This month Kevin says goodbye to the Great British Refurb Campaign – long live its glorious new grown-up incarnation.

Farewell then the Great British Refurb – at least in its adolescent form. This is the campaign that I helped put together at Grand Designs Live in 2009 as a joint intitiative between WWF, Grand Designs Magazine, the Energy Savings Trust and the UK Green Building Council to drive as much demand and interest as possible in retrofitting our existing housing stock to low carbon, low consumption levels.

This is an important challenge. Never mind new eco houses: they're small fry compared to the fact that of the 26 million homes in the UK, the majority currently leak heat and cost a fortune to run, and around 80 per cent of them will still be on the planet in 2050.

The overall goal of the Great British Refurb (GBR) has been to make it easier for owners to retrofit their homes to make them energy efficient. We needed to devise ways of overcoming the financial barriers that stop people from retrofitting; we needed to influence government and encourage flexible legislation; and we needed to enthuse the public about the benefits of eco refurbishment.

BRING BACK LINGERIE

However, getting people to enthuse about loft insulation and draught excluders isn't easy – it's just not as sexy as winding them up about a glossy kitchen with a fridge that makes novelty snow and small icebergs. But I'm with Obama here. He finds insulation very sexy. After all, a warm duvet is an invitation and when your hands are warm, well, then you're allowed to touch, aren't you? And just think: a snug house means you need to wear fewer clothes altogether – perhaps even none. If you want lingerie back in your life, then think Great British Refurb.

KEVIN'S BUILDING

Making retrofit sexy for government has also been challenging since we now officially have no money left in the UK. The trick has been to get the energy companies to help out through a fiendishly clever scheme known as Pay As You Save, which has become incorporated into the proposed legislation known as the Green Deal. This way, third-party investors, such as pension funds or your energy supplier, invest in your home by stumping up thousands in cash towards the cost of retrofitting. You get a lump sum subsidy, you pay a reduced heating bill (hooray), but there's a charge on your bill that repays the loan to the investor. The loan is leveraged on the house, not against you and it doesn't affect your mortgage. Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? But getting this financial mechanism to work took months of intense lobbying and negotiation.

VARIOUS VICTORIES

Other victories include the house we refurbished in Manchester to tie in with the Tory party conference and the home in Bristol which won a GBR competition (the owners retrofitted their home and made 80 per cent carbon cuts and a 123 per cent reduction in their fuel bills). We've worked with all the political parties to get the best possible legislation; we've run webinars and seminars to challenge those in authority and pull in expertise. We organised a YouGov poll on the public appetite for retrofitting; we've fostered and championed the nation's SuperHomes network. We've got the Government to rethink its strategy for houses built before 1919, which were constructed with no damp membranes or cavities and were built from 'breathing' materials (fingers crossed that Department of Energy & Climate Change will establish a panel of expertise to commission and collate research into the green refurbishment of historic buildings over the next few years). The fierce conservation lobby has been effecting a co-ordinated pincer movement here. And I have personally braved the even fiercer legions of Mumsnet to promote the GBR.

A GLORIOUS WEB FACILITY

I say farewell, but in reality the GBR is growing up and morphing into something else, having garnered support, changed legislation, driven public awareness and helped create and promote the funding mechanism. It will now exist online as a glorious web facility full of useful information and advice. And as part of the transition we've launched a 60-second film competition to find the best/least boring/sexiest film about home insulation and retrofitting.

Hmm, now there's a challenge for all you budding draught- excluder moviemakers. You can find out everything you need to know at greatbritishrefurb.co.uk.