The People

David Porter, Director of The Green Building Partnership

David Porter has an MSc from the University of Oxford in mathematical modelling and 27 years experience applying this in engineering, finance and business. For the past decade he has built new environment businesses and raised finance for them.

Having undertaken an eco refurbishment of his own house in 2007, designing and project managing all aspects of the refurbishment, David believes that the journey he took in upgrading the thermal performance of his own home could be of great help to others who wish to do the same. In 2011, he founded Efficient Refurbs Ltd, to help property owners identify and finance green refurbishment measures that will reduce energy costs and increase property values.

Alex Hunt, Director of The Green Building Partnership

Alex has a BSc (hons) in Geography and and an MA (hons) Environment, Development and Policy with a specialism in Environmental Accounting. He is also a certified Stroma Code for Sustainable Homes Assessor, and an avid scuba diver. He has extensive experience in the implementation and management of environmental projects around the world. Since returning to the UK in 2009 and setting up Bright Green Homes LLP with Frances, Alex has been focused on improving the sustainability of the UK’s housing stock showing people that by improving their sustainability they can also improve their quality of life.

Maria Hawton Mead, Member of The Green Building Partnership

Maria Hawton-Mead is an experienced and highly-qualified sustainability consultant and designer, whose experience of retrofitting her own home gives her an insight into the client’s perspective.  With an MSc in Sustainable Architecture with distinction from the Centre for Alternative Technology, she is also a qualified SAP energy assessor and a certified PassivHaus consultant/designer and user of the PassivHaus planning package. She is a judge for a number of government-funded competitions, an advisor to National Energy Services, an author and accomplished public speaker, and a highly-effective trainer and organiser of workshops and other events.

Frances Hunt, Member of The Green Building Partnership

Frances is a chartered architect with a BA DipArch and has been a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a partner in Clifton Design Associates (an architectural practice in Brighton & Hove) for over 25 years. She has designed and built a wide variety of hotels, schools, nursing homes, surgeries and cooperative housing. Her preferred commission is for one-off homes (one of which has been featured on C4′s Grand Designs), and also has extensive experience in the renovation and extension of homes.

 

 

Mischa Hewitt, Member of The Green Building Partnership

Mischa Hewitt is a sustainability consultant and project manager. He has MSc Architecture: Advanced Energy & Environment Studies from the Centre of Alternative Technology / University of East London and is a Certified Passivhaus Designer / Consultant.

He is the co-author of ‘Earthships: Building a zero carbon future’ and ‘Earthships: in Europe’, both published by IHS Press and has written numerous articles.  He is a director of Low Carbon Trust, where he project managed the award winning Earthship Brighton project. Mischa also runs the sustainable building company Earthwise Construction based in Sussex, which recently retrofitted an Victorian House to reduce it’s carbon emissions by 80% as part of the Technology Strategy Board’s’ Retrofit for the Future’ competition.  He also organises environmental events, including the award winning ‘Eco Open Houses’ weekends in Brighton and conferences, including an annual ‘Green Architecture Day’.  He is also a Trustee of the AECB – The Sustainable Building Association.

In his spare time Mischa plays the piano and composes classical music.