ECOBUILD: EVERGREEN IDEAS

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Products to help save the planet abound at this year’s Ecobuild.  Jan-Carlos Kucharek takes his pick of the stands with the launches you shouldn’t miss

01 Armourcoat
Duturo
Raining stones
Armourcoat’s wall finishes are generally made up of low volatile organic compounds and high proportions of natural materials – usually marble. It’s 60% for its ArmourCast range, with the new Sculptural series comprising 30% post-consumer recycled material. The firm is adding a new commercial feather to its range with its new product Duturo® – a tough, 45% recycled marble and acrylic,  spray-on architectural coating. It has a textured stone-like finish, and is suitable for interior and exterior use.

2472
www.armourcoat.com

02 Forster Unico
ASD-Architectural
Thinner steel still
This new 100% steel and 100% recyclable window slim-profile system not only allows for large areas of double glazing, but the reduced profile widths can increase overall light levels within a space. ASD teamed up with Swiss firm Forster to develop the profiles to meet building regs. These use a ‘unique stainless steel lattice design that improves thermal performance considerably’. The system is available in a range of door and window sizes with options for fire-rated, acoustic, bullet-resistant and security applications.

203
www.asdarchitectural.com

03 Ecogen Domestic
Micro-CHP
Baxi
Home is where the hearth is
As covered in January 2010’s RIBAJ, this year marks the arrival on the market of the domestic CHP unit, with manufacturer Baxi leading the field with the launch of low and zero carbon (LZC). This will be able to provide 1kWh of electricity, while still providing space heating and hot water for the home. Field trials have shown that this can reliably satisfy up to two thirds of a typical household’s electrical requirements – and all in a unit that is no bigger than your standard condensing boiler.

1525
www.baxigroup.com

­­04 Eco-Reinforcement
Eco-Reinforcement Ltd
Re-bar recycled
Eco-Reinforcement Ltd, a collective of industry stakeholders, provides a means for construction clients, specifiers and contractors to purchase reinforcing steel from a supply chain that is proactively addressing the issue of sustainability. Responsible sourcing certificates awarded to suppliers run from ‘Pass’ to ‘Excellent’, allowing specifiers to gain Material credits under both the BREEAM scheme and the Code for Sustainable Homes.

2563
www.eco-reinforcement.org

05 SC Non PVC Range
Stretch Ceilings
Looking up
For those architects for whom the use of the word ‘PVC’ in a specification is a faux-pas, Stretch ceilings is introducing its new non-PVC range of ceilings. While fixing is the same as the standard range, using a perimeter track fixing to support the fabric, the material itself is polyester with a special polyurethane coating. The non-PVC range is available in a range of colours, including printed, can be produced in up to 5m widths, and, as was done at this MRI scanning facility in Harley Street, can be specified with special anti-bacterial coatings.

2417
www.stretchceilings.co.uk

06 Ecostar6 Luminaire
PhotonStarLED
LED or Leader?
LED fitting manufacturer PhotonStar is making some big claims in its press release for its new EcoStar6 luminaire, promising it has not only 90% less embodied CO2 than in equivalent LED lamps, but that it is 28% more efficient than the similarly priced market leader, the Philips MasterLED 7W. It claims the edge with whole lifecycle costs – and that means reducing heat transferred to the chip. Its Cool3R™  technology concentrates on cooling the fitting, fundamental to extending its life.

2048
www.photonstarled.com

07 Balcony Roof Window
Fakro
Where art thou, Fakro?
You can sun yourself like a cat on a hot tin roof with Fakro’s new ‘Balcony Roof Window’. It has two sashes – a top hung upper sash opening through
45 degrees, while the lower sash slides out to reveal the built-in balustrade.
And in case you’re worried, the window uses the patented topSafe system, which provides the highest standard of safety and security available. The balustrade retracts to hide in the depth of the frame when the window
is closed, so that any prospective Juliet can lose her heart without losing a neat internal frame line.

1363
www.fakro.co.uk

08 Jag DBE-PRO radiator
Jaga Heating
Too coolth for School
Jaga’s new DBE Pro radiator, launching at Ecobuild is designed specifically for use with reverse cycle heat pumps, making a single unit capable of either heating or cooling for the first time.
The maker says that, combined with their low mass, low water heat exchangers, these new radiators can cut CO2 emissions by a tonne a year and reduce annual heating bills by 15-25%. Not only that, but connected to a heat pump, it also becomes passive cooling during the summer months.

1155
www.jaga.co.uk

09 Powerglaz RI
Romag
Electricity Tile on
Glass specialist Romag is launching its new PowerGlaz
RI product at Ecobuild, an integrated solar roof tile, apparently providing cost-effective solar energy for domestic houses. The new product mixes its PV products with its own field-tested fixing system, and is suitable to be integrated with most slate and tile systems.
With the upcoming announcement of PV feed-in tariffs, allowing PV owners to sell electricity back to the grid in April 2010, this tile may just have a long-term and profitable future.

