ECOBUILD 2012 – WHAT’S HAPPENING?

It is March 2012; so the time has come again. The long awaited EcoBuild show is back!

Showcasing more ecological ideas than you can shake a stick at, the show has grown massively due to the amount of business ideas that inform and inspire us on how we can make our businesses more ecologically active. Because of this growth, together with the increased exhibitor numbers, the show now has an annual residency at London Docklands’ ExCel. Most exhibitors prefer the venue. The organisers moved from Earl’s Court to cater for the higher exhibitor numbers which almost doubled, rising from 800 in 2009 to 1500 in 2012. EcoBuild 2012 is certainly giving us a lot for us to see, do and think about. And in times when economic factors are key, the ecological agenda has never been more important. In fact, through choosing the greener more sustainable route, most businesses now realise that through implementing environmental measures and initiatives, they are able to cut their costs longer term, as well as their Carbon Footprint in doing so. No wonder the show is so popular.

WHO’S EXHIBITING AT ECOBUILD 2012 AND HOW CAN I PLAN MY DAY BEST?

For a full list of exhibitors you can locate them on the following EcoBuild 2012 website link. This is a useful tool because you can create a planner for your day, deciding in advance how many and which companies you want to see. Many visitors have reported that they are going for all three days, just so they have the time to get around and see as many exhibits and exhibitors as possible. If you are fast, you might even get to 500 a day but that might be some task you might want to divide up with colleagues! Especially now 1500 companies are there to showcase all they have to offer.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT ECOBUILD 2012?

The show will exhibit all aspects of eco living and operations; from the materials you would use to upgrade or improve your home or business, to focusing on renewable heat sources and everything in between; so there really is something somewhere in the show for everyone. Whatever it is you’re planning on doing to your home, your business or simply your lifestyle, the ecological option will be showcased here at EcoBuild, as all those concerned about the environment will be there, even EcoSwitch.

ECOSWITCH EXHIBITING AT ECOBUILD 2012 – STAND S2443

Yes!  We couldn’t miss EcoBuild this year, it’s now far too big a show to be missed and it would be a wonderful opportunity missed if anyone did. Come and see us and have a chat about how we can help. Whether it’s your home you want to power with a cleaner source of energy or other ecological options you need advice on, we can help your business achieve the eco-operational standards you want and the world needs. We are on stand S2443 so come over and see us; we would love to see you.

THE RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION HELP WITH TALKS ON BIOMASS, THE R.H.I AND F.I.T.S

Amongst the stands of products and services shall also be talks on relevant subjects, one of which will be held by our friends at the Renewable Energy Association (R.E.A). The R.E.A will have two stands, S3541 hosting their Biomass Heat Pavilion with Econergy (which we will go into more detail in a moment) and stand S3657 for talks on topics such as ‘The Renewable Heat Incentive’ or R.H.I and the ‘Feed In Tariffs’ or F.I.Ts.  These talks are of vital importance to those who run micro generators or are thinking of the same.

R.E.A’s other stand, as briefly mentioned is with Econergy; a supplier in leading biomass heating solutions. Their Managing Director also has a seat on the R.E.A’s board hence the connection. Their stand will be there to explain the benefits and the easy set up of their state of the art wood chip, pellet and log boilers so be sure to visit and to see what they can do for you to solve environmental issues further.

WHAT IS THE EXACT LOCATION OF ECOBUILD 2012?

The show is being held this month at the London ExCel Exhibition Centre on Tuesday 20 March, 10am-5pm, Wednesday 21 March 10am-6pm and Thursday 22 March, 10am-4pm. The nearest station is Custom House DLR and their address is:

ExCel
One Western Gateway
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 1XL

VISITING, TALKING OR EXHIBITING?

To visit, exhibit or just get further information visit EcoBuild’s website  at the following links:

Visiting EcoBuild 2012. Get your free day pass here.

Exhibiting at Ecobuild 2012. Simply fill in the form and someone from the EcoBuild team will be in touch.

FOLLOWING ECOBUILD?

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Posted under Eco Build, Environmental News

Ever since the official German reunification ceremony on 3rd October 1990 was held at the Reichstag building (also known as the Bundestag), its changing shape and inspired architectural engineering has entertained wide-eyed tourists and budding environmentalists from all around the globe.

