Every Ecobuild brings new initiatives and 2010 is no exception with a whole host of special events planned already. Remember to check back regularly to see what’s new!

The Ecobuild Fringe programme – new for 2010 – brings together a variety of events from exhibitors, supporters and partners, all taking place in or around Earls Court during Ecobuild.

BRE Global will be presenting the BREEAM Awards in the Arena on Wednesday 03 March.

 The BREEAM Awards recognise and reward those involved in the design and construction of the highest scoring buildings certified under BREEAM. A BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating is a pre-qualification, which ensures that winners truly represent exemplary sustainable design and construction. Each development will have been independently assessed and certified, and in order to win an award, each building must have excelled in every environmental category – from energy to ecology - and represent an holistic approach to delivering environmental sustainability. Awards will be presented to the top rated buildings in the UK, together with a number of special awards in an international category.

shortlist announced

Solar Hub is well-timed to help visitors understand the implications of the Government’s clean energy cashback scheme planned for April.  Using a model city as a backdrop, Solarcentury will demonstrate the ease with which solar solutions can be integrated into the built environment and showcase the very latest in solar PV and solar-thermal technologies. Plus daily workshops and demonstrations.

Bill Dunster’s RuralZED, the providers of the first ever Level 6 certified, zero carbon house - launched at Ecobuild 2008 - are offering a ‘design while you wait’ real time design and business planning service for plotholders.  It’s applicable to all kinds of landowners and developers - social housing providers can assess the viability of a brownfield site, regeneration communities will be able to turn up and plan their street, landowners will be able to produce a business plan for their plot - and demystifies the process of delivering Code 6, demonstrating its viability even in a recession.

Over 10 million homes in the UK are classed as ‘hard to treat’ and for many that’s because they have solid walls (most likely built before 1930).  Solid walls provide poor heat insulation. It is estimated that if everyone insulated their solid walls, it would save a massive 16 million tonnes of CO2 - equivalent to the emissions of 2.7 million homes for a year. 

Renew is a series of live demonstrations of internal and external solid wall insulation systems and techniques by Knauf Insulation and Alumasc Exterior Building Products.

       daily demonstrations

      11.00 – 11.30    external wall insulation
      12.00 – 12.30    internal wall insulation
      13.00 – 13.30    external wall insulation
      14.00 – 14.30    internal wall insulation
      15.00 – 15.30    external wall insulation
      16.00 – 16.30    internal wall insulation *
      17.00 – 17.30    external wall insulation *

      * Tuesday 02 & Wednesday 03 March only

The University of Nottingham’s Department of the Built Environment (SBE) has teamed up with leading international construction materials company Saint-Gobain to create an energy efficient, zero carbon solar powered home which will be one of the key attractions at this year’s Ecobuild.

The Nottingham HOUSE (Home Optimising the Use of Solar Energy) has been designed and built by a team of students from the SBE as part of their entry into the first International Solar Decathlon Europe competition to design, build and operate Europe’s most attractive, effective and energy efficient zero carbon solar powered house.  The finished house will make its debut at Ecobuild en route to the final, which takes place in Madrid in June 2010.

Experts in providing training in low-impact building methods and natural materials, RESET and Amazonails will be collaborating to provide a series of rammed earth and strawbale workshops, taking place daily on the exhibition floor.

As well as hands-on, practical demonstrations of straw bale wall construction, clay plastering and lime rendering, workshops will consider habitat design approaches, green infrastructure and climate change adaptation, SUDS and ecosystem services.

Innovate offsite from Mtech Consult and Galliford Try will showcase the very best in offsite construction, bringing together a broad range of systems to demonstrate the benefits of using offsite products and techniques for complex and challenging projects as well as more straightforward builds.

Hundreds of new products will be launched at Ecobuild, from the latest in micro-renewable technology and insulation materials, to recycled products and ingenious coatings. 

Eco Modular Living Limited will be launching its new three bedroom Eco Modular home for the affordable housing sector at Ecobuild 2010.   

The basis of this new innovative housing system is a series of highly insulated, high strength, corrosion resistant, steel manufactured containerised modules which are fully fitted-out and finished off site, and delivered and secured onto to screw pile foundations with geo-thermal heating and ‘plug into’ external services.  Modules are fully tested, certified and approved and can be terraced, semi detached or detached.  The home uses an air source heat pump with combined ventilation, and PV panels to meet the requirements of CSH level 4 but additional technologies, including solar thermal panels, ground source heat pumps, green roofs and rainwater harvesting systems can be integrated to exceed this standard or to meet specific site/planning requirements.  Modules are fully tested, certified and approved and can be terraced, semi detached or detached.

The Eco Home meets the requirements for code level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, British Building Regulations and all relevant British Standards, complies with Lifetime Homes standards, and exceeds the housing space standards for most local authorities.  The Eco Modular Home can also be configured to form apartment blocks and hotels.

Senior Architectural Systems and ModCell have teamed up to offer a carbon negative approach to the future needs of our educational buildings in the form of a classroom for some of Ecobuild’s seminars this year. This innovative approach locks away more carbon than it produces during the construction cycle, using a lime rendered, straw bale construction within a structural timber frame, and a locally sourced timber aluminium high performance window and door system.

The finalists of the annual British Home Awards will be announced at Ecobuild and their entries showcased in a series of presentations.