1712
www.romag.co.uk

10 Riko Evo Aqua and Tavo Aqua Wood Burning Stoves
Euroheat Distributors
Biomass for the masses
The Evo Aqua is a pellet burning stove-boiler, fully automatic in operation and with a hopper that gives up to 47 hours use without refuelling. Outputs are 9kW and 15kW with 90% (8.4kW or 13.5kW) available for central heating or hot water and 10% output from the room heater side of the stove. The stove can even be activated via a mobile phone. The Tavo Aqua is a simpler log burning stove which can also provide a mix of central heating and hot water with room output. Up to 3kW is available from the stove and 7kW for the heating.

1360
www.euroheat.co.uk

11 ELUNA Recycled Glass
Green Bottle Unit LLP
A million green bottles…
Eluna markets itself as a sustainable alternative to any number of surface products, whether natural or man-made, by being made entirely of scrap glass, thus reducing the amount of the material going to landfill, as well as cutting the energy consumed to extract new materials. Previously available as panels of up to 3m by 1m, and at 20mm or 50mm depths, Eluna is now available as cast bricks with an expanded colour range.
Beautiful and robust, it’s suitable for both interior and exterior applications.

2499
www.eluna.org.uk

12 Roof Integrated PV Tiles
Redland
A light on the tiles
Roofing company Redland is launching five new roof-tile PV systems at this year’s show, developed to match the module of the five most popular tile ranges for the house building market. This makes it the first company to offer developers a fully-integrated PV solution for slate, plain tile and profile tile roofs. Using the same laying patterns as the tiles they replace, it also makes them suitable for retrofitting as well as new build projects. The innovation picks up on the government’s feed-in tariffs – expected to stimulate the micro-renewable market in the housing sector.

1614
www.redland.co.uk

13 Dynamic Insulation
Energyflo Construction Technologies
Low with the flow
Producing what the firm claims is an industry first, ECT has pioneered the Energyflo Cell, a patented ‘dynamic’ insulation product. The cavity cell, a graphite impregnated expanded polystyrene panel of varying size, with circular holes and nibs to hold it in position, can achieve sub 0.1 W/m2/k U-values without adding to overall structural thickness. Negative pressure on the ‘inner’ cavity draws cold exterior air in, filters and warms it as it passes through the cell, and draws it into the building, creating a high efficiency thermal barrier, and potentially hypo-allergenic internal environment.

2009
www.energyflo.co.uk

14 Bamboo Cladding System
BCL Timber Products
Zen Generation Cladding
Bamboo might have had a bad rap with some dubious types of conservatory furniture, but no more. BCL is using its intrinsic properties in its new pre-fabricated panellised cladding system, to prove it viable in the commercial market. It’s a sustainable, fast growing timber, and, the manufacturer says, looks as good as more expensive timbers at a third of the price and is 100% knot free. Although not suitable for external applications (it biodegrades quickly when under prolonged exposure), it’s particularly suited to internal ceiling and wall linings.

TW19
www.bcltimberprojects.co.uk

15 Second Nature
South East Coatings
A lovely bunch of coconuts
South East Coatings has come over all hippy and decided to get back to nature with its latest recycled range of seamless floor surfaces – in fact, it’s gone nuts over them. That would account for its ‘Coconut Grove’ and ‘Olive Rocks’ tropical range using, you guessed it, crushed coconuts and olive stones suspended in the volatile organic compound (VOC) resin. We’ll leave you to ponder what the ‘Shell’ range is made of, but the manufacturer claims the ‘Galaxy’ floor is so ‘out there’, it’ll blow your mind – for up to 40 years.

2389
www.sec.uk.com

16 Laser Cut Metal Panels
To Grace
Good perforations
Textile designer Natasha Webb founded firm ‘To Grace’ in 2006, producing decorative laser-cut stainless and powder coated steel decorative screens balustrades and architectural cladding, inspired by nature’s forms. Webb’s bespoke panels are manufactured from materials manufactured in the UK, from metals that are at least 60% recycled and 100% recyclable, and have a range of applications, including hotels, yachts, cruise-ships, offices, spas and retail buildings.

1577
www.designtograce.co.uk

17 Beam Central Vacuum Systems
Total Home Environment
Cleaning without the carting
When you think about it, the Dyson might have wonderful suction, but why the hell does everyone still need to lug the damn things around? Cue the Beam Central vacuum system for your newbuild. Mr Dyson might question this, but the press release states that the high performance motor consumes 18% less energy and can provide five times the suction of a portable, and can last for over 20 years; arguably providing a system that over its lifetime can be cheaper and better performing – and in turn create a ‘healthier living space’.

1540
www.totalhome.co.uk

Ecobuild
2-4 March
Earls Court
London
www.ecobuild.co.uk

Entry to the exhibition, conference, seminars and special events is free to registered visitors.