A building steeped in history and a dubious past, the Reichstag came under the creative eye of England’s own architectural master mind Norman Foster – nationally renowned for design achievements such as 30 St Mary Axe, or as it is informally known, ‘The Gerkhin’. Foster won the rights for the reconstruction of the building and finished his magnificent make-over just before the dawn of a new millennium in 1999.

But it is the crowning piece of architectural mastery Foster insisted on (about half way through the original renovation plan) that take, so to speak, centre stage. The inclusion of a cupola – or dome-like structure – was added to blueprints in order to subtly echo the original 1894 design but place it in an entirely modern setting.

The dome itself is situated at the very peek of the Reichstag, and for all intensive purposes, provides three-hundred-and-sixty-degree panoramic views out onto Berlin’s cityscape. The glass work not only emphasises a looking-out to an international city, but it also purports an inward eye to peer down into the dome itself to see what is truly being housed on site.

Elegantly wrapped in glass and steel, what surrounds the central chamber of German democratic government is a number of innovative, eco-friendly designs that work together in order to move the building away from its past and towards a greener future.

Now running completely on renewable energy, the Reichstag combines water, wind and solar power, in order to make a true statement of a national commitment.

Germany is and has been over recent years one of the leading advocates for the renewable energy industry. So why would we expect anything less from a building that houses its nation’s voice and key decisions? The building can be seen as an emblem to Germany’s dedication to environmentalism in a modern age.

Take the intricate solar panelling system: utilising photovoltaic and microgeneration at each and every tasteful corner, the building also incorporates a mirror design circuit which captures the sun’s natural energy, sending it flowing through heating systems towards a porous rock foundation that sits below the building for any excess heat to be stored and used again at a later date.

It is an inspiring building. One that does not want to ignore its relationship with the past, but also one that seeks to recognise its investment in the future. The levels of transformation and conservation are wonderfully balanced to such a degree that any onlooker can take not of, as well as, pride in the sheer beauty of it.

Posted under Articles, Eco Build

The credibility of carbon free homes up and down the country has been put under national scrutiny this week as Gordon Brown’s government announced that only 24 buyers have taken advantage of a 2007 initiative put in place by the Prime Minister to instigate and attract the construction of environmentally friendly homes across the UK.

Mr Brown, in his final Budget as Chancellor, had announced that stamp duty would be scrapped on all new or developing properties worth up to £500,000 which achieve a zero carbon rating. Three years ago Mr Brown revelled in the press by concluded that the scheme would save an estimated average of £10,000 for each eco-home purchase. Deemed a key weapon in the fight against climate change, the then Chancellor set aside £15m for the tax relief.

It seems as though the now Prime Minister set himself for a great fall. Less than one carbon neutral home a month has sold since October 2007. Only a shocking 24 buyers have taken full advantage of the tax break since its initial introduction.

Grant Shapps, the shadow housing minister, had this to say: “Gordon Brown just can’t seem to stop himself from announcing grand schemes designed to do little other than grab that day’s headline.

“Rather than Ministers putting all their efforts into announcing glitzy pledges in order to grab a few column inches, it would be better for them to sit down and seriously work out ways to slash the 27 per cent of carbon emissions that emanate from Britain’s homes.”

With 2020 requisites looming, there is some weight to comments like these. However the tax break initiative found its roots in establishing and accelerating market interest for the national development eco-homes. Before October 2007, carbon neutral homes were scarcely heard of, let alone given column space in national newspapers. Despite the initiative’s serious lack of interest from a general buying market in a time of steady recession, the scheme has certainly succeeded in opening up the widening niche area of Green living.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) relief scheme was designed to “help kick-start the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes, both for the fabric of the building and in the use of micro-generation.”

Over the past three years there certainly has been a boom in micro-generational technologies, supporting grant schemes, development initiatives for connecting trades, as well as a steadily growing market for sales.

If the relief scheme can be perceived as a steamroller for what followed in terms of renewable energy development and carbon neutral design, then perhaps not all is lost.

Ms McCarthy-Fry continued: “We have always made it clear that the SDLT relief for zero carbon homes would evolve and we expect to see more of these homes built in the future.”

