GBRC

Undeterred by overcast and showery skies, I joined the GBR expert panel at Start@Kew and I have to say, I really enjoyed the day!

When filling out an application form recently I felt somewhat discombobulated when it came to the 'occupation' entry. Property developer or environmental campaigner? Environmental campaigner or property developer? They don't at first glance seem to marry particularly well. But they do, thankfully. Absolutely and utterly.

It is common knowledge these days that our homes produce over a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions and for the past 15 years Government, industry and local authorities have struggled to enthuse people to reduce those emissions. Why? Because the key to reducing emissions is to reduce the amount of energy a home needs to stay warm and well lit and let's face it; that is just not that exciting. Unfortunately, with the impacts of climate change and higher energy prices knocking on our door the urgency has never been greater to reduce our energy use and emissions.

Here's what Peter Wellock, MyBuilder community manager, has to say about the GBR, the Green Deal and on how to find the right builders to eco-refurb your house

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

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

Read Tony Kemp's blog on Apollo Property retrofitting programme for Crawley Borough Council

We’ve just started work on a retrofit programme for Crawley Borough Council.  It’s a project funded through Technology Strategy Board’s national Retrofit for the Future competition and it involves us working on three very different properties as part of a pilot scheme to generate exemplars demonstrating how to reduce energy usage and cut waste at home.