As part of BrumEnergy, Birmingham Green Doors organise brilliant events showcasing energy efficient homes in the West Midlands. These events offer an insightful opportunity for anyone interested to join small study group visits to hear from homeowners, learning about their retrofit journeys to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes.

Birmingham Green Doors are open to all and operate on a pay-as-you-feel basis and are extremely useful for people interested in saving energy in their own home, people who advise others on how to save energy and students who are learning about energy efficient buildings.

Previous visits have taken participants to Shivaji and Magdalen’s house where a “whole-house, fabric-first energy saving makeover” could be seen. Some key features of this retrofit were the sustainable materials sourced such as the wood fibre insulation, rather than plastic based and Hempcrete, which is a hemp-based material that has lower embodied carbon than concrete. As the home was situated in Bournville, the visit also displayed how you can retrofit a home that lies in a conservation area which comes with restrictions on changes you can make to your home.

Another previous visit to Philippa’s house in Lichfield allowed visitors to see measures fitted to her 1960s house including underfloor heating, recycled steel and solar panels with battery. This visit also shared experiences of previously fitted, poorly designed energy saving measures and detailed how these were rectified.

The most recent Birmingham Green Doors event was in Ben’s Edwardian home in Moseley, where he spoke about using an independent energy efficiency audit for expert advice and how he accessed available grants for financial support. Attendees also could see the newly installed heat pump, upgraded from a gas boiler. The results from Ben’s retrofit were also shared through before and after thermal images of his home which demonstrated the successes of the measures installed.

As this week (11-19th May 2024) is Retrofit Action Week West Midlands, Birmingham Green Doors organised another exciting event in Acocks Green, revisiting, Nigel and Marta’s 1950s council house, where they have reduced their home’s greenhouse gas emissions by 51% so far.

If you would like to attend a Birmingham Green Doors event yourself, please head to their website to find out about any upcoming events. You can also watch some of the visits and highlights on their YouTube channel.

For more information on BrumEnergy, of which Birmingham Green Doors is a part, or to get energy advice for your home, please visit www.brumenergy.info