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Here at RetrofitWorks we often talk about the Government, supply chain and the view from manufacturers, think tanks etc. But what’s really happening on the ground? We talked to Alex Hunt from Bright Green Homes to get his view on the retail retrofit market….

The future’s bright….green
Brighton based Bright Green Homes are specialists in the eco-renovation of domestic and small business properties. Established 15 years ago after trying to navigate the complications of products and services in this field for a personal project, Alex and his team now help re-imagine properties with low-energy, high-comfort standards for the future.
“Despite hearing a lot about the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) market contracting, we are still getting a lot of enquiries,” explains Alex. “We have enough in our local area to keep us busy, which means we can keep our work within a 25-mile radius of home, so there’s lots of people out there making positive steps.
“We are finding people want to do a full renovation considering energy efficient switches throughout the whole house. Things like boiler upgrades and loft insulation have proven popular over the years as they will have a positive individual impact, but in order to do a really good retrofit, you need to look at the whole house holistically. There is no point in making one room or area extremely energy efficient and not others, as it can cause condensation and mould issues throughout the rest of the house and of course won’t get you the overall improved Energy Performance Certificate.
“We are specialists in whole house renovations. We also understand the importance of carrying out the work in a staged way, ensuring each stage is completed in the right order, so using something like the RetrofitWorks Home Energy Plan helps you understand what the property needs and then how to get it done correctly.

Changing times
“When we first started out, we used to come up against lots of challenges. Architects would specify a low energy design and then the contractor – because they had little or no understanding of the energy efficiency gains they were trying to achieve – would water it down by saying ‘don’t do that, do this instead’ so they could get their discount from their supplier. But now, times have really moved on and contractors do get it and we are able to work together with one common goal.
“Bright Green Homes is the main contractor and we have paid employees as well as a network of specialist contractors who we use regularly, such as carpenters, plasterers, etc. Since the early 2010’s, we haven’t done any grant funded work after the Green Deal flopped, but believe that will change in the future. We have a real mixture of enquiries – improvements can be made on a lower budget. Each property is individual and each have slightly different needs. We’re happy to talk with anyone in our local area wanting to upgrade their property with energy efficiency at the heart of what they want to achieve.”
Businesses like Bright Green Homes who do retrofit in the right way, using the tools and models we talk about so often, are proof that collaboratively we can make a difference to the individual energy efficiency of our homes, and make strides in combatting the battle against climate change.