by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
This year's EcoBuild seems to have been bigger, much bigger, in fact, that previous years and the entire Earls Court 1 and 2 were taken up, basically, for stands and lecture theaters.
The buzz on the floor was enormous and the footfall on the first day alone, the day that I visited, must have been in the thousands.
A great number of new companies with new products could be seen as well as old, well-known ones with new and not so new products.
One of the new companies exhibiting at the show for the first time definitely stands out and this is “Bottle Alley Glass”, based in Battle, near Hastings, at England's south coast.
The way that Bottle Alley Glass produce their recycled glass products, mostly by hand,, and the general approach, is quite unique, and the products, worktops, tiles, lighting diffusers, etc., are all beautiful to behold.
Another interesting material and product is Eden Bloc35, which is an insulating material manufactured from wool and 60% recycled content, the latter which is mostly waste wool from the carpet industry. No synthetic binders of any kind are used in the process of manufacture, hence Eden Bloc35 can be safely disposed off at he end of its service life. Manufactured in Cumbria, UK.
Warmcel 500, though not all that new, I believe, is another product and material that caught my attention. Warmcell is made byy Excel Fibre Technology and is a cavity wall and loft insulation that is made from finely shredded newspaper and its contents is 100% recycled material.
Rainwater Harvesting and pumps for use with such systems were also exhibited by a great number of firms and harvesting rainwater is the definite thing to do. Rainwater Harvesting tanks are now available in all shapes and sizes, almost, and some of the slimline one that can be put up by the side of a house are hardly noticeable, once installed.
Those slimline tanks are, primarily, for people who want to retrofit such systems and do not wish to dig a deep hole in the garden (or elsewhere).
Paperstone, made in Washington State, in the USA, from recycled post-consumer waste paper, and brought into the UK by Hanson Plywood Ltd. In Halifax, is another interesting product and I think that we shall hear more of this product soon.
What, though, always amazes me each and every time is how the concrete industry tries to make concrete and concrete products out to be a green material and green products. As far as I am concerned, and I am sure many will agree, concrete is far from being green and environmentally friendly. The production of the cement alone is hazardous too the workers and to the environment.
© 2010
