Interview with John Doggart

John joined the Development Corporation in 1971 as an architect, working in Wavendon town. John has always been interested in alternative forms of energy and started to work on primitive Windmills and solar power. John left Milton Keynes Development Corportation (MKDC) around 1979/1980, about the time that HomeWorld started. And so, he was asked to work in a private capacity by Laings to design the BBC House at the exhibition. John also advised on the energy specification. The timescale was tight; the design was started on Friday evening and finished by Monday. The house was in two parts, using Laings standard housing but joining the parts by a conservatory facing south. The house was before its time; a Fiat Totem engine was used to turn the generator to make the electricity with the waste heat used to heat the radiators. There was also double-glazing, which was new at the time, and Texas Instruments made a push button controller. John was interviewed several times for the Money Programme.
He feels progress on climate change has been very slow because not enough importance has been put on energy savings in new houses. John has also advised the Government on Energy Rating Systems which have been introduced. The Energy Cost Index was a result of EnergyWorld which came after HomeWorld. He thinks the developers thought Milton Keynes a great place to publicise their buildings and this was helped by the flexibility of MKDC.