AECB Staff and Board

Gary is Managing Director at HPW Architecture based in Hampshire. Gary and his team aim to minimise impact and energy use in the construction and whole life operation of the buildings they design. Having had a passion to deliver low energy solutions to his clients for many years, Gary went back to University in 2008 and gained an MSC in Sustainable Building: Performance and Design at Oxford Brookes. Focusing on Building Physics, POE, Bioregional material sourcing and Dynamic Thermal Modeling, his study and research now informs the holistic, integrated and independent approach adopted by the design and technical team at HPW. Gary has a very active involvement with the construction industry and sustainably focused regional and national organisations throughout the UK. He regularly speaks at and chairs events and is keen to continue bringing his commercial contacts, experience, enthusiasm and energy to the AECB team.

Chris has been serving on the Board (previously steering committee) since 1995, and was chair of the AECB for 8 years until stepping down in 2013. Chris is a founder director of Environmental Construction Products Ltd, which operates the Green Building Store and Green Building Company.  His key role is in steering the future direction of the company, its products and activitites.  The company decided some years ago to make Passivhaus a key focus and it is now acknowledged as an important and influential SME in the Passivhaus field.  The company built the flagship Denby Dale Passivhaus and continues to undertake ground breaking Passivhaus construction projects.  Alongside this it has developed key expertise and product ranges in Passivhaus fenestration and ventilation. Chris was part of a small core AECB team which instigated and developed the UK Passivhaus Trust. He has been chair of the Trust since its foundation.  He also plays a role within the international Passivhaus community and is currently chair of the International Passivhaus Affiliates Council. Chris has been passionate about environmental issues since his teens – a passion he is proud to have inherited from his father.  His career path has been varied, from communard, social worker, special needs teacher and childcare to joiner, gas installer and small builder and now approaching 20 years in his current role.

Mischa Hewitt is a sustainability consultant and project manager. He has an MSc Architecture: Advanced Energy & Environment Studies from the Centre of Alternative Technology / University of East London and is also a Certified Passivhaus Designer. He is the co-author of ‘Earthships: Building a zero carbon future’ published by IHS Press and is a director of The Low Carbon Trust, where he project managed the award winning Earthship Brighton project. Mischa also runs the sustainable building company Earthwise Construction based in Sussex, and in recent years has organised many environmental events, including the ‘Eco Open Houses’ weekends in Brighton and several conferences. In his spare time Mischa plays the piano and composes classical music. Mischa is also very active in the Brighton (South East) Group.

Paul Jennings of Aldas is the most experienced airtightness tester and consultant in the UK, and an AECB member for over 15 years. He has presented at several conferences and demonstrated the door fan test equipment at others. He is a Certified PassivHaus Consultant and has been involved in many UK PassivHaus projects, including the first certified domestic and non-domestic PH projects in Machynlleth, both built by John Williamson, and most recently the Lancaster Co-Housing Project (41 PH houses and flats) for which Andrew Yeats is the architect. Paul is an experienced trainer and originated the “Airtightness Champion” concept, delivering numerous CPD seminars. For many years he was a non-executive director of the charity Carbon Descent, originally Southwark Energy Agency, former AECB members, specialising in governance and employment issues. After relocating out of London to a community near Bude, he formed the AECB South West Local Group and was leader for a time before relocating to the Cotswolds for family reasons.

Sarah is a building physicist, Passivhaus consultant and project manager with over 8 years’ experience in the construction industry.  In that time, she has worked on a range of projects. She now specialises in minimising energy use in buildings in the building fabric and building services, and ensuring quality in both design and construction. She teaches building physics for the Retrofit Coordinator and has edited the new Retrofit Coordination and Risk Management level 5 course funded by the CITB.  She is also an active member of the UKCMB Moisture in Existing Building working group.

Only when buildings are constructed as designed, can they be truly sustainable.  The key to achieving this is by bringing low energy design and construction processes such as AECB Building Standard, Passivhaus and the CarbonLite Retrofit Course to the general construction market. These standards don’t have to be exclusive to specialist, high-end developments, but have some fundamental qualities that should be applied to all projects.

Liam Schofield has spent his career in building working exclusively on energy efficient housing, beginning working on new build on Lancaster Co-housing in Halton before moving  onto retrofit Airtightness including Erneley Close in Manchester.

He has worked on a number of projects in this capacity and co-owned a PassivHaus building company whose work included a Victorian end terrace taken to full PassivHaus standard and a 50’s ex-council house taken to EnerPHit. After working as a site manager and general builder, he has taken this wider experience to focus on Airtightness work for main contractors and self-builders, engaging in training and consultancy as well as installation and leak testing.

He believes training self-builders and contractors to work to high Airtightness and insulation standards is the best way to encourage uptake in energy efficient construction, particularly in the hugely important retrofit market. From his work in construction, he knows builders are more than up to the task of building to energy efficient standards, they just need training and guidance as well as support to make the jump and there is no need for it to be prohibitively complicated or costly.

Fran is an architect, and has been a partner at Anne Thorne Architects since 1996. She has extensive experience in participatory design and community projects and has contributed to developing and promoting sustainable design and refurbishment. She has been a member of the AECB since its early years. Increasing participation by all AECB members in the work of the organisation, and reflecting women’s experience of, and concerns about, the urban and built environment, are a priority for her.

Mark has been a member of the AECB since late 2006. He has also been a speaker at a number of AECB Conferences, a technical adviser to the AECB CarbonLite programme and a regular contributor to both Green Building and PH+ magazines. As an architect with a no-nonsense evidence-based approach to design he has a deep-seated interest in ecologically aware construction. Mark is one of the pioneers that introduced the Passivhaus standard to the UK. In addition to being an architect and energy consultant Mark is an educator and industry transformer. He has helped to co-author the Certified Passivhaus Designer course for the AECB’s CarbonLite Programme, led masterclasses for the Passivhaus Trust, delivered CEPH training at the University of Strathclyde and, between 2011 and 2014, was a part-time lecturer at Northumbria University. He has also contributed to technical papers for the UK’s Passivhaus Trust including the internationally recognised, ‘What it means to claim the Passivhaus standard in the UK.’

Peter Wilkinson is an architectural technologist and partner in architectural practice EcoDesign, and managing director of both Dales Contracts Ltd and Dales Renewables Ltd. Peter studied at Leeds College of Building and Leeds School of Architecture, gaining an HNC in architecture, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists. He has subsequently qualified as a planning supervisor and a bench joiner, applying his practical knowledge and skills to the businesses. Peter became a Passivhaus designer in 2009 and helped set up the Passivhaus Trust later that year and is an AECB representative on the board of the Trust. He was Treasurer of the AECB for several years before becoming its Chair in 2015.

Peter spent his first 20 years as a civil engineer, specialising in large-scale water treatment and land reclamation. He has always been interested in environmental issues and in the early nineties founded the environmental building company Greenbuilt. With his then work partner Chris Coates they explored Segal style buildings at the Centre for Alternative Technology, and traditional constructions, resulting in their first major project. This was a cruck frame barn in green oak which became a core element of Lanternhouse, a RIBA award-winning artists’ project base and training centre in Cumbria. As well as construction projects with Greenbuilt, Peter works with arts companies, is the former chair of the trustees of a local social enterprise, Community Works, is a member of Sustainable Staffordshire and a member of Staffordshire Business and Environment Network.