Gain inspiration for your home at events in our tenth Green Open Homes season this autumn. Add comfort, cut carbon and reduce energy bills with up-to-date insulation, draughtproofing, heating and renewable energy.
What’s new this year?
This year we’re adding a third weekend of visits, offering more opportunities to see local green homes and meet inspiring hosts.
View local green homes over the weekends of 30th September-1st October, 7th-8th October and 14th-15th October, followed with a series of Tuesday evening talks from the experts. Book your visits and talks here.
Joining popular green homes on show are venues new to the event this year:
Starting from scratch in St James Lane – a PassivHaus construction in progress (opening 7th-8th October)- follow a local couple’s journey to create a selfbuild home in Muswell Hill. Read MHSG member Annabel Rutherford’s Q & A with Andrew and Christina Wallace here.
Pages Hill neighbours – Two 1920s semi-detached homes (above and below) (opening Saturdays 30th September and 7th October) – next-door neighbours have inspired each other to create comfortable low carbon homes. Opening Saturdays 30th September.
Brand new heat pump – installed in September, an air-to-air heat pump enabling efficient heating of a meeting room (above) at Muswell Hill Methodist Church independent of the central heating system. Opening Sundays 1st and 8th October.
Community ecobuildings – straw
bale and timber office and kitchen ecobuildings in the making at the innovative Wolves Lane Centre in Wood Green. Opening Sunday 1st October.
Every booking slot is precious!
Last year many homes were fully booked with waiting lists, but ‘no shows’ led to disappointed potential visitors and discouraged hosts.
This year we hope to avoid this by introducing a fee of £1 per visit (to which 10p booking fee is added). We’re also inviting a voluntary donation to the Centre for Alternative Technology charity which does excellent work in this field.
Book your visits here
Advice from the experts
Again we’re lining up experts from the sustainable building world for in-person talks to help you plan your own greener home.
The five sessions are on Tuesday evenings in October and November – in person at the Muswell Hill Methodist Church, with the exception of the 31st October event, which will be online.. Talks are 7.30-8.30pm, followed by informal discussion and refreshments at the in person events.
The in person events will be livestreamed for those who can’t make the journey – we’ll send the link with booking confirmation the day before each event.
24th October – Home Retrofit Essentials – APOLOGIES: THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED – PLEASE CONSIDER BOOKING FOR THE 7TH NOVEMBER EVENT BELOW
Dermot Barnes, Head of Sustainability at City University
A ‘starter’s guide’ to greening your home. Dermot’s talk will cover the essentials of improving the energy efficiency of a flat or house – where to start, what to prioritise, the best value interventions and how to navigate the complexities.
31st October – Dukes Avenue Home Tour
James Tanner, homeowner and professsional landlord and Dominic Snow, contractor
Come to the Methodist Church to view a virtual home tour and hear in-person from the homeowner and contractor about the transformation of this Edwardian property for energy efficiency.
7th November – Choosing the right contractors for your home retrofit
Ian Preston, Ecofurb Low Carbon Home Service, and Dermot Barnes, Head of Sustainability, City University
Find out how to get impartial advice and avoid contractor, design and specification pitfalls.
14th November – Renewables – Understanding Solar Power and Heat Pumps
Kaspar Bradshaw, Next Step Heating
Kaspar is an experienced engineer and installer of solar, heat pump and mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems. He has worked in Ghana, with Enhabit, and now runs his own company, Next Step Heating.
21st November – Easy Energy Saving
Tanuja Pandit, Power Up North London
Join us in person for this interactive event on how everyone can save energy. Whether you rent or own your home, find out how to manage your energy use, keep the heat in and save money.
Tanuja is a director of Power Up North London, a community energy group, where she delivers solar, renewable heat and energy efficiency projects for schools, GP practices and community centres.
Book your visits and talks now!
