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GBE Newsletter No 1 October 2015
October saw the first outing of UK Construction Week 2015 @UK_CW at NEC Birmingham.
- 9 shows in 1 was a great development on the 2014 Build Show ambitions.
- A one day overlap with Grand Design Live enriched the visitor profile as did the trade appentices on day 3.
- It looks like we now have two annual shows, six months apart UKCW & EcoBuild.
- Will we see more differentiation between them?
- Mixed reviews: not enough foot-fall for some, plenty for others, but some good enquiries.
- It felt like the child of Interbuild and half filled that chasm with very diverse content; a great first showing.
Green Building Encyclopaedia (GBE) @GBEGreenBuild were there on reconnaissance
- BrianSpecMan attended all 3 days, collected 87 business cards and interrogated many manufacturers and suppliers.
- Starting point and focus was Timber Expo, that felt more eco then EcoBuild.
- BrianSpecMan is writing up what he found interesting on GBE and shortlists 10 below and more in next eNewsletter.
- He spent his time presenting GBE to problem solving manufacturers
- They will be encouraged to join the GBE Solution Providers as soon as possible.
- An overwhelmingly positive response from manufacturers and suppliers to @GBEGreenBuild.
- These ambitions remain much the same:
- Green Building Encyclopaedia to reeducate the industry and
- GBE 2D or 3D View to interrogate the Encyclopaedia.
10 things BrianSpecMan interrogated, liked and shortlisted at UK Construction Week
- in no particular order.
- a diverse mix of things (even more diverse in following eNewsletters).
- and more images and links will be added in the on-line version of this newsletter.
1 Seconds & Co.
- All production runs have imperfect starts and stops with occasional blemishes mid flow; all of which are not of ‘merchantable quality’ and would be rejected on site.
- They would be sent to landfill or better still sold as seconds; this company collects them from manufacturers and sells them to small and self-builders.
- Self-builders will take the time to cut out the odd bits, make the installation pristine and ‘fit for purpose’.
- They offer UK mainland delivery within 5-6 working days and savings between 10 and 50%, not to be scoffed at.
- And they do sell insulating materials other than foamed plastics (So you can choose the right material for the application)
- A new player to be added to GBE Resource Map when GBE gets there.
2 Sym-Wall Modular Panel Technology
- Fibre-reinforced water-resistant precast gypsum sections, demonstrated here as an internal partition system; but with many other potential applications.
- I had a long discussion with its inventor about its recipe, properties and potential problem-solving applications.
- I fancy there are some modifications in the recipe to be had to reduce its impact and increase versatility.
- Looking forward to more discussions and interesting products arriving in the market.
3 TRADA National Student Design Competition AIRSPEED Yorkshire Air Museum Hanger and Gateway.
- Brief.
- Video: Winners and Solutions.
- I declare an interest in this, Andreas Christodoulou is one of the students on the Environment & Resource Efficiency module I run at London South Bank University.
- I cannot claim any influence over the design but his response to the ‘site analysis > briefing > building use > servicing requirement > design > structure > construction > materials > waste’ submission scored well along the way.
- Joint 1st. prize, congratulations Andreas.
- Congratulations all the other teams, Yorkshire Air Museum and TRADA.
4 Joyner Bolt the revolutionary spiked timber fixing
- Its inventor designed and overcame the limitations of coach-bolts, threaded rods and metal tooth plate connectors with:
- ease of use, speed and efficiency, quality of joint, ease of demount-ability, reusable timber and reusable bolt.
- Smart bolt.
- Happy Inventor.
5 Ventrolla Period Window Renovation Specialist
- A great display of before and after solutions for vertical sliding sash windows repair, improvement and upgrades.
- An excellent matrix of renovation and replacement options in literature.
- I am determined that I will connect them with a prolific inventor of viable solutions for solid wall energy improvements to solve the energy loss through the box frame.
- I know there is an answer to be found and hope to see it shown next year!
6 N#906 Ecological Building Systems
- Very nicely presented new brochure full of new goodies with more accolades, endorsements and certificates.
- I declare another interest here, the 2nd and 3rd most popular file downloads from the NGS website were:
- P14 Air and Wind tightness systems Specification & Guidance notes.
- They were written around their products in their early days.
- The specifications were thorough but apparently ‘scary’ to users.
- They need updating with many new products on offer.
- We discussed turning them into many specifications one for each airtightness detail.
- Watch this space.
7 G#1510 N#1461 EcoChoice Ltd. Exterior Timber Solutions
- A great selection of certified hardwoods ideal for:
- submerged civil engineering and infrastructure
- as well as domestic and commercial,
- with a track record of robust applications.
8 Green Unit
- I had a long discussion with the architect and it seems technical and environmental issues have been addressed
- An oval section modular building that is supported by excellent literature, hinting at its adaptability and versatility.
9 Sioo human friendly environmental natural wood protection
- Highly effective mineral silicon based technology for all wood types.
- with beautiful natural finishes for use internally, externally, vertical or horizontal.
- Invented in Sweden, 10 year track record, loved by architects, available in the UK.
10 Marxmanpen
- Delightfully simple and very appealing device for constructors, self-builders and DIYers.
- to spray bright coloured dye through a drilled hole in thick timber to set out your drilling position dot on background surfaces.
- We discussed the recipe of rechargeable materials in dye and propellant:
- every effort must be made to ensure and keep these benign when profit margins are driven down by stockists, suppliers & distributors.
So many more products and services are listed and linked
Items 11 to 20 in the next edition of GBE eNewsletter.
© GBE NGS ASWS BrianSpecMan aka Brian Murphy
16th October 2015 – 29th October 2015