The big news about Ecobuild this year happened weeks before it opened its doors for the 2017 event.
Show owner UBM announced its sale – TTJ understands for a nominal sum – to show management. Ecobuild brand manager Martin Hurn heads new owner Futurebuild Events Ltd and said the event would return to its eco roots, putting the spotlight on “true innovation”.
UBM had bought Ecobuild at its peak for an eyebrow-raising fee of about £51m, with a vision to take it global. The subsequent shrinking size of the event was probably not what it had in mind. This year about 420 exhibitors were listed at the event and more than 20,000 visitors attended.
“A lot has changed in the 14 years since Ecobuild began, so it’s important that we maintain a strong focus on updating and refreshing the agenda to meet the latest industry priorities, challenges and developments,” said Mr Hurn.
The show took on an immersive cityscape format to reflect the show’s overarching theme of regeneration, with series of ‘districts’ – each with dedicated seminar programmes – covering key topics, including green infrastructure, offsite construction and the circular economy. Conference speakers included Tony Pidgley, chairman of Berkley Homes; Ben Derbyshire, RIBA President-Elect and Jules Pipe, deputy mayor of planning, regeneration and skills at Greater London Authority.
Mr Pidgley called for government to slash more red tape to avoid clogging up the planning system, while Mr Derbyshire pledged his support in created a building programme that would create 70,000 new homes be constructed in the outer suburbs of London. The subject of Brexit was never far away in the debates.
Timber sector exhibitors
Timber industry exhibitors included Timber Neutral, which attended to promote its carbon-offsetting service.
The business is run by Jonathon Kitzen and Matthew Roberts, the latter of whom also runs Leicestershire-based high-end timber flooring and staircase supplier Timber Natural.
He said the ethos of Ecobuild fitted well with Timber Neutral’s services.
“Housebuilders want to be timber neutral,” said Mr Roberts, who also revealed that the company has had meetings with B&Q. Timber Neutral calculates the amount of wood required for construction of a building or manufacture of a product. The quantity of felled trees is then determined, factoring-in manufacturing techniques and known tree species for the region.
It then replants trees to match the usage in an audited reforestation programme,
including threatened and endangered species. Sustainability was also a part of Medite SmartPly’s message on an impressive and large stand which marked the launch of its myth-busting “Wake up and smell the coffee” project.
Taking a nod from the US president’s use of “alternative facts”, the company boldly declared that “in a world of ‘alternative facts’, where can you turn for the right answer?” “We want to educate customers, and the industry, on the advantages of timber with zero added formaldehyde, flame retardant timber, and sustainability,” said Stuart Devoil, head of marketing and brand at Medite SmartPly.
“We will be looking to eliminate any rumours and uncertainties around these issues and report on the facts and figures with examples from our own expertise.” The message obviously got through as the stand won a prize in Ecobuild’s Sustainable Stand Awards.
Products on stand included SmartPly Propassiv – a structural OSB panel with integrated vapour control and air barrier, as well as SmartPly FR.
It partnered with Goldfinger Factory – a social enterprise that creates high-end furniture out of waste timber material – to create furniture on the stand using the company’s products.
The Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI) had a strong stand representation (see page 47), with representatives from the Timber Trade Federation, British Woodworking Federation and Builders Merchants Federation joining with Wood for Good to present a united industry front. Next to the CTI, TRADA had its ask the expert facility for visitors to ask any timber related questions, while its publications shop included the launch of the TRADA Timber 2017 Industry Yearbook and a draft copy of the National Structural Timber Specification 2.0.
TRADA’s Student Design Competition – dubbed CO2nnect – challenged students to think about the wider issues surrounding carbon sequestration and the possibility of re-using timber modular buildings.
“We had a very successful show,” said Rupert Scott, TRADA’s membership and marketing manager.
“Whilst the overall size was clearly reduced it resulted in the stand being very busy compared to previous years. The mix of people visiting was good and in line with previous years.”
He said the show returning to its eco roots was “the right way forward”.
Other timber sector exhibitors included Dovetail Timber Frame, Portuguese woodworking giant J&J Teixeira, which produces doors, kitchens, floors and wood windows, as well as French sawmiller Piveteau Bois. Weinmann timber frame production machinery was also demonstrated.
The Explore Offsite section at Ecobuild covered volumteric, structural timber, hybrid construction, concrete and light gauge steel frame. Timber building systems providers delivering talks in the masterclasses included Wiehag, KLH UK, Stewart Milne Timber Systems, Valu-U-Therm, B&K Structures and Innovare Systems.
