EcoBuild 2010 – Earls Court – Visit Report

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

Lumber up! Timber centre stage at Ecobuild 2009

Timber takes centre stage at next year's Ecobuild + Futurebuild events which return to London's Earls Court on Tuesday 03 - Thursday 05 March 2009.

Suppliers of timber products are well-represented amongst the 800+ exhibitors, including well-known names such as Accoya, Finnforest UK, BSW Timber Systems, Covers Timber & Builders Merchants and, for the first time, the American Hardwood Export Council. Many up-and-coming timber suppliers will also be exhibiting in Timber Works, a new zone for SMEs and entrepreneurs, showcasing of some of the most innovative and inventive new timber products.

One of dozens of attractions at Ecobuild, Natural Materials will focus on techniques for working with English green oak to build traditionally jointed frames. Carpenter Oak will give live demonstrations every day, showing the making of the peg and timber nails, various jointing methods, and also how a cruck frame can be assembled and taken apart with ease.

The Zero Carbon House returns to Ecobuild for 2009, with updates to the original ruralZED design and a detailed case study on the performance of the very house on display at Ecobuild last February. Combining modern methods of construction with a traditional heavyweight timber frame structure to ensure fast build times and low embodied carbon, the house meets the highest levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Also on show in the new attraction Innovate Offsite will be The Eco Canopy designed by Bryden Wood and manufactured by NG Bailey. Arriving at Earls Court completely pre-fabricated, timber forms all the main structural elements, including a roof cassette structure made of a combination of glu-lam beams and steel components.

Ecobuild, the world's biggest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment will attract in excess of 30,000 visitors, and the exhibition will feature 800 suppliers of sustainable construction products and services. Over 500 of the most highly-regarded speakers will present more than 100 conference and seminar sessions.

For more information and to register for your free invitation go to www.ecobuild.co.uk

Ecobuild runs from 3 - 5 March 2009 at London's Earls Court

Ecobuild is the world's biggest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment.

Having started life in September 2004 as a small 'green building' conference at The Truman Brewery in London's Brick Lane, Ecobuild grew steadily year on year and moved - along with its sister event, Futurebuild - to London's Earls Court in 2006, where it has more than doubled in size and attendance every year since.

Ecobuild is organised by International Business Events (IBE) Limited, a small independently owned business based in London. IBE also organises the Futurebuild event which focuses on innovation in construction and takes place alongside Ecobuild every year.

Source: International Business Events
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Alastair Campbell at Ecobuild: 'We don't do green'

Alastair Campbell, New Labour's Director of Communications and Strategy until 2003, will share his views on why 'we don't do green' in the Arena at Ecobuild on 03 March 2009. In a discussion chaired by Roger Harrabin, BBC Environment Analyst, Campbell will tackle the political, behavioural and marketing obstacles to our adopting a greener way of life, and explore the strategies that might just make us 'do green' after all.

Campbell joins a raft of high-profile speakers in the Arena at Ecobuild 2009, including Michael Portillo on behavioural change as the single most important factor in reducing global carbon emissions, and Germaine Greer stirring up debate by asking 'Do eco buildings have to be ugly?'

They will join John Beddington, Bjorn Lomborg, Dan Cruickshank, Tony Juniper, Sunand Prasad and more, participating in debates, interviews and keynotes covering design, politics, science, philosophy, art and the environment. Sessions will be hosted by the best in their field, including James Naughtie, Matthew Parris, Mark Lawson and Roger Harrabin.

The Arena is part of an extensive programme of events at Ecobuild which includes more than 100 free conference and seminar sessions (including the inaugural UKGBC conference), a dozen interactive attractions and an exhibition showcase featuring 800 suppliers of sustainable construction products and services. The event will attract in excess of 30,000 visitors to Earl's Court between 03 - 05 March 2009.

For more information and to register for your free invitation go to www.ecobuild.co.uk

Ecobuild runs from 3 - 5 March 2009 at London's Earls Court

Ecobuild is the world's biggest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment.

Having started life in September 2004 as a small 'green building' conference at The Truman Brewery in London's Brick Lane, Ecobuild grew steadily year on year and moved - along with its sister event, Futurebuild - to London's Earls Court in 2006, where it has more than doubled in size and attendance every year since.

Ecobuild is organised by International Business Events (IBE) Limited, a small independently owned business based in London. IBE also organises the Futurebuild event which focuses on innovation in construction and takes place alongside Ecobuild every year.

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Key sustainable building techniques demonstrations by amazonails at Ecobuild

Strawbale building pioneers amazonails will be demonstrating some of the key techniques used in strawbale construction in February, at Ecobuild (Earl's Court, London, 26-28 February). Ecobuild is the UK 's only event dedicated to sustainable design and construction.

The basics of strawbale construction, advanced techniques developed by amazonails like ‘compressive frame’, lime and clay plastering, and low impact foundations, will be covered in half-hour demonstrations on each of the three days at 10.30 and 13.30 at Stand E667 in Earls Court Arena 1. There will be a third demonstration at 16.00 on the first day – 26 February. Strawbale buildings pioneer, amazonails director Barbara Jones, will be on hand to answer questions as well as demonstrating.

Over the past year Barbara Jones has been design consultant and supervised construction of a number of amazonails strawbale buildings, including the largest in the UK, and thought to be the largest in Europe – offices and auction room for fine art auctioneers G E Sworder and Sons of Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. This 1100 square metre, £1.2 million building is now being fitted out and the first auction is due to be held in May this year. The building incorporates a unique technique developed by amazonails, called ‘compressive frame’. The roof is supported on a timber frame while the strawbale walls are constructed, but it is then lowered onto the strawbales, which become the loadbearing structure. In this way the roof protects the strawbale walls from the weather while they are being built and plastered.

The most recent building completed by amazonails is an education and training facility for the Hackney City Farm, completed in December.