Despite recent press scrutiny, the Government remain committed to establishing an environmental policy that will see all new properties to be carbon-neutral by the year 2016. This would require a vast amount of new technology, which critics have already brought under financial consideration.

Further to these investigations, the eco-critics stand steadfast to the need for existing home sites to be brought into the carbon neutral generation before flagship developments go ahead.

Posted under Articles, Eco Build

In the UK, our homes produce 25% of carbon emissions and considerable resources are being directed towards establishing alternatives ways of living and building. Whether it be the creation of so-called eco-towns (which have themselves been the subject of opposition) or simply providing better insulation to our Victorian terraces, there are many ways of making improvements. The various government targets have given the building industry a number of challenges and in the current economic downturn, companies are having to balance their very survival with the aims and goals of ‘eco’ initiatives.

This week, a supplement in The Guardian, documents the struggles and the success stories of communities, councils and individuals as they aim to meet the goal of reducing their carbon footprints. One example is the Slateford Green development in Edinburgh, which has banned cars from the site and has only parking bays for residents with disabilities and visiting doctors. Despite being there for 10 years, many of the residents have struggled with this and estate agents have said it does not lift sales, but puts off potential buyers. Nationally, 71% of people drive to work everyday and 26% of households have more than 1 car, it is therefore quite a brave step to ban cars altogether. Of course without the infrastructure in place to offer alternatives means of transport, projects like Slateford Green are brave and forward thinking, but without councils connecting the dots, they are perhaps inconventiently out on a limb.

The Staiths Southbank development in Gateshead, similarly put restrictions on cars and the council was quick to act by offering a grant, as it saw the environmental benefits. And while the sales agent, Wimpey Homes, anticipated a loss of sales, buyers soon saw the advantages. This shows how we all form part of a long chain that will offer solutions to the collective problems we face. If consumers bend a little, so too will the agents, developers and councils – as a result, he futures we share may end up being brighter than forecasters suggest.

Posted under Building Services & Suppliers, Eco Build, Environmental News, House & Home

ARCHITECTURE

Browsing through the blogosphere in search for modern architecture it seems like recent years ‘major league’ architecture has been one big party of more or less complex 3D software generated shapes. Looking at these architectural icons it feels like it is safe to say that contemporary, ‘top shelf’ architecture more and more slides towards being part of Show business.
Form does not follow function, it follows whatever the architect thinks looks cool when cutting blue foam for models or is playing with his or hers 3d software. After that the function is squeezed in to fit the design and then the whole is often edited to make it look like it was the other way around. This process is nothing to be ashamed of since that is just how show business works; you get a cool idea and then you make it work and in some cases that cool idea after some refinement even turns out to be intelligent. The problem is when architects deny that they are part of show business and hopelessly tries to intellectualize their design to make it look more scientific, intellectual or in other words more ‘architectonically correct’ and therefore accepted or even hailed by the design community. If we instead accept that iconic architecture by nature is quite non-intellectual a whole new set of horizons for iconic architecture can unfold.

As already mentioned, the easiest way to accomplish iconic architecture is to buy a 3d software and then make a complex and often highly expensive shape. The problem is that every architect regarding themselves to be class A material has by now used one of these programs to either design a hovering building, a blob or a stealthy looking thing, meaning that the effect of the 3d generated design is not as entertaining as it was 15 years ago. And another factor that speaks against this sort of architecture is of course that a huge amount of teenagers can download this type software for free and then make the same design as star architects on cheap desktops. Which is lovely but perhaps slightly embarrassing for some architects and perhaps a bit similar to the my-three-year-old-could-have-painted-this kind of comment in the abstract art museum. So if CCTV (The Chinese television HQ in Beijing, not Closed Circuit TV surveillance systems) does not get burned up I think the 3d generated iconic designs has reached its climax as an entertaining form of architecture and we can all start to move forward in search for a newer approach.

With the now all too familiar financial crisis scenario and the threat of global warming the natural continuation would perhaps be a more down to earth, cost efficient and sustainable approach to architecture. But, since contemporary architecture is a part of show business it is necessary to find a new approach that is cost efficient in a non-boring way. So, in the EcoPimp Manifesto Part Two, let me introduce you to the lovely world of architectural pimping and its potential.

