AECB seeks executive director to lead green building push

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The part-time, remote role – the AECB's most senior staff position – will involve leading the vision and direction of the organisation, growing and diversifying its income, and championing CarbonLite, its evidence-based building standard. The successful candidate will also be expected to build strategic alliances across the retrofit, heritage and commercial sectors.

The AECB, which bills itself as the UK's oldest and largest green building association, has around 2,000 members drawn from across the built environment. Buildings, the organisation says, account for 40 per cent of global climate impact.

Central to the role's potential, says the AECB, is the opportunity to scale uptake of CarbonLite Retrofit and its phased pathway, CarbonLite Retrofit Step-by-Step, which allows building owners to carry out retrofit work in stages. Each phase must be designed so the building achieves a sound outcome even if no further steps are taken — addressing persistent barriers including limited budgets, complex buildings, and plans for future works that make whole-house retrofit impractical in one go.

Sally Godber, director of leading passive house certifier and trainer Warm, welcomed the new standards. "For the private residential market, for people who don't have a massive budget to put into a retrofit, this is the guidance they need," she said. "For individuals who are freaked out, you can give them something really meaningful in terms of a long-term plan and some actions they can take now."

Godber says the requirement to plan for deeper interventions is essential: "It's absolutely crucial that any retrofit standard has the end in mind and doesn't lock in problems – they've got that, which I think is really great."

She says poorly conceived retrofits are common: projects where expected energy savings and comfort improvements have not materialised, and where earlier measures have subsequently had to be undone.

With national policy on deep retrofit she describes as a vacuum, Godber says the AECB's standards offer something concrete. "There isn't the leadership in the UK to push the fabric-first and heat pump agenda. This standard allows for that critical mass for homeowners to do something rather than waiting for policy change."

This is a rare opportunity to influence the UK’s green building landscape,” says AECB Co-Chair Anna Carton.

“Our CarbonLite Standards and Retrofit Step-by-Step approach allows homeowners to make measurable improvements that fit their budget and their home. Uniquely tailored for UK housing stock, CarbonLite helps protect outcomes and ensures homeowners see a real benefit from their investment. We believe there is huge potential to utilise CarbonLite to safely drive up the standards in the UK housing and are seeking someone who is ready to help us unlock that potential."

The closing date for applications is 27 April. Further information is available at www.aecb.net or from Kit Knowles at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..