Over 41,000 visit Ecobuild 2010
Over 41,000 visitors descended on Ecobuild this year- an increase in attendance of nearly 20% compared with the 2009 event- making Ecobuild 2010 the biggest one yet.
The exhibition floor lived up to its promise as the biggest showcase of sustainable construction products in the world, featuring more than 1,000 suppliers and an almost inexhaustible list of new and innovative products. All the instantly recognisable names such as Finnforest, Sanyo, Crown Paints, Kingspan, Baxi, Rockwool, EDF Energy, Interface, Jewson, Twyfords and Wienerberger were there but Ecobuild also provides a platform for small start-up businesses too and up and coming sustainable construction products.
Amongst the most prominent launches announced at Ecobuild 2010 was the Nottingham HOUSE (Home Optimising the Use of Solar Energy), a two-storey, energy efficient, solar powered home, and the fruition of Saint-Gobain’s collaboration with Nottingham University for the Solar Decathlon Europe competition.
Eco Modular Living’s new three bedroom Eco Modular home for the social housing sector also generated huge interest, whilst the SAS Modcell classroom – built using a lime rendered, straw bale construction within a structural timber frame and a locally sourced timber aluminium high performance window and door system – provided a fittingly zero carbon venue for several of Ecobuild’s fringe events.
One of the most eye-catching displays was Cityscape, an 8 metre high cube of green walls, designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, Patrick Collins, which highlighted the positive impact of green infrastructure projects.
Another popular new initiative, Ecobuild Installer, teamed a series of more than 90 training sessions, with hands-on demonstrations of the installation of a range of renewable energy systems, from solar panels to heat pumps, helping to bridge the gap between specification and implementation of microgeneration technologies.
Bill Dunster’s Zedfactory team were inundated with candidates for their free ‘zero carbon design while you wait’ consultation service which equipped plot owners and developers with not only an outline design for a zero carbon development, but a business plan and an valuation of the completed project too, the object of which was to demonstrate that zero carbon construction is viable, and profitable, even in a recession.
Ecobuild’s conference and seminar programme gave visitors the choice of more than 100 free sessions and read like a ‘who’s who?’ of the most interesting and influential individuals from across the sector and beyond.
Sunand Prasad, Partner, Penoyre & Prasad, and former President RIBA, Joan Ruddock MP, Minister of State, Department of Energy & Climate Change, Sir Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, non-executive Director, Willmott Dixon and former Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, Tony Juniper, former director of Friends of the Earth, environmental campaigner and the Green Party’s general election candidate for Cambridge, David Blunkett MP, former Secretary of State for Education & Employment, and former Home Secretary, political presenter and journalist, Andrew Neil, Sir Terry Farrell, Professor Dr. Michael Braungart, Founder & Scientific Director EPEA International, Jonathan Glancey, Architecture & Design Correspondent of The Guardian were just some of the names.
Reflecting on this year’s Ecobuild, event director Moira Edwards said: “We’re delighted that Ecobuild continues to grow in its appeal to the design and construction community. We work hard to deliver a rich and rewarding proposition – over 100 free conference and seminar sessions, dozens of attractions and special events, and of course the Ecobuild exhibition with over 1,000 exhibitors this year – so to see that taken up so enthusiastically is very heartening, particularly given the tough economic conditions.”
Ecobuild 2011 will be held on 1 –3 March at its new home, London’s ExCeL exhibition and conference centre.
