WIN TICKETS TO SEE KEVIN MCCLOUD AT GRAND DESIGNS LIVE BIRMINGHAM 2011

Grand Designs Live, returns to Birmingham for its 6th year at the NEC from Friday 7th until Sunday 9th October 2011. With over 500 exhibitors showcasing the latest interior products, and FREE expert consultations on offer for every visitor, Grand Designs Live is the ultimate consumer home show, boasting everything needed to build and furnish a home – all under one roof.

This year’s Birmingham show will be spread over six different sections: Grand Build sponsored by VELUX, Grand Interiors sponsored by Dulux, Grand Kitchens sponsored by Miele, Grand Bathrooms and Grand Gardens which this year will feature a spectacular night garden display in the heart of the NEC.  The highly anticipated House of the Future, brought to you by Virgin Media, also makes its return to the Grand Technology section sponsored by Virgin Media, showcasing the latest – and soon to be available – domestic gadgets and gizmos. Kevin McCloud and an array of guest speakers will take to the public Grand Seminar Theatre stage to discuss the hottest industry topics and debates with visitors in the Grand Village which will also be packed full of live demos of sustainable build and green technology.

Grand Designs Live and the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW are offering two lucky readers a pair of tickets to this year’s show which is hosted by Kevin McCloud.

To be in with a chance to WIN, simply answer the question below:

Question: How many exhibitors will Grand Designs Live Birmingham have?

*Terms and conditions

1. This offer is only open to UK residents. The prize is 2 x Grand Designs Live tickets per winner. Two winners will be selected only.

2. Competition winners’ tickets are valid for any one day of the show between the 7th and the 9th October 2011, to Grand Designs Live at the NEC, Birmingham.

3. Tickets are non-transferable.

4. Complimentary tickets obtained through this offer may not be duplicated.

5. All tickets will be scanned on entry to the show.

All you need to do to take part is to put the answer to the question into a comment below, together with a valid email address.

Good Luck…

The Great British Refurb Campaign

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

On Saturday April 25, 2009, Kevin McCloud launched the Grand Designs Great British Refub Campaign, and such a campaign certainly does not come before its time.

While building new green energy efficient homes is fine and good we must look at refurbishing the existing housing stock in Britain, whether private, private rented or public, and retrofitting them to be green and energy efficient. It can be done and we MUST do it and do it NOW.

Far too much energy has been expended – though we have heard little of them recently – as to the development of the so-called “eco-towns” and no one even considered the retrofitting of existing housing stock and other building to make them green rather than building new places in the middle of nowhere often.

We should not even as much as consider the building of such “eco-towns” until we have not refurbished and retrofitted all existing buildings in this country to a proper green standard.

In many cases this should have been done a long, long time ago. To this day many council homes do not, for instance, have double glazing and such like and they thus waste energy.

I have seen even the older blocks of flats that still have the iron window frames of around World War II and just thereafter and which cannot, with the best will, be seen as energy efficient. Those windows, as all single glazed, transmit much of the heat generated by whatever heating in the house to the outside and the biggest mistake was made in the 1960s and on from that time when windows were made bigger and bigger and thus the area through which heat could escape to the outside also became ever larger.

If the UK is really serious about fulfilling the targets that it set itself as to reduction of CO2 emissions and such then we need not play with the “” idea but we must green our existing villages, towns and cities, by refurbishing and retrofitting the existing buildings to make them “green” and we must do that in a hurry.

If we don't not only will Britain not meet the set targets; we are wasting energy needlessly and this can no longer be allowed.

The time to act is now. Let's go and refurbish the country and retrofit ever home and business to make them as energy efficient as at all possible.

The Grand Designs Great British Refub Campaign must be allowed to succeed or our future may look rather bleak.

© 2009
<>