Twilight Talks

On the second Monday of each month The Green Register brings you our Twilight Talks - a relaxed and informal string of events on sustainable building matters to complement our regular training topics.

Each one-hour event is FREE of charge and features short talks from one or more speakers. With Q&A and discussion sessions throughout, everyone is invited to be part of the conversation. We hold Twilight talks at 5-6pm, in the sweet spot between work and dinner – so join us to nourish the mind before replenishing the body!

The Trouble with Good Ideas – We Need to Talk About Adoption

We have the materials, the methods and the regs — yet the best ideas still struggle to take root. Low-carbon insulation gets value-engineered out, airtightness diluted, natural materials passed over as “too risky.” The issue isn’t product innovation; it’s adoption. 

This session starts there. In the real world, decisions aren’t made by spreadsheets alone. Builders follow trusted peers, clients buy comfort more than carbon, and merchants need a story they can tell in 30 seconds. And when budgets bite, a designer kitchen often feels easier to justify than insulation you’ll never see — even though the latter quietly pays you back every day. 

We’ll codify the mechanisms hiding in plain sight — framing, defaults, cues, and proof people actually trust — and show how to use them ethically so better practice becomes the safe, normal choice. Not tricks or hacks: visible, usable, defensible tools you can deploy tomorrow.

What to expect

A fast, provocative PechaKucha presentation followed by a practical panel discussion with voices from across the sector. We’ll surface the invisible forces shaping decisions and turn them into usable tools — no blame, no jargon.

You’ll take away:

• A one-page field guide to behavioural tools you can apply at brief, design and point-of-sale. 
• Ways to translate performance into outcomes people feel (comfort, quiet, control). 
• Practical reframes that stop sustainable options sounding “extra” — and make “yes” the default. 
• Better proof than another PDF — formats that survive merchants and site. 

Who should attend:

Architects, builders/retrofitters, manufacturers, clients and consultants — anyone selling, specifying or defending sustainable choices.

About the Speakers

Will Kirkman, Managing Director of Ecomerchant.

Will Kirkman is Managing Director of Ecomerchant (since 2013), the UK merchant for natural, fabric-first building materials. He blends robust building physics with human-centred decision-making to help architects and builders deliver performance that works in use, not just on paper. He writes, speaks and hosts sector conversations that turn behavioural insight into practical adoption tools.