GBE Newsletter No 1 October 2015 G#3716

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GBE Newsletter No 1 October 2015

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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.

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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.

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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 1^st. 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 2^nd and 3^rd 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.

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So many more products and services are listed and linked

Items 11 to 20 in the next edition of GBE eNewsletter.

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© GBE NGS ASWS BrianSpecMan aka Brian Murphy
16th October 2015 – 29th October 2015