Ecobuild Fun

Ecobuild exhibition opened today in Earl's Court. What a perfect excuse for a day out! I justified it to myself by searching for information about air source heat pumps and to see if there were any new and interesting eco-friendly products.

It was a beautiful sunny day that lifted the spirits as I entered the (lime) green zone. It was packed with lots of enthusiastic people, both visitors and salespeople alike. There were other self-builders and lots of architects wandering around in the sea of green.

There were various seminars/workshops and discussions going on but I only managed to catch some of David Blunkett's discussion about sustainable communities.

The exhibition was even larger than last year. Earls Court 1 was dominated by a green 'Cityscape' cube, an amazing construction; very touchy feely.

I saw many company reps for things I never knew existed and discovered some new allergy-free paint manufacturers. I have to admit that after many discussions with LOTS of air source heat pump manufacturers and installers even I was ready for some light relief. I wandered off to Earls Court 2 and discovered the modular housing display. It was very impressive and apparently can come with any type of roof, even pitched ones!

The next display which caught my eye was the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E; zero carbon and solar powered. It was full of enthusiastic students and I was very pleased to see school students too.

One of the buildings that impressed me most was the straw bale construction one that had walls with U value of 0.13 and triple glazing!

Unfortunately, my time was nearly up as I rushed to go back to be in time for the school run but I did manage to take in the woodburning stove displays...hmmm.

In my hemp ecobag at the end of the day I managed to find a globe stress ball, a save energy with my PC tool and a dynamo torch. It was a fab day and now I can write my blog in the dark while destressing at the same time as saving energy- result!