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 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.

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 apartment near-by our house while the messiest part of the work is underway. Amongst other things our kitchen and bathroom is being completely removed to allow for the internal wall insulation to be fitted. After spending our first winter in our 130-year-old house, we're really excited about the heat savings these changes will make.
Meeting with campaign related press was a bit daunting but I'm pleased to say so far the TV, radio and newspaper journalists have all been very friendly and interested to see what's going on.

It's all good preparation for the Ecobuild conference in London next month, where I'll be talking about the refurbishment experience at Earls Court.