Guest post by Chloé Sharrocks
You have one more day to catch Ecobuild 2009, a free exhibition on sustainable and eco-friendly construction aimed at both scientists and members of the public interested in making their homes more energy efficient.
Exhibitions include the use of photovoltaic cells and vertical wind turbines to provide your own electricity, wood-pellet heating, garden roofs, sheep-wool insulation and even waterless toilets. For those with concerns about sustainable housing there is a life-size ‘ECO2H2OUSE’ to walk around and experience.
And if you’re the sort of person not wanting to swap their fast car for a slower hybrid anytime soon, there’s even a greener sports car on display (sadly no test drives available). The Eco Elise car from Lotus harnesses new affordable green technologies and is made from sustainable materials, such as eco wool, combined with hi-tech water based paint solutions. Weighing less than its standard Elise equivalent, it has higher fuel efficiency and features a green gear-change display on its dashboard. Lotus’ new mantra of “Reduce, Re-use and Recycle” means that this car has been constructed with much lower manufacturing costs.
There is also the opportunity to listen to high-profile speakers discussing big environmental issues and tackling some controversial events in the arena (see here for full programme of events).
Yesterday I was lucky enough to catch the end of a talk by Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury & former Housing & Planning Minister. She discussed the effect of the economic recession on the building industry and was keen to stress that climate challenge does not disappear when there are money problems. Instead the government are investing large amounts of money into the Home Energy Saving Programme with all home owners entitled to 50% off the cost of loft insulation. Currently UK households use £1.2billion worth of electricity per year and it is imperative that the fight against climate change and energy consumption is not put on hold.
A wealth of information is available for anyone with concerns about the impact their life has on the Earth. Free tickets are available for Ecobuild by registering online.
Ecobuild 2009 is at Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre and concludes on 5 March