The Ecobuild fringe – new for 2010 – brings together a variety of events from exhibitors, supporters and partners, all taking place during Ecobuild.

BioRegional’s series of workshops for Ecobuild is designed to be practical, fun and interactive – offering some real and practical solutions to issues that can prevent developments becoming more sustainable.

Forest products offer a great potential to ease our transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy, namely because of their carbon sequestration properties. Healthy growing forests not only naturally recycle carbon; they provide products that meet society's demand for timber, fibre and energy.

Building housing without consideration of the landscape setting will not produce the sustainable communities of the future, argues the Landscape Institute in its new publication launched at Ecobuild on 03 March.

This workshop will be based on Canada's EQuilibrium program which seeks to emulate some of the work going on at the BRE Innovation Park and looks for low/zero-carbon solutions to housing.  The program continues the work started by the likes of Super E and Passivhaus.  

Much has been written and conjectured about delivering a truly sustainable m&e project, but this workshop from M&E Sustainability will help you to understand how to do it in reality. 

M&E Sustainability is a joint venture between the Electrical Contractors’ Association  - ECA - and the Heating and Ventilating Contractors’ Association – HVCA – and promotes an holistic approach to satisfying clients' growing needs for sustainable building services solutions. 

Buildings made substantially from renewable materials help to achieve more sustainable construction. However, sustainable buildings must also be better buildings. This implies higher quality buildings which are more efficient, more durable, and healthier, whilst remaining practical and affordable.

The most pressing issues for specifiers and users of Offsite construction techniques often relate to their integration with one another or with traditional build elements.

Mtech Consult is hosting a workshop programme which links to its ‘Innovate Offsite’ feature at Ecobuild 2010 ... a real building, constructed in the exhibition hall, using real Offsite technologies, with real interfaces, by real workers.

Building design legislation and guidance are moving towards requirements for lower energy design, better fabric performance and lower levels of air-permeability. These requirements start to significantly impact on the issues of ventilation and indoor air quality.

With so many variables involved, how can we benchmark any masterplan and judge their impact on the many different elements that contribute towards a truly sustainable development? Hilson Moran’s workshop explains how the the Sustainable Built Environment Tool (SuBET),  can be used to provide the highest level of analysis into the multiple impacts of masterplanning design.

We invite you to join us for two events at Ecobuild, where in the morning we will link up with The Academy’s Great Places for 2010 to identify the lessons learned and how these can be successfully transferred. In the afternoon, Localism: Reality or Rhetoric - Who cares? will bring together an exciting and highly-regarded panel of panellists to stimulate your thoughts and engage you in debate on the theme of localism and whether, and in what form, this much vaunted topic can either help or hinder the delivery of great places and vibrant communities.

EuroCode 5 will be the design standard for timber structures from 2010. It fundamentally changes the way in which timber buildings will be designed and constructed. This could have major implications for the supply chain that will need to make sure it is stocking and ordering the range of products that will be needed once the standard gains traction.

The biggest opportunity to address the UK's environmental impact lies in the better management and improvement of existing building stock. BREEAM In-Use is the new tool that helps building and facilities managers improve environmental performance and reduce running costs.

Tackling change is one of the biggest challenges faced by any business.  People issues (knowledge, skills, competence) are fundamental to the change process. The construction industry, like other sectors, relies on the successful integration of people, products and processes. Changing products, processes and building performance standards will definitely require new knowledge and some new skills. To be successful it will involve change for the majority of us – some may require wholesale changes and for others it may simply require incremental changes.

Environmental claims are easy to make but hard to substantiate. This workshop will demonstrate the new Green Book Live (www.greenbooklive.com), the tool for specifiers and clients that provides information on built environment products and services which have genuine third party environmental certification and are subject to a rigorous approval process.

Since the development of the Passivhaus standard in Darmstadt, Germany at the beginning of the 1990s, approximately 15,000 Passivhaus buildings have been completed in mainland Europe and the rest of the world. It was however only at the beginning of 2009 that the UK saw the completion of the first two accredited Passivhaus buildings. Both of these are in Machynlleth, Wales.

Refurbishing existing buildings makes sense environmentally, but the business case for refurbishment needs to be understood in order to encourage clients and developers to reconsider their approach.

Each year 500,000 tonnes of carpet waste is buried in UK landfills. Increasingly businesses, householders and local authorities are looking for better alternatives but new technologies and markets for carpet recyclate are needed to ensure that this growing demand for carpet recycling services can be met. Carpets are made from natural and synthetic fibres, which still have a value once the carpet is no longer wanted; they can be used in a wide range of applications from sports surfaces to insulation.

How do you design and build against flooding? On 2 March 2010, a series of lively presentations and discussions on present and future solutions for flood-risk area development will be given by leading British and Dutch government organisations, engineers and architects, including the Environment Agency, Homes and Communities Agency (former English Partnerships), Royal Haskoning and Baca Architects

A workshop to help specifiers optimise the in-use and embodied performance of concrete and masonry. Guidance will be provided on key changes to Part L of the Building Regulations and the full introduction of thermal mass into SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure for dwellings).

Infrastructure is key to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the UK. We face a climate change future which will have potentially significant impacts for construction not just in terms of what and how we build, but also in terms of risk and value in use.

There is widespread acceptance that energy efficiency must play a proportionate part in the delivery of zero carbon homes. This workshop introduces the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard, the foundation of the Zero Carbon hierarchy, and outlines current improvements in building techniques, tools and processes to achieve energy saving targets.

BRE are delighted to introduce the BRE Futures Lecture, Retrofitting the Future, to Ecobuild 2010.  Dr. Peter Bonfield, CEO BRE, will deliver a BRE vision of a built environment where existing homes and buildings have been given a radical makover to meet the low carbon agenda between now and 2050.

The Lecture will take place in the Ecobuild Arena in Earls Court 2 on Wednesday 03 March at 6pm.  This will then be followed by the BREEAM Awards 2009.

Places are on a first come first serve basis.

CEEQUAL promotes improved sustainability in project specification, design and construction and demonstrates the commitment of the civil engineering industry to environmental quality and social performance.