With a background in engineering and construction and a passion for championing greener, healthier, and more affordable homes, she’s seen firsthand how challenging it can be to get people to truly care about sustainability. Now, at Sero, she’s surrounded by a team that lives and breathes environmental, economic, and social impact, exactly how it should be! Expect plenty of passion. Whether she’s battling for climate action, social justice, or just the best spot at a gig, Anne-Marie is all about making a difference.
How does your work impact our customers?
In a previous life, I was an engineer and then a Construction Project Manager, loving being part of the industry I worked hard to be a part of but feeling like I was always fighting a losing battle in getting clients and investors to care more than the minimum about “sustainability”. It’s a great thing that every day I work with a team in Sero and with partners externally that are all so enthusiastic about and invested in environmental, economic and social sustainability through what we do and the way we live our lives.
What sparked your passion for retrofit?
I don’t think there are many social causes that you could talk to me about that I wouldn’t immediately want to pick up a pitchfork to fight for. I feel so lucky that in this job I get to both combat climate change and work for better, more affordable, more comfortable homes for people that most need them.
What’s your biggest “aha!” moment delivering retrofit since joining Sero?
Realising that you can have the best technical solution on the planet, but if you haven’t brought your customers and residents along the journey with you, you won’t be able to deliver it! These are people’s homes and we’re disrupting real people’s lives, albeit for the better, so understanding them and their challenges is just as important as getting the right technical solution.
The other office, what keeps you busy outside of work?
Outside of this job, you can usually find me on a soapbox somewhere or other, campaigning for better disability benefits and support, improved social equity and wealth distribution, protecting and enhancing LGBTQ+ rights (emphasis on the T), or wading into complex international affairs. Though I promise I also do things just for fun – as evidenced by my bank account being emptied for the sake of attending a large number of gigs, traveling, and hiking adventures, and by the amount of time I spend reading and writing to escape into therapeutically fictitious worlds.
Give us your top tip for the following roles when it comes to retrofitting:
Assessor: Clear communication! The assessor is often the first person a resident will engage with face-to-face on their home’s retrofit journey. So, clearly laying out what they can expect and why is pivotal to the success of the rest of the project.
Designer: Attention to detail! PAS2035 focuses on home-specific measures, and it’s never more important than at the design stage. Right down to something as basic as making sure new radiators are going to fit where you want them or as complex as accounting for some existing bizarre extensions that have been added to a home.
Installer: Planning! Before bringing a single material to the site, knowing the sequence of works and having all the relevant materials and trades lined up will help the installation and the resident immeasurably.
Landlord: Long-term planning with short-term detail. You will realise much greater value for money through planning much further ahead in your whole portfolio net-zero plans, but that doesn’t detract from the need to make sure each project is individually managed.