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Anders Berensson is the co-founder of the Swedish architecture studio Vision Division.

Visit Vision Division’s website here.

Posted under Eco Build

UNITED KINGDOM

Question: How could uninsulated and drafty brick buildings be perpetuated and made into a national style to make the British housing stock among the worst insulated in the developed world? Indeed, this is the source of some amazement as the British isles are not famed for incessant sunlight and dry winters. Scandinavians know winters are cold. In Poland houses keep the heat inside. To cut a long story short, a majority of buildings in the UK are simply not meeting the basic requirements that most countries in a similar situation actually do. This reflects on both economy and ecology on the level of the individual home. Sharp rises in energy prices have forced people to think hard about how to make some savings. The average heating bill is now £600. Granted, a row of Terraced houses is in a way the epitome of Agatha-Christie-reading-tea-and-biscuit cosiness. But one of these properties also represents around 3 metric tonnes of CO2-emissions each year, only in heating.

With all the talk of Green New Deals and financial bail-out plans containing billions ear-marked for green investment all around the world, we seem to have a case for the kind of rebooting of the housing sector that is required. Shrinking domestic heating bills is arguably one of the best ways to reduce carbon footprints and spending the fiscal stimulus on this is, at least on paper, a win-win situation. Bringing a country’s housing stock up to 21st-century standards is a hugely expensive task. And for a nation of romantic cottages, this overhaul would involve major changes to the way houses look. An early victim, single-glazed sash windows with wooden frames might be a thing of the past. Or will they? The intricacies of cost-benefit logics may play tricks on us yet. (Note: A personal nemesis of mine, all but one of the leaking sash-windows in our house has been resolutely boarded up this winter.)

Chris Goodall is a climate change columnist in the Guardian, blogger at Carbon Commentary and the author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet. From his column this Monday:

The UK needs an urgent, nationwide programme to drive down the costs and improve the standards of eco-refurbishments. The plan should be organised and run locally, with campaigns moving from street to street. As in Germany, state-owned banks should offer cheap and accessible finance for home improvements at interest rates close to zero. The banks may also need an element of outright compulsion. If householders have gone for several decades without insulating their cavity walls, even a 144-page government green paper isn’t going to persuade them to take action now.*

In the column from which the above paragraph is taken, Godall presents some of his own estimates of the cost of heat losses from a typical house, listing the source of heat loss and the yearly cost:

• Walls £264
• Windows £132
• Ventilation £132
• Roof £46
• Floor £53
• Doors £33

Godall goes on to say that even if draught and heat loss through windows and doors is ‘a good idea, the savings are relatively small and will be expensive to achieve. Buying double glazing might cost £5,000 for a house, while two external doors with really good insulation could set you back £500.’

So what will make the equation home+finance/home+environment work? A house might cut its gas bill by a third by doing one thing: insulate. Or rather make that two things: Loft and cavity wall insulation. This is a relatively high impact, low cost approach and a large detached property could, according to Godall, ‘potentially [be] recouping the cost in a year.’ Of course, this is because of the extreme expenditure would be cut down to only extraordinary.

What might be really troublesome on the other hand, once the funding and the will to get to the root of the problem have been mustered, there are the issues of heritage and aesthetics. Or perhaps the issue, Britain has a large conservationist grass-root movement that is drunk on post-card imagery and nostalgia. Godall, one last time:

The UK has large numbers of extremely poorly insulated older houses with solid walls, and the best way of insulating these properties may be to clad the external wall with a plastic cover which is then be rendered or painted. As well as being costly, this alters the external appearance of the house, and there would be enormous resistance to making our appallingly leaky Victorian brick houses look like modern Dutch apartment blocks. Unfortunately, a real war on carbon emissions requires us to make unpopular choices like this.*

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* Article ‘Deep domestic cuts are needed to bring our housing footprint down’ by Chris Godall in The Guardian on the 9th of March 2009, read it here.

