Futurebuild Inspiration
In our drive to design highly sustainable low energy buildings, we are always on the lookout for new ideas and building materials, so we were delighted with the theme of this year’s futurebuild exhibition, which was all about taking a stand for a better built environment.
Our team visited the exhibition at Excel and picked up sone interesting innovations and opportunities for current and future projects.
Here’s a couple of products that stood out:
IndiTherm
Flexible thermal insulation made from hemp of all materials.
The manufacturer promotes IndiTherm as healthy for installers and offers very large carbon savings, with net negative embodied carbon. “Building occupants will benefit from the exceptional thermal and moisture buffering properties with the product having the added property of low-density heat storage, which means indoor temperatures stay warm in winter and cool in summer.”
Other hemp-based products we like were from Hempcrete with their “bio-based sustainable construction materials” range. We particularly liked the look of the hempcrete blocks.
QUBE Bio-SIP
These are SIPS panels made from 100% recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) as the raw material base. The manufacturer promotes this product as extremely lightweight, which is true as we picked them up, and that they deliver superior thermal performance and significant CO2 emission savings across its life span.
This product is not rated for residential use yet, but it looks like there’s a real future for this in construction projects.
Invisible Solar Roof Tiles from TBS
Okay, hands up, we’re guilty of not getting a photo of this product. However, there are plenty on their website here. There’s a really interesting video here starring Robert Llewelyn of Red Dwarf and Robot Wars fame.
Essentially, these are solar panels that look like roof tiles rather than the large glass panel PVs you often see bolted onto a roof. This product is very aesthetically pleasing and would work well in multiple settings, including heritage assets.
Zed Power
The installation from ZedPower showing prefabricated off-grid homes was interesting. It’s surprising what can be squeezed into such a small footprint, although personally, we felt it was quite a claustrophobic experience in the pod on display. Nonetheless, interesting to see what can be achieved in small spaces.
We also enjoyed listening to the debate around whether planners should presume in favour of retrofit for whole-life carbon and cultural factors. It seems the conclusion of the debate is that planners should presume in favour of retrofit rather than demolishing and building new stock.
Two points that stood out here:
80% of the building stock we’ll have in 2050 already exists, so retrofit is not really an option
A simple adjustment to the VAT policy that levels the playing field between new build and retrofit would go an enormous way to enhancing the performance of existing buildings.
Overall, we enjoyed our visit to future build. Lots to learn and plenty of interesting talks. We’ll be back next year.
