Meet Luke Fisher, GreenSmart Director

Say ‘Hi’ to Luke I’m Luke one of the two directors here at GreenSmart service.  Since starting GreenSmart services back in October 2020, my main focus and goal has been to grow the business and make it one of the top plumbing, heating and gas companies in and around Bath, with customer satisfaction at the heart of it all. At GreenSmart we want to create a warm and welcoming environment for all of our employes, the team we have and continue to build is key to offering a great all-round experience for the customer. I was born in Bath but have lived in Chippenham for most of my life, it’s a great area with lots of natural beauty around such as Castle Combe and Lacock – where I enjoy lots of walks with my dog, Norma. My main sport has always been football, to which I played at a relatively high standard up until about 22. One of my other hobbies is being better at skiing than Damian (the other director)- I really love that one! Between GreenSmart and a home renovation that my wife and I have undertaken, a lot of my free time is consumed. However, in my free time I enjoy spending weekends with both sides of the family relaxing, socialising and exploring local walks.  What were you doing before you joined GreenSmart Services? I have been part of the construction industry since I was 16 years old, when I started as an apprentice. I worked with another plumbing and heating company for 12 years, taking a 2-year break to go travelling and even doing plumbing work in Australia. Before my apprenticeship I worked for my dad cleaning lorries and I worked in a kitchen in a local village. Your career with GreenSmart to date Since being a director of GreenSmart my role has grown and adapted – it has often been a steep but rewarding learning curve. Over the past 2 years it has taken on many changes from working with customers and building relationship’s, to where I am now, taking on more of a training role for apprentices coming through GreenSmart. This is a role I find very rewarding as I can support young people to grasp and develop their knowledge of the plumbing industry. It is fulfilling to see that your teaching enables others to apply what they have learnt to real scenarios and to see them grow into skilled individuals.  What’s your favourite thing about working for GreenSmart Services?  It has to be the GreenSmart team! Having people around that you can work well with and enjoy each other’s company whilst providing high quality work. Another massive favourite of mine is standing back, looking at completed jobs for clients and seeing how happy they are, having a positive impact on people homes leaves us all with a great sense of accomplishment.  Let’s get to know more about you with some quickfire questions: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Japan What are three things you can’t live without?  Norma (my dog), Pizza and my awesome family. Is there a hobby/activity you’d like to get better at?  As I am half Italian, I would love to learn the language one day. 

Meet Damian Bush, GreenSmart Director

Say Hi to Damian I’m Damian, one of the two current Directors here at GreenSmart Services. My main passion and ambition is the development of the business. I want GreenSmart Services to be a thriving and successful business and to become the ‘go-to’ plumbing, heating and gas company in Bath and surrounding areas. A huge priority for me/GreenSmart is to provide a great working environment for our employees. Workplace wellbeing and company culture are very important to us and we’re on a real journey to develop that. Outside of work, I enjoy getting lost in a good book or spending time with my friends and family.  I was born and raised in Bath, Somerset. Bath is such a fulfilling and enjoyable place to live, work and play, there’s so much to offer and it neighbours larger cities such as Bristol so there are plenty of options for things to do and outings. I’m quite an active person and enjoy physical activities such as running and cycling, plus I love the occasional skiing trip. GreenSmart consumes a lot of my free time. It’s just a part of the job, especially being a director of the business. But when I do manage to get some breathing space on a weekend, I enjoy exploring what cuisine options I can find. After all, a weekend wouldn’t be a weekend without finding a great new place to grab a bite to eat. What were you doing before you joined GreenSmart Services? The construction industry has been a part of my life since I was a teenager. I’ve been in the construction environment since I was around the age of 14 working with my Dad, so I’ve essentially matured and grown with the trade. In the past, I’ve worked as a site labourer working on different hands-on projects. Before GreenSmart, I also worked for another heating and plumbing company so have had my fair share of experience within the industry. Although, it’s not been all 100% construction and trade! I did have a short stint as a sales assistant at Marks and Spencer’s and Woolworths! Your career with GreenSmart to date As the Managing Director, my role is ever-changing along with the business growth so currently, I’m much less involved with the tools of the trade than I was previously. However, I am very flexible and good at adapting to my environment so either one works for me, whether on the tools, out and about or in the office. I love that whatever my role is, on any given day I’m able to deal with and communicate with people regardless. I’m a big people person and love chatting with others, getting to know them and building long-lasting relationships both inside and outside of work. The long-term plan for the business is to build and evolve GreenSmart into the company we know it can be. We have a great foundation and we know exactly who we want to be. We want the business to be friendly and to offer genuine solutions to problems, not short-term fixes. I want the business to stand as a beacon for the industry, to educate youth and help them develop their skills, to help reform some of the lesser preconceptions that occasionally still do exist about the construction industry, to encourage all members of the team to think outside of the box whilst doing it all with a solid structure of honesty and integrity. What’s your favourite thing about working for GreenSmart Services?  It has to be meeting new people and developing and building those long-standing relationships with them, whether that’s our clients, partners, my amazing teammates, contractors, subcontractors or others. I also love the idea of legacy, building something and being part of something that I can be really proud of that will be around long after me. Let’s get to know more about you with some quickfire questions: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Wherever the best skiing is! What are three things you can’t live without?  Phone, a purpose (deep answer), my cats (Ray and Bob).  Is there a hobby/activity you’d like to get better at?  I’d love to learn to play the piano.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

