofitting of her home. It was part of the 10:10 campaign and Great British Refurb campaign competition. In this blog, Emma tells of her refurbishment experience.

Having a gaping 5 feet wide hole in the front of your house on one of the coldest days of the winter may not sound much fun but when it means a lovely, new, insulated front door then it doesn’t seem so bad. Over three days all the glass in the windows and the back door were alRead More...

What does the Lib-Con Coalition mean for greener homes?

Ellie Austin — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:15:29 +0100

I’m feeling quite positive about the coalition and what it could mean for greener homes in the UK. During the fraught talks on those crucial days post-election as the new coalition was formed, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had plenty of big issues that they disagreed on, not least of all nuclear power. Despite this, there does seem to be an element of consensus on environmental issues between the parties and they have agreed on policies around a smart grid, renewabRead More...

How can you be planning to lobby a government when you don't know who it's going to be?

Colin Butfield — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:48:53 +0100

The election is providing an interesting backdrop to our week at Grand Designs Live. The Great British Refurb campaign is here amongst the solar panels and sliding door exhibits to get thousands of people to support us in lobbying the new government on policies to support a mass low carbon retrofit of UK's homes.

One of the first questions I was asked from a couple who came over to the stand was- 'how can you be planning to lobby a government when you don't know who it's going to be yeRead More...

It's a material world: part 3 from eco-designer Oliver Heath

Oliver Heath — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:15:29 +0100

If refurbishing a home wasn't complicated enough, we now have to choose our materials with greater care and attention. You could see this as a limitation, but for me it’s an opportunity to create a style that embodies the philosophies of sustainability.
Luckily, there are ever more interesting materials to choose from as I found out when designing the Eco home exhibition at the Geffrye Museum in East London. It struck me that when designing eco homes there are masculine and Read More...

Will the Chancellor’s Green Investment Bank help pay for low carbon homes?

Ellie Austin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:36:43 +0100

This week the Chancellor published the Budget for 2010 which received some pretty mixed reactions. In terms of the green measures, there were a range of announcements including support for the renewables industry, both small and large, some extra cash to help low carbon businesses and green manufacturers, plus some boosts to promote energy efficiency.

For me, the most interesting announcements were around a so-called ‘Green Investment Bank’. Here at UK-GBC we were verRead More...

Home of the Future showcased at EcoBuild 2010

Will Homoky — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:48:57 +0100

The grand unveiling of our house happened just four weeks after the start of the eco-refurbishments. Representatives of the press, campaign supporters, and competition sponsors joined in with the celebrations at our house, as Campaign Director Simon McWhirter handed us back the keys to our 75% more energy efficient home.

No sooner than Cat and I had spent our first weekend in perfect comfort, I had been whisked over to Earl's Court in London for the 2010 EcoBuild conference. Speaking oRead More...

Eco-Home of the Future unveiled after just 4 weeks

Will Homoky — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:21:20 +0100

It seems like yesterday that Keepmoat workers descended on our home in Bristol, packed up belongings and stripped out old doors and kitchen and bathroom fittings. It's incredible to think of the extent of the refurbishments that have been achieved in such a short time frame - hats off to Keepmoat, SolarCentury and Knauf Insulation for working together to pull it off in such good time!

We had a lot of fun on our first day back in the house, with sponsors, parents, film crews and reportRead More...

How to turn your home solar

Charlotte Webster — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:32:10 +0100

So you’ve seen Will’s solar home and are inspired?

(Will, we’re really glad you’re chuffed with your new mini power station).

The UK’s newly announced Feed-in tariff brings a new dawn for generating electricity with solar power in the UK. The new scheme means homeowners producing solar electricity will earn income from energy generation, benefit from significant savings on electricity bills and cut carbon emissions. It’s estimated thRead More...

Income, savings and emissions reductions achieved by solar power

Will Homoky — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:18:15 +0100

I remember when generating electricity from the sun seemed closer to science fiction fantasy than a realistic and practical means of micro-energy generation. That was up until yesterday; when I became another homeowner in the UK with the capacity to generate green electricity from an otherwise very ordinary rooftop.

