It’s good to be back, for the first time in 2 years I’m in London and I’m at a show like nothing had happened, the Nightingale hospital has gone and the Excel centre is buzzing with thousands on construction professionals.
It’s certainly was a great show for geeks like us, the road to Zero Carbon is not an easy one with no magic bulit, but lots of little wins and looking at every aspect of a building and it’s component parts will get us there, here are a few of my picks from the show (Yes I blagged a VIP badge):
World´s first fossil-free steel? SSAB stand was showcasing their HYBRIT technology, the coking coal traditionally needed for ore-based steelmaking is replaced with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen, thus emitting water vapor instead of CO. The result is the world’s first fossil-free steel, made without creating CO2 emissions and by using fossil-free energy sources. The Fossil-free steel has the same properties and quality as traditionally produced steel, so it will perform in the same way in all applications. Fossil-free steel matches the current standards of steel.
Also from SSAB they were showing off their GreenCoat® steel façade and roof products, highly resistant to corrosion, UV radiation and scratches and feature a bio-based coating with a substantial portion of the traditional fossil oil replaced by Swedish rapeseed oil, which reduces the environmental footprint. A long life span 50 years Technical and 25 years aesthetic and fully recyclable, great for harsh environments and cold temperatures.

A new name to me was Prefa who provide aluminium profile products again for roofing and Facades, fully recyclable and lightweight with 40year guarantees. And over half the price of zinc and less issues with underside condensation. Some great looking products.

I found a great product for breaking the thermal path at ground level which will be an issue under the upcoming changes to part L. Thermoblock from Marmox, it’s a high compressive insulation layer to reduce thermal bridging, and if you talk to them nicely they will do you Psy values to help with the SAP calcs, again important going forward in the new Part L
I spoke at length with the nice team at James Latham re there timber fire door blanks and the testing and who’s using them, we have been struggling to find primary tested door sets, over the last few months that meet clients criteria, so these might help going forward! (They also do a wide range of panels, laminates, mouldings, and decorative products)

One of the best meetings of the day was with the nice people at EDGE to review some of the many samples that they keep and showcase in there London Show room, all kinds of Beautiful recycled, reimagined and natural products. Including a compressed fish scale panel, that uses discarded food waste products, which sounds weird but looked amazing! If ever you are in London and need some inspiration look them up 146 Marylebone Road, NW1 5PH.
Delabie had a great stand showcasing a few innovative water saving products including a cistern-less flush, for high use WCs, and many low flow taps and showers.
Sunamp was quite a interesting product that I had not seen before or come across, a Thermal battery and heat exchanger, using phase change materials. No harmful materials can be charged via various means, electricity, Solar thermal, or any heat producing appliance. The material used can store up to 4 times the energy of water and thus can be around 4 times smaller than a traditional hot water cylinder, clever stuff, great when paired with Low or Zero Carbon systems and where space is a premium.
There were hundreds of great products on show from products and companies we know, use and support, Water Blade, Biotecture, Aico, ACO, Internorm, Viesmann and Wedi to name a few, It was also great to see Large stands from Italy and Austria showing off some really innovative products and materials.
If you want to listen to any of the hundreds of talks or look at the products do go to the Futurebuild website.