Ecobuild: BPTW’s top 5 picks
Guest blogger Lauren Blakey of BPTW
My first impression of Ecobuild this year was that it had grown up. Products that a couple of years ago were innovative and for only the ‘greenies’ are now developing serious credentials and fan bases in mainstream architecture.
The cradle to grave approach is being adopted by many manufacturers with an emphasis on reducing embodied energy, landfill waste and carbon emissions through transport. Suppliers are making substantial changes to the way in which they operate to reduce their environmental impact.
My mission was to bring you my top five from Ecobuild. These are useful, practical products from organisations which I feel are making a real difference.
DESSO www.desso.com
DESSO is the first carpet manufacturer in the EMEA region to adopt the Cradle to Cradle design.
DESSO SoundMaster offers improved sound reduction and acoustics
Innovative hypoallergenic carpet
WARMCEL www.excelfibre.com
WARMCEL insulation products are for use in timber frame structures.
Cellulose fibres are extracted from 100% recycled newspapers.
The embodied carbon within WARMCEL exceeds that released in the manufacture, installation and removal of the product at the end of its life.
Solarcentury www.solarcentury.co.uk
The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for renewable electricity has been announced by the UK government. From April 1, 2010, the FiT will allow home owners to receive up to 41 pence per unit of generated electricity (36.1p for new build).
The C21e solar electric tiles take the place of four conventional tiles, fixing to standard roof battens with regular screw fixings.
Solar tiles and slates are designed to fit with a range of standard roof tiles and slate tiles.
SIP ENERGY www.sip-energy.com
Structural Insulated Panels consist of an inner core (100-200mm) of high performance insulation sandwiched between two outer layers of OSB, producing a high performance fully bonded composite panel.
Can be used for interior and exterior walls as well as roof
Greater airtightness achieved
As SIP’s are pre-manufactured the typical length of time from foundation to finished SIP envelope is 6-7 days.
The Building Centre www.buildingcentre.co.uk
The Building Centre, in Central London is an independent forum dedicated to providing information and inspiration to all sectors of the built environment. Their search engine provides information and downloadable brochures on over 9,500 manufacturers and 1,400 different product categories.
BPTW specified the SolarCentury roof tiles and a similar SIPS system on our Gallon Close project which achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5 and was featured in AJ 11.02.10.
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Filed under: Sustainable products
Natural Building Technologies had half a dozen contenders for this list that were on show at Ecobuild, including Pavadentro an refurbishment internal insulation for external walls that won Sustain magazine’s Product of the Year award - announced on the evening of 2 March 2010.
Also on show was NBT’s ThermoPlan fired clay insulating building blocks - recognised by the Prince’s Foundation as being a product that could immediately have a widescale impact on reducing energy demand in homes and now specified for the for the first eight units the Prince’s Foundation project, Coed Darcy Urban Village, located near Swansea in South Wales.
http://www.natural-building.co.uk