LandARK Panorama, by ZEDFactory

This week sees the fifth outing for Ecobuild, the biggest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment in the world. In content the event is more or less what you might expect. A panoply of timber construction companies, from hi-tech glulam beams capable of spanning football pitches to onsite demonstrations of traditional carpentry techniques by artisans. Green-roof and -walling specialists that are thankfully moving on from the flat seeded roof to luscious planted walls in the manner of French landscape designer Patrick Blanc. A myriad recycling options and recycled building products. Green alternatives to heating and cooling – solar panels, ground source heat pumps and heat exchange units. Environmentally friendly insulation and lighting. And, yes, the Zero-Carbon tag is everywhere.

Pleasantly surprising, though, is the sheer scale of this event. It’s encouraging that the eco-construction industry is now expansive enough to fill Earl’s Court’s two vast exhibition halls. The range of clientele was equally heartening. 2009 expects to see 30,000 visitors, which is amazing when you find out it started in 2004 as a small-scale conference for industry experts. This is testament to the advance of ecological awareness. No longer the preserve of green weirdoes, it is increasingly, and rightly, preceived as relevant to everyone from schoolchildren to developers. Many of the visitors were evidently homeowners looking for green DIY alternatives.

Concluding a morning discussion on keeping the green agenda afloat throughout the financial crisis, Robert Napier, Chairman of the Homes and Communities Agency, admitted that, ultimately, consumer demand will have to drive the green industries. His biggest concern is that the government build enough new ‘green’ homes for it to become ‘the norm’, even desirable, to live in one. There is enough mounting pressure now that new build projects have no choice but to conform to new performance criteria. Surely a much greater problem is the criminally inefficient state of the millions of existing homes. Consider the impact of, for example, halving the carbon footprint of every existing building, compared with that of building a handful of ideal homes. Plenty of companies who are designing new ways of eco-retrofitting are represented at Ecobuild. ‘Renew’ a pavilion run by Apollo Housing and Energy Solutions, suggested ‘The Seven Secrets of Successful Retrofits,’: strategic thinking, sourcing, insulating, water conservation, heating, lighting and recycling.

There is a tangible concern that financial pressures will stop individuals from experimenting with new technologies. It is therefore crucial that companies market their solution as reliable, desirable and ultimately money-saving, which is true In most cases – sustainability, after all, isn’t only about environmental friendliness. After a quick initial tour of the two halls, it was unfortunately clear that the pretty stands attracted the most attention. Green technologies aren’t inherently that sexy, which is probably quite depressing for companies who have blown their budget on refining the product at the expense of good marketing.

There was a buzz surrounding the ZEDFactory (Zero (fossil) Energy Development) display, where an actual size ‘Landark’ pod was under construction. Landark is the latest product from BedZed innovator Bill Dunster, and provides a potentially off-grid and adaptable living unit complete with all the latest green gadgetry and constructible at home in 3 easy steps. Well, maybe more than three. But it is designed with the self-builder in mind. Also showcased was ‘RuralZED’, again a zero-carbon housing protoype, but with a more traditional four-walls-and-a-roof form.

BedZed has gone from being the only initiative of its kind, less than 10 years ago, to being one of 800 stalls at Ecobuild this year. With three days to go, it remains to be seen whether the turnout for 2009 achieves the expected heights. But it is clear that this is a rapidly expanding industry – there’s no shortage of ideas and an apparently very promising market.

Ecobuild 2009 is at Earl’s Court from 3-5 March.