Ecobuild – the blog

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Overview of Ecobuild

Before going to ExCel, the Ecobuild website was great for deciding what to see but on arrival the exhibition was a touch overwhelming! There were huge numbers of solar pv stalls & rather too many ‘big boys’ who had tagged green credentials onto ‘business as usual’. Some of the talks which sounded fascinating turned out to be slightly dull & I’m sure the ones I missed were wonderful! You can now download many of the presentations. Highlights of the 3 days were Baroness Susan Greenfield on ‘The age of unreason: the psychology of climate change’ and the ‘Can Science Save Us?’ lecture by Prof Brian Cox.

For me it was rather too full of massive stalls & greenwash, with the really interesting small companies huddled around the edges of the halls. Quite different to earlier years where the focus had been innovation & energy saving. I did manage to catch up with some of my favourite projects & materials, particularly Bill Dunster’s StramitZED, the enocean PV powered wireless window contact systems (potential for wireless monitoring of when blinds are up or down), some glorious green roof systems and my husband’s ‘signpost’ on the UKGBC stand for his Sustainable Housing award for the Threshold Centre, Gillingham.

UKGBC signpost

UKGBC signpost for Threshold Centre

Meeting for a catch-up with Bill Gething & Craig White again was great & I finally got to meet ECDA’s Mark Elton!  Met several new peeps previously met only through twitter, including the lovely Mel Starrs & Liz Male.

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Retrofit for the Future

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We are collaborating with Mark Elton at ECD Architects on the Retrofit for the Future project run by the Technology Strategy Board and are fitting the blinds in five properties in 2011. The blinds will be tested by the National Physics Lab in their hot-box test and the five homes will be monitored for performance by Wattbox for the Energy Saving Trust over a two year period.  Dr Steve Lo at Bath University is planning a paper with data from the tests.

NPL hot box

National Physics Lab hot-box equipment

The TSB Retrofit project includes for hot-box testing at the National Physics Lab which will give us empirical data to establish likely fuel savings and pay-back periods for the blinds. Steve Lo is working with us on a joint journal paper using these results. Initial test results can be seen here.

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Ecobuild Innovation Zone 2011

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A fantastic opportunity came our way! We have been chosen to be part of the Innovation Future Zone at Ecobuild from 1st – 3rd March 2011.  The Technology Strategy Board, Modern Built Environment Knowledge Transfer Network and EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council) are joining forces to bring their Innovation future zone competition back to Ecobuild for a second year.  The Zone will showcase shortlisted competition entries of new or near-to-market technologies relevant to the priority areas of energy efficiency, refurbishment, climate change adaptation and process efficiency, and the winning entry will be announced on the final day of Ecobuild. You can see all the entries & [could] vote HERE.

Download our Exhibition Sheet here.

So please come along to Ecobuild at Excel on London docks & search out our ‘plinth’ in the Innovation Future Zone. You can download a plan of the exhibition here. We will be on stand N421, just above entrances N1 & N2 & the Saint Gobain stand.

Innovation Future Zone at Ecobuild

Ecobuild is the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment and the UK’s largest construction event of any kind. The Thermal Blind Company will be exhibiting at stand N421. Ecobuild runs from 1-3 March 2011 in ExCel London. More information: www.ecobuild.co.uk