The start of my interest in the environment

At a relatively young age I began to have an interest in the environment in which we live. 

I am defiantly not an older Greta Thunberg in any way shape or form. Total respect to her.

I was something of a swot at secondary school. I remember a school Prize Giving Assembly where after my name was called and I bounded up the stairs, two at a time, onto the stage. I was later told off, (gently) as it lacked decorum and was not visually attractive. I was tall for my age and somewhat gangly, but in hindsight I don't think that was the lesson.

Smart Office

Not my office at home, but more general, and then how it feeds into smart home.

King's Cross Station Refurbishment

I was involved in the refurbishment project of King's Cross Station, and more specifically the Train Shed Roof.

 This was not the first time I was involved with King's Cross Station, but the previous time was with Railtrack just using the Eastern offices, not to do with the refurbishment of the station. The eastern offices were not in the best of condition, and had their own problems. One was a ban on any interaction with the walls. Not even a drawing pin could be pushed into the aged plaster. There was a risk that the plaster of that age had horse hair as part of the mix, to strengthen it. With that came the risk of anthrac. Most defiantly no drilling to put up smart boards, or anything else. The project then was RAMP, a change project with a budget of £800m.

I was asked to be the Great Western Zone’s representative on the Railtrack Asset Management Programme (RAMP) team, based at King's Cross Eastern Offices. The title of Business Implementation Manager was given for what became a multiple role. Representing the Zone and its interests. Expressing the Business needs, in conjunction with the other BIMs, to the programme development teams. Promoting the programme and MIMS asset management system, being the sole conduit for communication and change management for RAMP on the Zone. RAMP was an ambitious programme with a core vision of changing the way Railtrack and it’s Contractors carry out their respective businesses and how they interact. The time scales were very tight and the budget reflected the enormity of the task. The ‘Advanced Value Management’ training that I had recently completed included elements of facilitation, presentation and change management, all of which proved useful.

Tom Windsor, the head of the ORR at the time visited us, liked what he saw, and used it in a speech to the Railway Study Association, of which I was a member, and attended the meeting. Interesting!

 Years later, and King's Cross again.

 The roof before the refurbishment project already had glazing but a lot of it was obscured by decades of steam engines belching out soot up into the roof, blocking out the sun. The result was a dark platform level which was not an ideal passenger experience. 

All the glazing was replaced as part of the roof renovation. All done above a moveable 100% crash deck. Secure enough not only to stop things dropping on passengers on the platforms below, but also to stop the water involved in removing the lead paint from the ironwork, ready for a new paint job.

Part of the discussion was how much Photovoltaic coverage could be used, and how much loss of light there would be at the platform surface. The panels created are not the normal ones that a 100% coverage, but have a pattern of PV and glass to provide 50% translucent.