Posted under Climate, Eco Build, Environmental News, House & Home

UNITED KINGDOM

Between Tuesday the 3rd and Thursday the 5th of March, Earl’s court in London will be host to what has become one of the most important arenas for the section of the building trade that aims for a better future. In September 2004, a small ‘green building’ conference alongside another event grew into Ecobuild. The fifth edition will attract more than 30,000 visitors who are offered more than 100 seminar and conference sessions. It has developed a strong following, amongst pioneering architects and designers as well becoming the hub of a community of suppliers of innovative sustainable construction products. The organisers claim it to be ‘the biggest and best showcase of sustainable construction products anywhere.’ On top of that, more than 100 free conference and seminar sessions makes for a healthy discussion where the public, professionals, academics and officials meet around what is arguably one of the single-most important sector’s of human activity when it comes to our environmental impact.

Ecobuild 2009 will take place against a backdrop of defeatism, and a construction industry in shambles will try hard to have anything upbeat to put on display. Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council answers that this way.

Even in tough times -and perhaps particularly in tough times- customers will demand more in terms of efficiency, quality and productivity. A built environment that is sustainable -economically, socially and environmentally- is the only one worth investing in now.

It goes without saying. But it seems, as things stand, that it needs to be repeated over and over again. The dissemination of information can in itself be an eco-activity and events like Ecobuild are helpful in that they provide arenas for the public, authorities and business to meet and learn. And pick up some promotional pens and key-rings. And eat candy. Nonetheless, chances are that visitors will leave the fair richer not only in logotyped gifts but in both knowledge and optimism as well. The built environment and housing is under fire, more or less correctly if a bit simplified, for being a major culprit in our deep carbon footprint but also for having plunged the world into recession -with housing speculation and sub prime mortgages triggering the financial nightmare. Therefore, seeing the developments of a building industry that aims for a lower impact will probably be a source of hope.

Visiting Ecobuild and all its attractions, seminars and conference sessions and most related events, is free of charge. With over 800 exhibitors showcasing everything from building structures to SUDS, micro-renewables to natural materials, and insulation to living roofs, there is going to be a lot to do. For example, last years introduction of ZAPfactory’s Zero carbon house* -which was built on site at the fair– will be followed up with another crowd-pleasing display. The most popular new initiative in 2008 was the Arena. This year it promises to be even more inspiring and entertaining; an eclectic mix of debates, interviews and keynotes that view the built environment from a series of different perspectives – politics, art, science, philosophy and more.

Three members of the EcoSwitch team are going to assist what is claimed to be ‘the world’s largest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment.’

For more information on Ecobuild 2009, click here for the official website.

* Read more on ZAPfactory here.

Posted under Eco Build, Environmental News, Events

OPEN DESIGN COMPETITION LAUNCHED

Among other things, Urban Re: Vision organises competitions to find answers to pressing problems in the urban habitat. The intention with Re:Vision Dallas is ambitious to say the least -to make a serious case for a remake of the heartland of unsustainability and, more importantly, show how it can be done. The slogan goes ‘The future of cities starts now… one block at a time. It is a good slogan. Only there are so many blocks to do… Here is what Re: Vision is trying to do, a mission statement if you will:

Re:Vision is a revolutionary initiative to create the prototype for an innovative, sustainable urban community. At the heart of the process is a series of contests generating visionary ideas for what can and should be in the design about urban space.*

As far as competition can be revolutionary, they are dependent on how far the implementation goes. From the Re:Vision Dallas website, some tentative questions about what it could generate:

Our 6th competition in a series, Re:Vision DALLAS is an opportunity to create new site-specific designs that will transform an existing city block in Dallas into a model of sustainable practices. How will it change the landscape of the city, the region, and other urban settings around the country or the world? We invite you to be part of this ground-breaking effort and help lay the foundation for sustainable urban design.**

Architecture for Humanity’s founder Caeron Sinclair will be one of the competition judges. This in itself is a reassuring fact; Sinclair could function as a template for passionate integrity. His initiative, Open Architecture Network, is hosting another competion on the subject, the classroom of tomorrow [read about it here].

In December I wrote an article on a Texan utilities company’s approach to greenwashing under the heading Texas USA… What Shall We Do With It? [Read it here]. Well, Urban Re:Vision, in getting the city in on it, has made a powerful statement; Dallas actually wants to see this happen. Hats off to the hands-on approach, Re:Vision.

