Meet The Team

Finance & Compliance Manager

Sally is the co-founder of the AECB. She manages the finance aspects for the AECB and deals with any legal issues. Her expertise is in finance, personnel and administration processes

Commercial and Operations

Sam is responsible for the operational and commercial strategy with particular emphasis on member and customer service.  She has previously worked in the retail and logistics sectors as a data analyst and brings over 30 years’ experience in high street retail to the role.

Training Manager

Trish is responsible for managing the AECB’s suite of training offerings, including course delivery and developing new AECB CarbonLite training courses.

As an Architect, she believes we all have a role to play and a personal agency to move away from destructive construction practices towards more regenerative methods, and this includes retrofitting at scale and the uptake of robust low energy building and retrofit standards.

Training Administrator

Sarah provides support to the AECB Training Centre and its students and has an NVQ Level 4 in Internal Quality Assurance. She enjoys taking part in environmental voluntary work and various short courses in sustainable building.

Standards and Certification

Tim is the Programme Manager for the AECB Standards and Certification Scheme, an Expert Advisor for the AECB Retrofit course and also supports the PHribbon software. Originally an Architectural Technologist, Tim has also been a Passivhaus Designer since 2012.

Office Manager

Bev is the office manager for the AECB, supporting all departments with the day to day running of the group, assisting with finance and will usually be the one responding to member queries and orders.

Events & Marketing

Michelle is the Events & Marketing Officer and looks after the AECB’s social media, webinars, newsletter and magazine. Connecting with members, local groups and beyond in a variety of ways to share the message of the AECB

Chair

Kit is the founder and director of Ecospheric, an award-winning Passivhaus design and sustainability consultancy based in the Northwest of England. His background is in chemical engineering provides practical knowledge in heat transfer, building technology and integration. His varied experience and passion for decarbonising the built environment has led him to become one of the country’s leading experts on sustainable building. He has advised the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on its large-scale retrofit strategies for residential housing as well as its commercial retrofit group, supported Co-op Foods in developing low carbon “green stores”, delivered technical expertise for Passivhaus multi-story social housing developments, and is currently acting as the net zero carbon building standard coordinator for the NHS’ new Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital.

Vice Chair

Nidhi is a Passivhaus enthusiast with commitment to sustainable and low energy buildings. Her major concern is the health and wellbeing of building occupants. She has both academic and industry experience working in multiple construction sectors including commercial, education and residential, where she has completed low energy Passivhaus Standard housing. She currently works at D5 architects and promotes better building standards through her work. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, baking and painting with her daughter and is also a keen cyclist.

Secretary

Anna has experience with retrofit to full Passivhaus certified standard (including Totnes B&B), through to working with Prewett Bizley Architects on award winning retrofit projects (2014-2019) and then to new-build to the full Passivhaus standard using the PH15 System, winner of the Ashden Award in 2020 for scalable climate change solutions. Her skill base is both in design and technical design, with PHPP modelling, including upfront carbon calculations with PH Ribbon, and construction detailing. She is interested in energy efficiency and low upfront carbon solutions, especially in the appropriate use of timber in a contemporary, low energy context.  More recently she has become engaged in trying to drive retrofit action at a local level, using and enhancing local skills and addressing local issues. She feels passionate about the need to be strategic in our collective thinking and our outputs as the time periods available for a safe transition to ‘net zero’ continue to shorten and the urgency for action continues to increase.

Treasurer

Mischa Hewitt is a sustainability consultant and project manager. He has an MSc Architecture: Advanced Energy & Environment Studies from the Centre of Alternative Technology / University of East London and is also a Certified Passivhaus Designer. He is the co-author of ‘Earthships: Building a zero carbon future’ published by IHS Press and is a director of The 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, and in recent years has organised many environmental events, including the ‘Eco Open Houses’ weekends in Brighton and several conferences. In his spare time Mischa plays the piano and composes classical music. Mischa is also very active in the Brighton (South East) Group.

Trustee

Mark has been a member of the AECB since late 2006 and a Trustee since 2014. He has also been a speaker at a number of AECB Conferences, a technical adviser to the AECB CarbonLite programme and a regular contributor to PH+ magazine. As an architect with a no-nonsense evidence-based approach to design he has a deep-seated interest in ecologically aware construction. Mark is one of the pioneers that introduced the Passivhaus standard to the UK. In addition to being an architect and energy consultant Mark is an educator and industry transformer. He has helped to co-author the Certified Passivhaus Designer course for the AECB’s CarbonLite Programme, led masterclasses for the Passivhaus Trust, delivered CEPH training at the University of Strathclyde and, between 2011 and 2014, was a part-time lecturer at Northumbria University. He has also contributed to technical papers for the UK’s Passivhaus Trust including internationally recognised papers and reports including “The Passivhaus Overlay for the RIBA Plan of Work”, “Thermal Bypass: Risks and Solutions”, “Are the energy savings of the Passive House standard reliable?” and more.

