Mukti Mitchell, author of The Guide to Low Carbon Lifestyles and Director of CosyHome Company  was announced ‘Environmental Champion 2016’ at last week’s DEBI Awards (Devon Environmental Business Initiative). Mukti is Director of Mitchell & Dickinson (formerly CosyHome Company), a business offering energy-saving insulation solutions for period homes. He was awarded the Environmental Champion award by DEBI largely in acknowledgment of Mitchell & Dickinson’s work restoring the iconic North Devon heritage village ofClovelly, renowned worldwide as one of the UK’s most picturesque villages. But he was also recognised for his personal commitment to an exemplary low carbon lifestyle over 20 years. Perched at the edge of a 400 foot cliff in North Devon, Clovelly is famous for its old-world charm and car-free, cobbled streets where donkeys and sledges are the only form of transport.  John Rous, Director of the Clovelly Estate Company, wanted to bring Clovelly’s houses up to modern standards of insulation and chose Mitchell & Dickinson to do the work, impressed by the quality of the company’s craftsmanship and their approach to the individual treatment of properties. ** [caption id="attachment_9338" align="aligncenter" width="714"] Mukti Mitchell presented with Environmental Champion DEBI Award by Paul Martin of Devon Wildlife Trust[/caption] “I am delighted to receive the Devon Environmental Champion award for 2016,”said Mukti Mitchell.“The DEBI Awards do great work celebrating Devon’s many diverse environmental businesses and champions, and the award will help us get more attention for our home energy-saving products. This in turn will help more homeowners save money and be warmer in their homes which is fantastic for the environment. “We have just completed Phase One of the Clovelly project“ Mukti continued, ”applying draught proofing and loft insulation to all 120 properties, as well as room-in-roof insulation to sloping ceilings. Now preparing to begin Phase Two, we will be fitting our unique secondary glazing to all windows in the properties, reducing heat lost through the windows by 70%.” [caption id="attachment_9340" align="aligncenter" width="714"] CosyHome Team in Clovelly[/caption] Mukti first came to public attention when a zero emission micro yacht he designed and built was nominated “Innovative Boat of the Year 2005” at the British Marine Awards. Duly sailing the micro yacht around Britain in 2007, he was endorsed by The Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister and several environmental organisations. His 45 talks, media articles and broadcasts along the way extolling the benefits and simple application of low carbon lifestyles reached an audience of 10 million. Mukti is also the designer of the online Resurgence Personal Carbon Calculator, widely recognised as the best on the worldwide web. The calculator is available on the Resurgence magazine website: www.resurgence.org/carboncalculator. ** It was while undertaking an internship in parliament in 2010, that Mukti was inspired to set up CosyHome Company. Hearing MPs debate how they were going to insulate Britain’s old housing stock, he felt called to address the problem of heat loss, energy use and CO2 emissions in Britain’s period houses.  Realising that insulating all of Britain’s older homes would cut the nation’s carbon footprint by 10%, he committed to spearheading a UK retrofitting revolution, and started CosyHome Company with Paul Dickinson, CEO of The Carbon Disclosure Project, in 2010.  With demand rising for warmer, energy-saving old homes, Mitchell & Dickinson is actively expanding and has achieved 73% growth over the last year.   However, one company could never insulate even 1% of Britain’s 27 million homes, so Mukti Mitchell hopes other companies will copy Mitchell & Dickinson’s techniques to help them achieve their nationwide insulation mission. Meantime, with freezing temperatures predicted across the UK this winter, Mukti Mitchell emphasises that now is an ideal time to insulate your period home and get it warm and cosy for winter. “And you can make the investment safe in the knowledge that you’ll be preserving your property’s beauty, saving energy and money, and helping to avert climate change,” he says. In its first six and a half years, CosyHome Company (www.cosyhomecompany.co.uk) has insulated 278 properties, installed over £1.6 million worth of insulation and saved over 4800 tons of CO2 emissions.   The company is estimated to be collectively saving its customers over £150,000 worth of energy annually.  Cosyhome Company recently changed its name to Mitchell & Dickinson and has ambitions to open branches nationally and Mukti’s personal ambition is to insulate Buckingham Palace! For more info about Mitchell & Dickinson and specialist insulation solutions for period homes, visit:https://www.mitchellanddickinson.co.uk/_. _