I’m just back from the 2014 Association for Environment Conscious Building conference – two days in Wills Hall Conference Centre at the University of Bristol. I’ve been a Supporter member of the AECB for two years now and I also attended last year’s conference in Bradford. I briefly lived in Bristol over 20 years ago, quite close to Wills Hall, and it was good to go back for a visit.
The annual conference is attended by roughly 200 of the 1400 AECB members and is an interesting mix of relatively technical presentations (which I like very much), some more political discussions, a small exhibition of sustainable building materials and services and a lot of networking with like-minded individuals.
Both years I have come away with lots of leads to follow up on. This year they include:
- The AECB Low-Energy Buildings Database which aims to provide a comprehensive index of real-life low-energy buildings – both new-build and retrofit – including a comparison of their predicted and measured performance
- Some of the entries are fairly sparsely populated with information but the entry for the Denby Dale Passivhaus looks pretty comprehensive
- The new Passivhaus categories: Passivhaus Plus and Passivhaus Premium, alongside what is now called Passivhaus Classic. The new categories take account of on-site renewable power generation. More info here.
- Since I’m planning to include a Solar PV installation I’m wondering if Marsh Flatts Farm will “automatically” qualify for one of the new categories…
- The Green Register of Construction Professionals.
- The Ariston NUOS Air Source Heat Pump Hot Water Cylinder
- A hot water cylinder with an integrated air-source heat pump and ducted air intake and exhaust ports
- Further research shows there’s a similar alternative from a different manufacturer, the Ecocent
- A range of home monitoring and management solutions:
