Our 4th year at Ecobuild and what a difference!
Posted: March 14, 2011 by Edwina, Category:Architects, Environment, events
I got the red eye out of Glasgow to arrive at this year’s Ecobuild exhibition a few hours out of its opening, and still feeling guilty about taking the plane instead of the train I entered the new location of ExCel right next to City airport (there really was no contest in ease of travel!). The anticipation in the air was palatable! What would this year bring? Would the move to ExCel work? Would the visitors come?
Having attended a similar show Greenbuild in Chicago in November last year for a disappointing 28,000 visitors (down from the estimated 40,000) we had no idea what to expect here…
…and WOW what a difference – in all honesty last year’s Ecobuild had felt stale and just a bit depressing, even with the 41,000 visitors – exactly like the market in general. But this year spring was in the air and optimism abounded.
Ecobuild has finally arrived – It has been called “the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment and the UK’s largest construction event of any kind” for a while now. However, this year it well and truly lived up to that expectation. Plus, the international element was noticeably out in force with visitors and exhibitors from all over Europe and the rest of the world (maybe the close proximity to an international airport helped…).
In addition, the demise of Interbuild aka BEST was announced just prior to the show (for all you non-UK readers this was the UK construction industry’s behemoth show for many years). The obvious conclusion being that our construction industry is all about sustainability now – it’s the norm! An interesting problem for Ecobuild going forward will be how it keeps this specialisation and sustainable building innovation at the core of the show, while embracing the great news that the industry has well and truly changed its outlook over the last 5 years. Back then the show only had 500 visitors, this year an estimated 50,000 came through the doors!
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), I was stuck on our stand for most of the show helping to speak to all you lovely performance analysis enthusiasts, and consequently I didn’t make it too much of the show, let alone any of the seminars. My lifesaver was @PazzaArchitect who did a sterling job of keeping the #Ecobuild twitterarti up to date with live session tweeting. Plus GAB (Green Architecture & Building) Report has undertaken a fantastic report of the show floor. Check out all tweets with the #Ecobuild hastag for a review of the show and loads of funny pics ranging from the Dulux Dog to the Mr S&G Superhero at WhatTheHastag.
So what did we get up to then? Interest from the non-converted IESVEers was definitely up, especially in the architect arena with many seeking us out from among the 1,300 exhibitors. And for them we were offering a 2 for 1 special offer on our newly revamped VE-Gaia tool. If you’ve ever wanted to incorporate sustainable performance analysis into your design process right from the beginning this is the tool for you. Climate, LZCT, Energy, Daylight and much more…
Then on the UK Building Regulations side we launched our unique new guided VE-Navigator for UK Compliance 2010 for new-build compliance and EPC creation. Visitors were able to discover the time saving, facilitation and QA functionality it offers at live demos on stand. Plus, three new software packs from as little as £320 per quarter we launched to offer our customers a range of flexible DSM/SBEM & EPC solutions.
Our very own David McEwan was recorded talking about our presence at the show and plans over the coming year – listen to it here on Audioboo.
Then our very own IES Faculty educational series of free events was launched which will cover a wide range of performance analysis topics – book now if you want to attend places are filling up fast!! The first session is a Modelling Masterclass scheduled for the 21st March in London.
Plus Richard Qunicey of IES and Tristan Kershaw from the University of Exeter’s Centre for Energy and the Environment presented at the UKGBC Big Tent on the village Green on ‘Is Adaptation our industry blind spot?’ Can climate data help buildings cope over the long term? The Prometheus research project was covered to analyze how weather data lets you assess a building’s ability to adapt to climate change.
Phew what a busy week!! Finally thanks you to all for your interest, enthusiasm, wit and inquisitive nature. See you there next year!!
Tags:Architects, Building, education, Greenbuild, IES, software, Sustainability, VE-Gaia
