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| Past winners' testimonials: Parity | Past winners' testimonials: Parity |
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| Russell Smith, Parity’s MD, won the DIY category at the Observer Ethical Awards 2008 for Parity Projects’ first demonstration house at Sutton, Surrey. Using their Masterplan assessment tool to inform the retrofit, they achieved a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions. | Russell Smith, Parity’s MD, won the DIY category at the Observer Ethical Awards 2008 for Parity Projects’ first demonstration house at Sutton, Surrey. Using their Masterplan assessment tool to inform the retrofit, they achieved a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions. |
| What has winning at the Observer Ethical Awards meant for your project? | What has winning at the Observer Ethical Awards meant for your project? |
| Retrofitting my own home was one of the early projects I undertook under the auspices of my energy efficiency advice company, Parity Projects. At that time, home retrofit was not as high profile as it is now, so it was much harder to get people excited about projects of that nature. My aim for the project, and for Parity, was to show that any home could be an eco home, and winning the award helped me do that, and to gain some valuable profile for my business at an early stage in its development. | Retrofitting my own home was one of the early projects I undertook under the auspices of my energy efficiency advice company, Parity Projects. At that time, home retrofit was not as high profile as it is now, so it was much harder to get people excited about projects of that nature. My aim for the project, and for Parity, was to show that any home could be an eco home, and winning the award helped me do that, and to gain some valuable profile for my business at an early stage in its development. |
| What have you gone on to do since winning the award? | What have you gone on to do since winning the award? |
| Since finishing the project, I have gone on to build Parity Projects into one of the UK’s best known retrofit companies. We advised hundreds of homeowners on the things they can do to improve their home, and have helped many of the UK’s leading private landlords, social housing providers, and local authorities to develop retrofit strategies – helping to drive improvements to hundreds of thousands of homes. Along the way we’ve won a host of awards for our work. But I can’t emphasise enough how important it has been to be able to say “this all started with me retrofitting my own home”. It helps enormously with our credibility to be able to say that we’ve been there and done it ourselves, rather than preaching from an ivory tower. | Since finishing the project, I have gone on to build Parity Projects into one of the UK’s best known retrofit companies. We advised hundreds of homeowners on the things they can do to improve their home, and have helped many of the UK’s leading private landlords, social housing providers, and local authorities to develop retrofit strategies – helping to drive improvements to hundreds of thousands of homes. Along the way we’ve won a host of awards for our work. But I can’t emphasise enough how important it has been to be able to say “this all started with me retrofitting my own home”. It helps enormously with our credibility to be able to say that we’ve been there and done it ourselves, rather than preaching from an ivory tower. |
| What are the future plans for your project? | What are the future plans for your project? |
| On a personal level, I have since sold the house after years of it being a wonderful demonstration home for Parity. I’m now in the process of retrofitting my new home – something that is all the more important with the imminent arrival of twins! And one of my fellow directors has also used our analysis services to guide the renovation of his own home to become our new demo home – with fantastic results. Parity, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength. We have some exciting new services due to come online later this year, and we continue to work on some great “on the ground” retrofit projects. | On a personal level, I have since sold the house after years of it being a wonderful demonstration home for Parity. I’m now in the process of retrofitting my new home – something that is all the more important with the imminent arrival of twins! And one of my fellow directors has also used our analysis services to guide the renovation of his own home to become our new demo home – with fantastic results. Parity, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength. We have some exciting new services due to come online later this year, and we continue to work on some great “on the ground” retrofit projects. |
| What challenges have you had to face in regards to your project (or indeed in your life) since the award? | What challenges have you had to face in regards to your project (or indeed in your life) since the award? |
| The challenges I faced related to the project were not really individual to me. At the time I undertook it, retrofit was such a new thing (relatively speaking) that I really had to find my own way. Very few contractors had the skills I needed, so I had to do a lot myself! Since then, the major challenges have been related to my business. Trying to build it up during a major recession, and at a time when government has done some pretty unhelpful things to the industry in general, has been quite a challenge. | The challenges I faced related to the project were not really individual to me. At the time I undertook it, retrofit was such a new thing (relatively speaking) that I really had to find my own way. Very few contractors had the skills I needed, so I had to do a lot myself! Since then, the major challenges have been related to my business. Trying to build it up during a major recession, and at a time when government has done some pretty unhelpful things to the industry in general, has been quite a challenge. |
| Have there been any nice surprises along the way? | Have there been any nice surprises along the way? |
| Absolutely. Despite the challenging environment in which we’ve been operating we’ve grown very steadily since I won the award. I started the company with a clear aim: that I wanted to offer people quality advice that they could trust. It was always a risk that people would be willing to pay for that benefit, but it’s great that it appears that they are! | Absolutely. Despite the challenging environment in which we’ve been operating we’ve grown very steadily since I won the award. I started the company with a clear aim: that I wanted to offer people quality advice that they could trust. It was always a risk that people would be willing to pay for that benefit, but it’s great that it appears that they are! |
| Do you have any advice for other people who are thinking of entering the awards about what makes a great entry? | Do you have any advice for other people who are thinking of entering the awards about what makes a great entry? |
| For me, a big thing was to do something that was replicable. When I renovated my house, my aim was create something that didn’t look like the stereotype of an “eco” house. That’s something I would encourage others to think about: when aiming for an award, don’t always assume you have to do something that is high-tech or whacky. Sometimes the innovation is in making something that is seen as the exception into the sphere of “normal”. | For me, a big thing was to do something that was replicable. When I renovated my house, my aim was create something that didn’t look like the stereotype of an “eco” house. That’s something I would encourage others to think about: when aiming for an award, don’t always assume you have to do something that is high-tech or whacky. Sometimes the innovation is in making something that is seen as the exception into the sphere of “normal”. |
| What does being ‘ethical’ mean to you? | What does being ‘ethical’ mean to you? |
| It’s all about leading a life that isn’t motivated solely by your own selfish needs. An ethical life gives due consideration to the needs of other people, and of the planet. It’s very hard to be consistent in that mind you, and it’s important not to beat yourself up too much if you slip up from time to time! | It’s all about leading a life that isn’t motivated solely by your own selfish needs. An ethical life gives due consideration to the needs of other people, and of the planet. It’s very hard to be consistent in that mind you, and it’s important not to beat yourself up too much if you slip up from time to time! |