dan's blog

My own house is nearly sorted, the kids are in bed and it's quiet time for grown ups!

I'm excited about the weekend. The interest in what we are doing locally is very good and it is great to be one of a number of open homes events around the country this weekend. Good luck everyone! I am particularly keen to see what people think of the terrace project we have set up and which Kate has done so brilliantly to pull together in time for this and the DECC deadline.

The following email has just been sent to our website.

Hello, I will not be able to attend the open door event this weekend.

However, I wanted to thank you for the website and information. I have used it to get ideas and information on those ideas to improve my own home. Especially helpful were the listings of the what was done to each of the participating houses and the home owners tips.

Bristol Green Doors has led directly to me installing an A grade condensing boiler and to plan in underfloor insulation and secondary glazing.

Thanks!

Chris

Over 50 people turned up to the volunteer Event Steward event we had at Hamilton House on Monday. After watching the Green Doors film and me giving the background to the BGD project, Gail and I went through all the logistical detail of being a volunteer. We finished up with a quiz and all contestants performed well!

Bristol Green Doors 2012 event is now only days away (March 17-18th) and this here blog is jam packed , brimming with exciting website updates, good news and examples of cool collaboration happening for us with the trade and not for profit groups to promote retrofitting.

Things are definitely starting to buzz here. There is lots going on and we want to share the higlights with you in this blog which covers:

 Real Refurbs and LiLi have been working with Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs Live. They have produced a full scale cut-away set of a Victorian terrace, illustrating the various stages, issues and possible solutions of a retrofit project. As Grand Designs Live is not on again till May in London, the house needs a home and has settled at Create for three months.

 Dear Dan,

I've finished surveying the new Bristol Green Doors homes for their energy performance and I just wanted to say how impressed I've been. There's a really wide range of measures included and it's great to see so many normal Bristol-type homes made to score so well.

Hello and welcome to the first big blog / monthly newsletter leading up to our next open homes event - Bristol Green Doors 2012 on March 17-18th.

A huge amount has gone on recently which we think will be of interest to you so read on for short stories on the following:

We have 40 homes for Bristol Green Doors 2012 and are thrilled with the range participating and the measures that will be on show. At the event visitors will see: a range of low cost improvements; whole house retrofits to near Passivhaus standard; city council retrofits; the latest technologies in action; straw bale construction; zero carbon homes; superb examples of external solid wall insulation; and more!
 

Just back from visiting one of the houses which will be opening for our event in March. Footprint are currently developing two adjacent houses in Clifton to an extremely high specification and standard and are hoping to reach a borderline A-B rating when assessed next year. Seeing this work in action will be possible in March (still under wraps to the public) and a must for those working in the built environment and interested in airtightness and the high performance of the building fabric.