Tag: eco retrofit

  • Thermal blinds

    Thermal blinds

    Catching up with a few things round the home today and finished installing my new thermal blinds in the bedrooms. These serve two purposes, they are blackout blinds to keep out the light from buildings behind and they also thermally regulate the rooms.   I got the blinds from Blinds 2 Go, whilst the blinds…

  • Green roof workshop

    Just returned from a great green roof workshop organised by Ben Kimpton at The Ecology Consultancy. The workshop was by Gary Grant and Dusty Gedge of The Green Roof Consultancy and covered green roofs and living walls. Some interesting elements included popular myths and why they aren’t true: Fire – The risk of fire is greater on…

  • Home Energy Masterplans

    I have nearly completed my training to become a Home Energy Masterplan surveyor for Parity Projects. This seems to be the perfect complement to the rest of my work as it provides detailed energy modelling for each house. Their masterplan covers energy use in the home in tremendous detail, modelling the energy performance in the…

  • Eco audits

    I have completed Eco audits on a few houses now for Ecoalex and thought I might share with you some of the things I have learnt. Most people so far have been more interested in getting their houses warmer rather than saving money. Their houses are failing on the most basic of functions, keeping the…

  • Energy savings from insulation project

    I have just got the energy bills from my first insulation and draught proofing project for www.ecoalex.com and they are excellent: This was for a four bedroom detached house in Hertfordshire and we carried out the following measures in November/December last year: Draught proofed each room around skirtings, windows and other holes Added temporary secondary…

  • Flash workshop

    I have joined the Flash programme funded by the Institute of Sustainability. It is supposed to help me take advantage of the low carbon economy http://www.instituteforsustainability.co.uk/flash.html I guess I will find out about that over time but the first workshop was useful. I went to a retrofit workshop at the Mayville Community Centre in Islington. This was still…

  • Blinds and curtains, a traditional solution

    I have been having quite a long chat with Roz from Little Purple Dot about windows. She has sash windows with brushes installed but still finds they are draughty. Obviously the most effective thing to do would be to add secondary glazing or replace the windows, however secondary glazing looks a bit ugly and new windows…