For everyone out there with a passion for designing tomorrow and the talent to go through with it, here are some dates for your calendar:

• Competition Launch: January 26, 2009
• Registration Deadline: April 15, 2009
• Entry Deadline: Midday April 30, 2009
• Jury Session: May 2009
• Winning Designs Announced: May 21, 2009

So designers, get to it. And the cheerleaders sing: ‘Go Texas, Go Texas…’

* From the Urban Re:Vision website/blog, see it here.

** See the Re: Vision DALLAS here.

Posted under Eco Build, Environmental News

On Hemp as a Natural Building Material

By Matt Muldoon

Hemp is an incredibly versatile construction material. A non-psychoactive member of the cannabis family, it has been cultivated around the world for at least 10,000 years. It grows voraciously, and requires no herbicides and little or no pesticides. The fibres of the plant have long been used for rope, textiles and paper, but now are also used for insulation, hempcrete, board and even roofing tiles.

Hempcrete is an exciting material that can be used as an alternative to concrete and a lot more besides. The fibres of the plant are mixed with lime to create a substance which hardens like concrete. Unlike concrete however, it is a good insulator and also breathable and very lightweight (500kg/m3). This means it can be used for walling, either cast around a wooden frame or in hempcrete blocks. It can also be used for floors, roofs and foundations.

A hempcrete building offers a healthy, pleasant environment. The hempcrete itself insulates effectively (if you’re interested: u-value for 300mm hempcrete = 0.25W/m2K.); and, as a breathable material it regulates humidity levels well, avoiding dampness and condensation problems. Since it is breathable, hempcrete would normally be finished with a lime render/plaster.

As an eco-material, hempcrete’s credentials are rock-solid, sequestering around 110kg of CO2 per m3. Hemp is a crop which can be cultivated throughout much of the habitable world, and lime production requires 80% less energy than cement production.

Hemp fibres can be used as insulation, offering a natural alternative to synthetic materials with a high embodied energy. And the fibres can also be sandwiched to make an alternative to fibreboard or wallboard.

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By Matt Muldoon of the Natural Building Company

On NBM – Introduction here

On Earth as a NBM here

On Straw as a NBM here

On Lime as a NBM here

On Turf as a NBM here

To check Matt Muldoon and his company out, click here.

Read our article on him and TNBC here.

Posted under Building Services & Suppliers, Eco Build, House & Home

OPEN DESIGN COMPETITION LAUNCHED

Architecture for Humanity’s 2009 Open Architecture Challenge is launched today, January 28th. Each year, the design competition brings public attention to inequities in the built environment affecting the health, prosperity and well being of under-served communities.

This edition of the Open Architecture Challenge invites teachers, students and design professionals to work together to design the classroom of the future for their school. The theme is not taken out of the blue:

According to the World Bank, putting all children worldwide in school by 2015 will require the construction of ten million new classrooms spread over 100 countries. At the same time, millions of existing classrooms are in serious need of repair and refurbishment and will need to be upgraded. Meeting this need for learning spaces over the course of the coming decade will constitute, collectively, the biggest building project the world has ever undertaken.*

Intended to draw on a vast network of designers from all over the globe to come up with suggestions for the educational setting of tomorrow, it is an opportunity for schools and students to help create a safer, healthier and more sustainable learning environment together with design professionals. In addition to the possibility to win up to $50,000 to build or upgrade a classroom in their school, it is also a great way to learn about the role of design and the built environment when working towards sustainability -a natural cornerstone of Architecture for Humanity.

To get involved, teachers and students can team up with a local architect, builder, designer or architecture student and enter together; a school can participate with any number of teams and designs. The competition is open to anyone and the registration deadline is May 1st while the design proposals must be submitted by the 1st of June this year. Finalists will be presented on July 5th and the winners will be announced during the fall.

By participating as members of a levelled group, where their voices and opinions will carry weight as experts on their everyday reality, the students could make an impact beyond their classroom by reinventing the classroom.

Previous competitions have brought everything from Media Labs

The real challenge behind of Architecture for Humanity is this: How do you improve the living standards of five billion people? The founder Cameron Sinclair’s answer: With 100 million solutions.

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* From the Open Architecture Challenge Website, see it here.

To learn more about Open Architecture Network, click here.

For more about Architecture for Humanity, click here.

Leif Ahnland

Posted under Eco Build, Environmental News