GBRC

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 reporters all admiring the changes. We've only spent a few days back in the house now, but we're in no doubt that the house is a lot warmer and more comfortable in each room than we could have achieved prior to the refurb - no matter how much heating we may have wanted to use.

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 competition are getting underway!

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 bulletins does make you think.

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.

It’s been a busy few days for the Grand Designs Great British Refurb Campaign.  We’ve been rushed off our feet.  First, there was the Manchester House refurbishment followed by Kevin McCloud appearing at the Tory Conference to tell them how important a programme of eco-refurbishment is for the UK’s existing house stock.  This was accompanied by the Great British Refurb Campaign’s very own Simon McWhirter appearing on the big screen as part of the Manchester House video

Then it was down to Birmingham and Grand Designs Live. On Friday afternoon Kevin appeared on stage with Colin Butfield from WWF and Marian Spain from the Energy Saving Trust as part of the Big Debate.  Both they and the audience were able to quiz Greg Clark MP, Conservative spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change (we quizzed Ed Miliband in London earlier this year). It was a lively debate with huge interest from the audience. A well informed bunch who were not going to let Greg Clark off the hook easily as they questioned him on exactly what the Tory policy was and where, in their opinion, its weaknesses lie.