The installation of the Solarcentury 1.92kWp Sunsation, might sound dramatic, but in actual fact, involved just two installers to mount the panels oRead More...

How much insulation does it take to make an eco-home?

Will Homoky — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The refurbishment is well underway at our house in Bristol, which will make it the 10:10 and Great British Refurb Campaign's Home of the Future.

A notable change so far has been the arrival of vast quantities of Knauf Insulation.

Previously, our Victorian house had suspended wooden floors, solid-brick walls and just 50mm of loft insulation, - leaving it poorly equipped to hold-on to the heat we generated. Now 200mm of insulation has been added under the floors, 150mm is beRead More...

Strip outs and structures: Part 2 from eco-designer Oliver Heath on his home refurbishment

Oliver Heath — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:52:38 +0100

How do you start an eco refurb? As you mean to continue of course: with lofty environmental intentions.

In my case that means stripping out my home’s old fixtures and putting in steel joists and columns to improve its efficiency and circulation, and future proof it (more on that later).

First day at Will's house - winner of the Great British Refurb and 10/10 Home of the Future ...

Will Homoky — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100

We're really excited about the work starting now; we still couldn't quite believe all the refurbishments were really going to be happening until the builders arrived earlier this week and made a start on things. They plan to be here for 4 weeks, and in that time install extensive insulation, draft exclusion and solar voltaics. Needless to say we've had some sleepless nights in anticipation, thinking over the scale of the changes to come. Catherine and I have been moved into a very nice apartmRead More...

Can Eco Designer Oliver Heath bring character and sustainability to this featureless ‘60s House?

Oliver Heath — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:27:57 +0100

It's taken some time to realise that I don't like to make things easy for myself - but I do like to make things right. A year ago we moved into a detached 1960s four-bedroom house in Brighton. Hardly the designer home one might expect for a man, who enthuses about good sustainable design on TV, but it took a year and a half to find this uglyRead More...

Yes or no to solar power?

Charlotte Webster — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:29:37 +0100

Are you someone who likes the idea of generating your electricity, but just not ready to take the plunge?

Well, you're not alone. But if you've been thinking about solar for a while, now might be the time to look a bit further..Did you know that from now until April of 2010, homeowners can take advantage of two overlapping Government incentives encouraging people to generate their own electricity? Households that install a solar PV system in this time will be able to get their haRead More...

Let's do it!

Nigel Banks — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:33:52 +0100

AECOM is delighted to have been chosen by Keepmoat as their energy consultants for the Great British Refurb campaign’s 10:10 competition. I’ve personally signed up to 10:10, as has AECOM as a business, but signing up is just the beginning of what should be a very rewarding journey.

For me, the 10:10 campaign is all about taking some quite simple actions that collectively will make a big difference ... and the actions on the Great British Refurb Campaign 10:10 competitRead More...

Unseasonal increases

Dane Elliott — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:16:27 +0100

Earlier this month temperatures in Doncaster reached 17 degrees. Normally, I wouldn’t give that a second thought, except we are now in November and the weather folk on TV are calling it ‘unusually high’.

Now, I’m no expert on the science of climate change, so I’m not even going to attempt to make a link between these ‘unusually high’ temperatures and global warming. But, the very reaction of those charged with dispensing our daily weather bulleRead More...

PAYS pilots launched

Karen Potter — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:41:52 +0100

The Great British Refurb has been busily telling Government to help consumers make sustainable refurbishment affordable. We have used lots of different methods to get our messages across from petitions to No 10 Downing Street to public forms with political leaders to Parliamentary events with leading MPs. And our message is getting through.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change recently asked the Energy Saving Trust to pilot several innovative finance plans to cover the upfrontRead More...

Timing is everything

Dane Elliott — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The old phrase timing is everything couldn’t have rung more true for us at Keepmoat a couple of weeks ago.

For the past two years, we have been quietly getting on with developing our eco-refurbishment product. Working with our partners to test new sustainable methods while trusting old ones, has, we believe, helped us to pioneer what will become an industry growth area in the next couple of years.

And those that know us well will vouch that we seldom shout about what we do, prRead More...