Dr Brenda Boardman is a doughty campaigner against fuel poverty and the effects of poor energy efficiency and inadequate heating systems upon the less well-off members of our society. This has been recognised by her inclusion on the Woman’s Hour ‘2020 Power List for Our Planet’ innovators.

The statutory requirement to improve poor quality housing, in which the fuel poor frequently reside, to a C-rating by 2030 looks set to provide a significant workstream for the UK maintenance and refurbishment industry over the next few years. Yet at the same time AECB members are only too aware of the bad practice and shoddy workmanship that is routinely delivered, especially when the requirement for remedial works is imposed upon private landlords with inadequate resources and little interest in quality. Their time horizons are often too short to worry about deterioration of the building fabric, and without adequate enforcement from environmental health and others the negative health consequences for residents in their properties will likely be ignored.

Dr Brenda Boardman | Emeritus Research Fellow | ECI

Brenda is an Emeritus Fellow at the Environmental Change Institute, following her retirement in September 2008. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter. At the ECI, Brenda was the former head of the Lower Carbon Futures team and a co-director of the UK Energy Research Centre. Her main research focus is on how to achieve demand reduction in energy across the UK economy, but in particular the built environment.

Contact: brenda.boardman@ouce.ox.ac.uk ◦