About
The thinking behind Measured Ways, what it is ultimately about and our vision for where it could go.
A journey towards more sustainable ways of living
Measured Ways may not be the perfect name. If the obvious names had been available, we might simply have called the site “Sustainable living” or “Measured living”, because that is ultimately what it is about: sharing our journey, experiences and lessons as we try to live more sustainably without pretending that every lower-carbon choice is automatically the right one for every person.
We want to look at practical decisions through evidence and everyday experience, including what they cost, how they affect comfort and convenience, what carbon they avoid, and where the compromises sit. Project 01, the retrofit of our 1930s house, is the first major part of that story rather than the limit of what Measured Ways is intended to become.
The website starts with the house, but the journey started earlier
We had been thinking about these questions for years before Measured Ways existed. Between 2020 and 2022 we installed solar panels, home batteries and an air-source heat pump in our previous home. We moved from two petrol cars to two electric cars, took part in vehicle-to-grid trials and experimented with different smart electricity tariffs.
We also changed the way we eat, trying to reduce the environmental impact of food while keeping a realistic balance between health, enjoyment and sustainability. Along the way we became increasingly interested in the gap between what sounds sustainable in principle and what works well in normal life.
Starting Measured Ways alongside Project 01 felt like a natural point to begin documenting that properly. The scale of the retrofit gives us an opportunity to record decisions from the start, collect baseline and long-term data, and work with partners who can help us understand and share the results more widely.
More than a retrofit website
Over time, we want Measured Ways to explore a wider range of choices involved in lower-carbon living. That includes electric vehicles and how they interact with the grid, the carbon impact of food, and the ways we travel, whether by plane, ferry, cruise ship, train, bus, car or bicycle.
The subjects may be different, but the approach will remain the same: understand the evidence, be open about the trade-offs, measure what we reasonably can and share what we learn from living with the decisions rather than stopping at the theory.
Make ambitious changes where they make sense, question them where they do not, and measure enough to tell the difference.