24.06.2015

The Sensitive Retrofit of Traditional Buildings in the Commercial Sector

Claire Truman recently attended our Responsible Retrofit of Traditional Buildings conference, and we were delighted when she agreed to write a guest news piece for us. Claire is an Associate at EPR Architects, a BREEAM Accredited Professional and RIBA Conservation Registrant. Having worked at specialist practices – for ‘green’ architecture, and separately conservation – she now looks to bring these successfully together. 

Eenergy efficiency: heritage retrofit
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23.06.2015

The Responsible Retrofit Conference 2015 in pictures

This year we teamed up with Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance (STBA) to produce a national conference that would raise awareness and tackle the problem of irresponsible retrofit for traditional buildings. The idea was to bring together loads of different organisations under one roof, for a day of sharing best practice, networking and lively discussions.

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10.06.2015

Oxfam Rises to the Carbon Reduction Challenge

Network members, Oxfam Great Britain, are undertaking extensive energy reduction work at their UK shops. To find out more about it, we caught up with Johanna Gosling, manager of Oxfam’s internal programme for environmental sustainability in UK operations.

Energy/ Environmental monitoring and reporting, Energy Efficiency, Energy efficiency: modern building, LED lighting installs
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12.05.2015

Field Studies Council Achieves Carbon Trust Standard

Network member and environmental education charity, the Field Studies Council, has set ambitious carbon reduction targets across its twenty UK sites. We catch up with Mark Bolland, FSC’s Director of Operations, to find out more about what’s been involved in achieving an impressive 20% total reduction in emissions over the past three years.

Renewable energy, Energy/ Environmental monitoring and reporting, Energy Efficiency
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13.04.2015

UK Conference to tackle Responsible Retrofit of Traditional Buildings

The Fit for the Future Network has teamed up with the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance to present this national conference on Responsible Retrofit with support from the National Trust, Bristol City Council, CoRE, Sustainable Homes, CSE and Bristol Green Capital. Join us at At-Bristol on the 3rd of June for discussions, workshops and training led by the UK’s most experienced organisations. Early bird tickets are now available until the end of April.

Eenergy efficiency: heritage retrofit
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09.04.2015

Wetland Biomass to Bioenergy Project Reaches Conclusion

Core Network members, The RSPB, have been working on a ground-breaking biomass to bioenergy project with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. RSPB’s Bioenergy Project Manager, Sally Mills, described the positive implications this could have for habitat management on our news pages last year. We catch up with her again for an overview of the finished project and to find out what happens next.

Biomass
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30.03.2015

Sustainable Retail on Regent Street with The Crown Estate


The Crown Estate holds almost the entire freehold to London’s iconic Regent Street, where approximately 20,000 employees work within grade II listed buildings. Already pioneering sustainability, The Crown Estate has become the first to bring bees into the West End, and is currently setting up rooftop allotments.

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24.03.2015

Set the Wheels in Motion- What’s it really like to drive an EV?

Thirty practitioners from member organisations headed over to the Green Britain Centre in Norfolk earlier this month to attend our Set the Wheels in Motion event. The topic was all things sustainable transport and travel planning, with EV myth-busting and test driving in the afternoon. Some interesting questions were raised about what it’s actually like to drive an EV. Here’s a summary of the answers given by our expert panel.

Sustainable transport, Electric Vehicles/ EV charging
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10.02.2015

Chatsworth: Bringing stewardship into the 21st Century

Luke Sherlock is Sustainability Manager for the Devonshire Group, which includes Chatsworth House and Bolton Abbey. We catch up with him to find out how, at the Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire, the team are drawing on centuries of tradition to tackle the social and environmental challenges faced over the century to come.

Renewable energy, Energy Efficiency
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26.01.2015

Spring Site Visits and Events

We’ve got a busy year ahead, with plenty of site visits and events already booked in for the spring. These include an exploration of all things sustainable transport, and the chance for members to get the inside scoop on ESOS. If you haven’t already booked on one of RSPB’s bioenergy to biomass site visits then there’s still time, with several more demos taking place in early February.

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