The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC), which provides impartial advice and information on all manner of home improvements, chose Ploughcroft as the winner of its Energy Solution for a Community Building category. Chris Hopkins, founder and managing director of Ploughcroft received the award at the NHIC’s 37th Annual Awards luncheon which was held at One Whitehall Place in London.
The judges commented: “The building has undergone a very high standard of refurbishment, including a remarkable transformation for both energy conservation and regeneration. It is a totally ‘green’ refurbishment with a renewable energy installation that sets the standard for future installations in this newly emerging industry. It also embraces the excellent customer care insurance guarantee that is an important ingredient of this business sector.”
Ploughcroft opened the doors of its Eco Roof Visitors Centre in January so that local authorities, housing associations, building industry professionals, homeowners, environmentalists and students had a place to visit in the north of England where they could find out more about solar and other forms of renewable energy. It’s a hands-on, one-stop shop for visitors to obtain and understand the real value of renewable technologies such as solar photovoltaics, solar thermal panels, ground source heat pumps and wind turbines.
Chris Hopkins said: “2011 has proved to be a fantastic year for the company. Winning another high profile award really is the icing on the cake and I hope 2012 is just as successful. The doors of our Eco Roof Visitors Centre are always open so we welcome anyone who’d like to come and have a chat about renewable energy.”