At the end of an eventful year we thought, in typical AECB style, that we would take stock a little and also look forward to 2014.  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Peter Wilkinson

Following the retirement of Chris Herring as the AECB’s Chair at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in July 2013, I was elected by the AECB’s Board of Trustees as Chair of the Association for the year 2013-14. This is a personal honour for me. It is a privilege to continue to work closely with our CEO Andy Simmonds and the dedicated team of AECB Officers. It is also a challenge I relish to chair a Board of passionate AECB members who are both inspiring and uncompromising in their zeal to act in the best interests of the AECB on behalf of our diverse membership.

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the membership and the Board of Trustees to thank Chris Herring for his stewardship over the past 8 years. Chris has skillfully steered the board through many challenges and AECB initiatives. Chris remains on the Board.

In recognition of the contribution Geoff Stow has made over the years as an AECB Trustee, I would like to thank Geoff for his invaluable work. Geoff stepped down at the 2013 AGM but is continuing to support the Board with external events and the annual conference. The Board of Trustees has been further strengthened this year with the appointment of Julia Bennett and Paul Jennings. Both bring fresh impetus and were warmly welcomed at the September Board meeting.

To strengthen the leadership team and help further develop the Association the Board has introduced a new post of Vice Chair from 2013 and Trustee Fran Bradshaw was elected to this post for 2013-14 and has begun to develop the Vice-Chair’s role.

Having stepped down as the AECB’s Treasurer, a position I have held since July 2008, I hand over the role to Paul Bourgeois who joined the Board in June 2012. Our Finance Office Sally Hall and I are undergoing a handing over period with Paul to provide continuity and support to the Board whilst Paul gets to grips with the AECB’s finances. I wish Paul well in his new role.

Using its reserves, the AECB is now heavily investing in the CarbonLite Retrofit scheme, developing a major benefit to AECB members. The scheme will enable members to develop their retrofit projects and navigate the technical challenges of retrofit by providing best practice, clarity and a rigorous discipline that has been lacking so far in the UK retrofit market. We have now completed the scheme’s start-up and we have moved into the operations period that is seeing AECB member schemes setting the bench mark for retrofit in the UK. Our ‘Building Knowledge’ within the membership is being increasingly recognised as some of the best in the industry. I urge members to engage with the CarbonLite Retrofit scheme, ‘raise the bar’ and lead the way forward.

I am particularly proud to see the continuing development of the network of AECB Local Groups. It has been a long held belief of mine that AECB members need opportunities to network, exchange knowledge and disseminate good practice. Along with the annual conference, Local Groups provide an additional member benefit and I implore members to get out and support their Local Groups and reap the benefits of association with other like-minded practitioners.

Wishing you all the best for the season and a prosperous New Year.

Peter Wilkinson

AECB Chair 2013/2014

Fran Bradshaw

Chris has been such a wise and inspiring chair, it’s been hard to let him go, so I’m very glad he is still with us on the Board for advice and help. I’m also really pleased to be working with Peter, and am looking forward to 2014 with the launch of the AECB Carbonlite Retrofit programme, a new AECB blog on “water” and a fantastic Annual Conference being held in Bristol from 11th to 12th July 2014. Season’s greetings to all.

Fran Bradshaw

Vice Chair 2013/2014

To view Chris Herring’s 2012/2013 Annual Report please click here

Click here to see the AECB Staff and Board for 2014