Trustee

Adam lives in North Yorkshire and have been an AECB member for 11 years. He is active in the Yorkshire group helping organise events and supporting Harrogate College with retrofit events. He is a Chartered Construction Manager (MCIOB) and works for City of York Council delivering affordable Passivhaus homes. He is also a firm believer in being the change and spend his weekends retrofitting his own home.

Trustee

Jarek is an associate at Smith Scott Mullan, an architect and a Passive House Designer working in Scotland since 2006. His adventure with sustainable design started at Wrocław, Poland, Technical University with his MA research on Straw bale and Passive House. Working closely with company Smith Scott Mullan Associates directors Eugene Mullan (BE-ST innovation champion), and Graham Acheson (PH Designer); and fellow associate Ben Rainger (RIAS Sustainability Working Group Vice Chair); he helped to transition the company to a sustainable design centred organisation. He is involved in a range of projects spanning from strategy documents (Midlothian Council Net Zero Housing Design Guide), Passive House schemes, retrofit and conversion projects to research. He has a significant experience management and working with community organisations.

Trustee

Hannah is an Architect, Passivhaus Designer and AECB Certifier. She is the founder of Progress in Practice, a small but innovative architecture practice in Greater Manchester, specialising in Passivhaus and low energy homes and buildings. The practice delivered the first two AECB certified retrofit projects in Greater Manchester in 2023 and the first Passivhaus Plus in Greater Manchester in 2024, and they are advocates for the Passivhaus and AECB approach more generally. Hannah is passionate about inclusivity in the design process and also sits on the board of the GM Community Led Homes hub.

Trustee

An experienced leader with over 20 years experience with the British and New Zealand armies, I transitioned to working in the built environment sector to help make a difference. My MSc dissertation focused on domestic retrofit supply chain performance in Mid Wales, reflecting my deep commitment to local climate solutions. As Supply Chain Lead at Furbnow and former Mace Associate Director, I’ve delivered complex infrastructure and sustainability projects globally, as well as with local authorities and communities in the UK; and am currently Secretary of the fledgling Llanidloes & District Energy Local Club. I bring extensive experience in stakeholder management, planning and strategy, and have a passion for developing inclusive, evidence-based approaches to environmental and societal challenges.

Trustee

Lois recently completed her PhD which explores the embodied and life cycle impacts of domestic retrofit from a carbon and energy basis, as well as furthering the understanding of how retrofit life-cycle studies should be framed differently to those of a new-build. Prior to this, she worked in environmental consulting for nearly a decade, during which time she embarked on her own retrofit journey in 2015, converting a Victorian industrial building into a home. She joined the AECB at this time, and was later part of the first cohort of the original AECB Carbonlite Retrofit course. This was pivotal in establishing the best approach for her retrofit, supported by her background in environmental sciences which provided a firm foundation for understanding building physics. Lois completed her Passive House Consultant qualification in late 2020. Her transition back into academia for her PhD enabled a deep exploration of retrofit; her findings are critical to ensuring that robust decisions can be made with respect to retrofit and decarbonisation, and are published in a series of peer-reviewed articles. Her work in this area is ongoing.

Lois is also a Trustee with the Lune Valley Community Land Trust, who with their housing association partner, developed 20 affordable Passive House homes for shared-ownership and rental to local people, completed in 2023. Lois sits on the Board, and was part of the design team and was involved in community engagement and developing scheme layout options, through to detailed design and appointing contractors.

Trustee

Michael is the Managing Director of Five Rise Contractors Ltd. Over the past 12 months, Five Rise has created a new division, Five Rise Eco Homes, to focus exclusively on undertaking Passive House, CarbonLite, and Retrofit projects. This decision was driven by Michael’s strong desire to contribute to a more sustainable built environment and to advance knowledge, expertise and partnerships in environmentally responsible construction practices. Through Five Rise Eco Homes, the business is also developing new green housing schemes that prioritise sustainability and energy efficiency. By specialising in these areas, they aim to improve the energy efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint, and enhance the overall performance of buildings. As an avid supporter of green training, Michael has been working closely with local MPs, colleges, and training experts to help close the skills gap in the construction industry. He hopes to share his knowledge with the AECB