After returning from my Fellowship in Turkey, I returned to the building trade, renovating houses. I then got the creative offer of a lifetime: to renovate the house owned by my sister and her partner, with a no-holds-barred eco brief.

The aim was extreme insulation and airtightness, achieved through a Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system. I saw the light and now fit MVHR systems countrywide. Most of our work is through the Green Building Store, as one of their five approved fitters.

Away from work, I continue to kayak whenever possible, my best trip being to the Bakhtiari river in Iran in 2001.