Retrofit experts by experience
This week we recorded our fourth podcast about Retrofit. In the past we have had experts from the organisations TrustMark, HIES and Parity Projects to talk about why consumers should be investing in their homes to make them more energy efficient, Energising their homes.
This one was slightly different, we had two real people talking about their real experiences when they retrofitted thier homes, the benefits and what they have learnt.
The first was Lucy Haden.
Lucy, an environmental advocate with a professional background in accountancy and tax advisory. Through her own retrofit project, she achieved remarkable results, reducing her home's energy demand by 70% and carbon footprint by over 80%. Now, Lucy shares her expertise to inspire others to adopt energy efficiency measures in their homes and workplaces. Her insights into how and why she retrofitted her home were great to hear.
Lucy started her Instagram blog (@2_fairways_renovation) simply to share her retrofit experience ‘as it happened’. The blog has now moved into a more structured series of posts including where she evaluates what she did and how and talks about what life is like in her all-electric home.
Then came Judith.
A retired professional with a diverse background in teaching, social work, psychotherapy, and leadership development. Her journey took an unexpected turn when she embarked on a full retrofit of her Victorian home. Judith's passion for greening homes, reducing carbon footprints, and leaving a better world for future generations led her to write a comprehensive guide on eco renovation. Through her blog (ecorenovationhome.com) and speaking engagements, Judith promotes sustainable living and shares her experiences to inspire others.
She was a delight to have on the podcast and spoke with such clarity on how she managed to upskill her local builder and inspire him to carry on the retrofit work in other homes (to a certain degree that is!).
Both myself and Louise learnt so much from Lucy and Judith. The more we look into the world of retrofit and home energy efficiency, it seems that there are no downsides to this process. You end up with a more comfortable and cosy home, you reduce your energy bills and you reduce your carbon footprint, helping you to do your bit to save the planet for generations to come. There are 26 million homes in the UK that need this process carried out, what can you do to help the UK reach its net zero by 2050 target?
Judith has written a book about her experiences, this is a must for anyone looking for more information on what retrofit is all about and wants inspiration, the book can be bought on Amazon here. She has also written a booklet which she has compiled from information she found on the web containing energy saving hacks, theres some great ideas here, you can find it here - https://ecorenovationhome.com/stay-warm-for-less-a-compilation-of-energy-hacks/. It’s gotta be better than handing your hard earned money over to massive power companies with inflated profits, come on Britain lets get ENERGISED!
Updated Jan 24 - Judith has also recorded a TED Talk which can be viewed below.
You can listen to our other podcasts on retrofit below. also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and most of the other ones.