Category: Construction
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CEEQUAL assessor
Just completed the CEEQUAL assessor course to upgrade to the new CEEQUAL version 5. The course was carried out online which was interesting, it was certainly more compelling than most online courses I have seen before. The new version 5 has a reduced number of sections from 12 to 9 and the layout of the…
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It’s raining meadows
After last weeks exciting pictures of the roof in Hertfordshire there has been even more growth: Even the local wildlife is taking a keen interest: There are also some fungi appearing, will have to get the mushroom book out and see if these are edible ones: It looks like the roof is fairly comfortable with…
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Simple ways to improve the efficiency of your home – Part 2
The second and possibly shorter post on improving your home. Water efficiency Start with your water companies website and see what you can get for free from them. My local company Thames offer a few here. I suspect that like the energy companies they don’t do this out of the kindness of their hearts but that…
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Simple ways to improve the efficiency of your home Part 1
This is based on my recent talk at the London Green Fair and includes links to extra information and websites that may be useful. The ideas here are deliberately simple and hopefully easy for most people to follow at home. There are no numbers, U values and technical terms, just ways for you to make your…
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Loft insulation with clutter part 2
So a slow update, didn’t take long to get the stilts in but got caught up in other projects and only just returned to writing this up. The stilts arrived in a timely manner, they are made of recycled plastic and feel very tough. We then spent most of the day preparing the loft and…
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Loft insulation with clutter
I have just started working on a little project to insulate a loft without losing the storage space in the loft for my company Ecoalex Ltd. Like most people in London my customer has a lot of junk in the loft and doesn’t want to lose it as a storage space. We are planning to…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Sign of the future…
All the estate agents I have seen in Brittany list the energy certificate in the window alongside the house details. Some of them even include predicted emission levels for the houses. Certainly makes some of those cottages look tricky to keep warm.