Join a retrofit & eco renovation series! Are you just about to take on a 'green' home renovation? Are you interested in aspirational interior design but also keen to lower your bills and save the planet by lowering the carbon footprint of your home?   Two Four are looking for home owners who are planning a renovation or makeover project - whether it's an ambitious complete home remodel or a smaller scale single room revamp. Or maybe you are already mid project but need some eco-design advice.   If so, they may be able to offer you some invaluable consumer expertise. Whether ..read more

Lockdown Silver Linings Although lockdown has been stressful at times, one silver lining has been the positive impact quarantine measures have had on the environment. Photos have shown the increase in visibility thanks to a drop in air pollution, the levels of harmful gases such as nitrogen dioxide have fallen in cities across the UK, and wildlife has been seen exploring urban areas that are now much quieter. As lockdown continues to ease across the UK, our team at TGR have been thinking about the different environmentally-friendly aspects of quarantine that we can continue to practice. Some ..read more

Job opportunity at Haworth Tompkins- Head of Sustainability & Regenerative Design A new job has opened up at one of our members- Haworth Tompkins - in London. Haworth and Tompkins has a strong reputation for work in the cultural, urban regeneration, educational and residential sectors. The team puts enormous effort into understanding a building’s context and the needs of its users, a process which often yields original or unconventional solutions. The studio’s projects include: the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art. They are looking for ..read more

Leading Housing Association team learns lots from Passivhaus site visit Stephen Edwards| Catalyst Housing Stephen Edwards sustainability manager of Catalyst Housing summarises a recent Green Register site visit. Catalyst are one of the UK’s leading housing associations and Green Register members. They are a member of the G15 group and provide a wide range of affordable housing with over 21,000 homes in London and the South East. In May 2018, Catalyst Housing’s Sustainability Team invited colleagues from the Property and Growth Directorate to attend a Green Register site visit to a Norwich Cit ..read more

Where next for Energy Efficiency? Jonathan Atkinson | Carbon Coop Jonathan Atkinson, Project Manager of The Carbon Coop based in Manchester, argues that community lead whole house retrofit can be achieved at quality and reasonable cost and so should inform government strategy and policy Just about everybody agrees that the UK is not building enough new homes. There have been a number of legislative attempts to up the numbers, but with government finances likely to remain stretched, perhaps now is the time for some radical alternative options As the dust settles on the (first?) election of 201 ..read more

More new homes? Let’s look at some radical alternative options. John Palmer| Enhabit Ltd John Palmer MD of low-energy buildings consultancy, Enhabit Ltd, summarises The Good Homes Alliance's recent Alternative Housing Model Seminar.  Just about everybody agrees that the UK is not building enough new homes. There have been a number of legislative attempts to up the numbers, but with government finances likely to remain stretched, perhaps now is the time for some radical alternative options The Good Homes Alliance (GHA) recently hosted a seminar which looked at how some of these alternativ ..read more

Understanding Deodorant and Squirrels better (and of course more) thanks to the recent Indoor Air Quality, Air Tightness and Ventilation event Mike Andrews | Energy Saving Experts Mike Andrews, Director and founder of The Energy Saving Experts, comments on The Green Register's recent Indoor Air Quality event.  I recently attended The Green Register’s training day ‘Indoor Air Quality, Air Tightness and Ventilation’, and like many of their courses I have attended over the years, I found it an extremely interesting and enjoyable day. My main business is providing Part L calculations, so why ..read more

Influencing national builders merchants' definition of sustainability Will Kirkman | EcoMerchant Will Kirkman, co-owner and managing director of EcoMerchant, reflects on how green focused building professionals involved in high standard builds, (self, custom or private) can influence how national builders merchants define sustainability. One of the criticisms in the government’s “Fixing our broken housing market” white paper of the way we build in this country, is that we are ‘locked into’ a way of building that resists change and stifles innovation. This means that we are less favourable to ..read more

Local authorities' new kid on the block - can they help today's broken housing market? Dan Weisselberg | The Green Register Dan Weisselberg, The Green Register's Business Development and Outreach Manager shares his views on the broad role Passivhaus can play in our broken housing market.    Googling “council housing” and finding images of Passivhaus homes alongside archetypal 60s blocks and 50s estates should become more common. In last month’s newsletter I contributed a short members’ story about architects Emmett Russell’s (1) work on three small developments (see photos at base o ..read more

What would improve the quality of energy strategies submitted at the planning stage? Chris Hocknell | Eight Associates Chris Hocknell, Eight associates’ Technical Director shares his views on how to evaluate and improve the quality of energy strategies at planning. Eight Associates are members of The Green Register. Energy strategies require careful evaluation at planning. An effective energy statement provides a roadmap for those working on the strategy post-planning approval – ultimately dictating the building’s energy performance at practical completion and in use. What makes a good energy ..read more