We’ve had a great year here at GreenSmart Services and are massively thankful to all of our clients and partners during 2022 for their custom and kindness. Our business has clocked some brilliant milestones this year and we wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without you. We: So as a little Christmassy thank you from us, we have a video made just for you: It’s been a real honour to have served all of you in 2022, whether we were needed for an installation, renovation, some scheduled maintenance, or an emergency call-out. We’re still around during the holidays, so are available if you need us. However, the team will not be working on Christmas Day. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

What Are the Part L Changes and How Will They Affect Our Services?

The Part L changes are applied to the current Building Regulations in place for those working in the trade industry and self-builders. The Building Regulations are a type of legislation that consists of various different standards that were ultimately put in place to outline the health and safety needs that must be met when building properties. Due to the recent changes in the Part L section of the regulations, we’ll be covering them throughout this article and how they will affect our projects and proceedings. What is Part L of the Building Regulations? The building regulations legislation has a total of 16 different areas to be covered. The Part L area encompasses the Conservations of Fuel and Power which aims to highlight the energy efficiency of both current and future homes. Part L was previously set as four different documents but recently was shaved down to be just 2, document L1A and document L2B. The presence of these 2 documents outlines an aim to reduce carbon emissions by 31% for dwellings and 27% for buildings other than dwellings. This means that procedures must be followed to ensure that new future buildings comply with these aims. Approved document L1AThis document is intended for dwellings and covers the need to make new home builds energy efficient. It is the responsibility of any tradespeople who are working on the construction of the property to ensure it is compliant with the procedures of this document. Approved document L2BThis document is intended for buildings other than dwellings, so includes making sure that renovations or extensions to current homes are energy efficient. The document observes that it is not always possible to achieve new build home standards but that if a thermal element of a home is being renovated, it must adhere to the Part L1A document standards. When will the changes come into effect? The Part L changes were announced in December of 2021 by government officials and have begun to take effect as of June 2022. As mentioned previously, these changes are being established as an effort to help advance the trade industry and work towards a greener future. The action is also in preparation for the roll-out of the Future Homes and Building Standard, a legislation due to be introduced in 2025. One thing to note though is that there is some leniency towards properties that were still within the planning process prior to the start of the Part L changes. Any property or application for notices that were applied for prior to June 2022 are still treated as part of the old regulations, as long as building starts prior to June 2023. What are the new changes? The key changes that have been made as per the Part L alterations will affect any individuals or organisations that work on renovations, builds, extensions or home improvements on both new and existing properties. The notable changes are as follows: Changes to SAP 2012 and a new energy rate New property builds will have a new metric in place to measure energy usage called primary energy, which is measured using kWhPE/(m² per year). Properties will also now be assessed and calculated as per an updated version of a previous specification called the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP 2012). This updated version, SAP 10.2, uses a dedicated software to calculate the amount of primary energy that’s needed to create the amount of energy to be distributed throughout the property. Better insulation conditions Building, transforming or extending a property to be solidly insulated should be a primary regard of any tradesperson doing construction on a property. The Part L changes will enforce new limiting U-values, which is a unit of measurement that represents the following calculation: rate of heat transfer through a structure ÷ difference in temperature across the structure. One other consideration that should be taken into account is the application of ‘thermal bridging’ – a term used to describe gaps in insulation across the property. These gaps in the insulation cause heat loss which contributes to the decrease of energy efficiency of a building, meaning they must be addressed to hit the set targets of reducing CO2 emissions. For work on existing properties, any work done on thermal elements will need to adhere to new fabric energy efficiency standards. Conducting site-audits A ‘self-audit’ must be conducted including documenting all plans and photographs as evidence. Whilst this is typically something done by most professionals in the trade industry, it is not typically a consideration for self-builders. How will the changes affect GreenSmart? It has always been in our best interest to ensure that the services we provide are the best in the business. The changes that the Part L regulation has introduced won’t change this and we will always make sure to provide our customers with high-end, quality service. Changes to our day-to-day services: As trading plumbers and heating engineers, our customers’ comfort in their own homes is a top priority and we strive to make sure they have working heating systems come rain or shine. Our installation work will be enhanced to ensure there is absolutely minimal heat loss throughout the property. We will comply with the Part L changes and make sure to further improve our client’s homes according to the set out standards.