Grand Designs Launches a Campaign for Green Refurb

We have already mentioned the Grand Designs Live campaign for eco-homes. Last Saturday the campaign was launched by Kevin McCloud – the host of Grand Designs. The campaign is aimed at persuading UK consumers ask their government to do as much as possible for green refurbishment of UK properties. The campaign has been backed by a number of companies and organizations, such as the Grand Designs Magazine, the UK Green Building Council, the Energy Saving Trust and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The campaign should provide UK government with the audience that supports taking actions on existing homes, which is required to reach an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. Kevin McCloud said that not a single campaign has been successful so far without households’ initiatives. He also said that homeowners need to get excited about energy saving and low-carbon refurbishment before the Grand Designs campaign succeeds. He claimed that the campaign faces a strong challenge of explaining consumers why being green is so important as well as what paybacks homeowners will be able to get and how soon they will get them. The Grand Designs campaign also needs to explain how industry professionals, the government and energy industry can help reduce emissions. The campaign is aimed at making the government: -    Offer households new ways of payment for green refurbishment -    Provide better financial incentives for green refurbishment -    Ensure that installers are highly qualified and licensed The seminar on the topic will be held at at the Grand Designs Live on Thursday, April 30th 2009.