Ecobuild is yet again gearing up to open its doors at London ExCel on March 7-9.

The overarching theme is regeneration, which will be brought to life through an immersive exhibition and conference programme that seeks to redefine sustainability, identify future growth sectors and tackle the housing crisis.

This year’s show will see Ecobuild transformed into a ‘city’ – complete with a main street, distinct destinations and special feature attractions.

Central to the experience will be Regeneration Drive, a boulevard running through the centre of the exhibition floor, linking different aspects of the show and enabling visitors to experience the very best examples of innovation and creativity from across the built environment.

As visitors make their way up Regeneration Drive, they will be introduced to key destinations including The Arena, City Hall, The Campus, The Gateway and Performance Lab.

This redesigning of the event represents a change in focus – hinted at by the organisers last year – and it’s true to say Ecobuild has changed since it was launched 13 years ago.

But, of course, the construction industry has also changed with eco-building not being the mystery it once was and also the UK’s government’s focus on green building being somewhat watered down in recent years. The word is that Ecobuild will undergo further changes in 2018.

The size of the event is now smaller compared to its sprawling peak, with about 320 exhibitors listed on its website as at Feb 1, less than at this time last year when about 500 companies were listed.

And while timber industry representation is certainly less than in the past, wood products are still in there showcasing their benefits to a professional construction audience which includes architects, builders, local authority representatives and major infrastructure clients.

The official visitor figures in 2016 were still an impressive 33,319, with architects the biggest single group at 14% and timber cited as the top product of interest.

Timber sector companies showcasing their latest products and technologies include Saint-Gobain, Medite SmartPly, A Proctor Group, KLH Massivholz, Piveteaubois, Eco Homes Direct, B&K Structures, Elecosoft, Internorm, Dovetail Timber Frame, Unilin and Josko Windows.

Support and guidance will be on hand from TRADA, while the Confederation of Timber Industries, Timber Trade Federation, Structural Timber Association, the British Woodworking Federation and the Woodland Trust will all have a presence.

TRADA membership and marketing manager Rupert Scott said the organisation would have a smaller presence this year, but it would still have its bookshop containing timber technical guides and its “ask the expert” feature where visitors can ask TRADA experts questions about their building projects.

The Builders Merchants Federation is to have its own branded BMF Pavilion at Ecobuild to create a platform for its merchant members to meet and do business at the exhibition.

“This is another first for the BMF and one that is sure to benefit members,” said John Newcomb, BMF managing director.

“With its focus on regeneration and building better communities, Ecobuild provides a unique opportunity to bring merchants, suppliers and specifiers together to discuss vital issues, including tackling the UK housing crisis, and discover more about the latest systems and technologies that contribute to sustainable construction.”

Ecobuild brand director Martin Hurn acknowledged that merchants had an important role to play in helping move the regeneration and sustainability agenda forward.

Other pavilions will include Advantage Austria, the Passivhaus Trust and the National Federation of Roofing Contractors.

Explore offsite

In response to the increased government and industry focus on offsite construction, Ecobuild has partnered with Cogent Construction and Radar Communications to bring Explore Offsite to Ecobuild, within a dedicated area with leading suppliers and offsite technology masterclasses.

Ecobuild says the new dedicated area for Explore Offsite will present the “largest exhibition of offsite construction solutions ever seen in the UK”, featuring 50 leading suppliers. It intends to showcase product innovations, benefits and opportunities offered by offsite technologies in the future of construction from housebuilding to infrastructure.

On display will be framing systems in concrete, timber and steel, modular and volumetric systems, bathroom and kitchen pods, offsite roofing technology, pre-engineered building services and a range of prefabricated building components.

The UK offsite construction market is expanding rapidly, at more than 35% per annum, and for some sectors offsite technology has become commonplace. However, with an estimated share of just 10% of the construction market, the growth opportunities for offsite are considerable.

The Arena

A traditional strength of Ecobuild has been its conference programme.

The Arena will be home to the Ecobuild Conference and will stage a range of keynote speeches from industry thought leaders and innovators across the three days. Among these are Lord Kerslake, Chair of the London Housing Commission; Professor Tim Broyd, president at the Institution of Chartered Engineers (ICE); Dr Diane Montgomery, chief executive of the Construction Products Association and Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders.

Topics include the implications of Brexit for the construction sector, the ongoing housing crisis and offsite construction. Julie Hirigoyen, Chair of the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), Ecobuild’s lead partner, will host daily leadership sessions at the Conference, focusing on the future of sustainable housing, workplaces and retail.

Key topics to be covered include carbon reduction in the built environment, as well as possible approaches to deliver a low carbon city or neighbourhood.

The former will be focussed on the business case for setting science-based targets (SBTs) within the industry, while the latter will debate the requirement of all major London developments to be zero carbon.

Speakers include Dr Paul Toyne, of the Green Construction Board Infrastructure Working Group, Heleni Pantelidou, associate director of London Infrastructure Group Arup, and Hannah Clement, UK-GBC.

“City Hall” Sustainability Hub

The show’s sustainability hub, City Hall, is sponsored by Saint-Gobain and home to the UK-GBC, representing the culmination of Ecobuild’s ‘Redefining Sustainability’ campaign – which seeks to create an industry-wide understanding of sustainability objectives and drives, and a clear direction for the future.

“We enhance habitats and daily life by creating and distributing sustainable products and building systems that improve productivity, health, wellbeing and comfort in people’s homes, workplaces and public buildings,” said Richard Halderthay, director of communications at Saint-Gobain.

“Providing solutions to meet the challenges of sustainable construction is an opportunity to create added value, lower the environmental impact of construction and support customers to differentiate.”

Meanwhile, within The Campus, visitors can explore Future Materials, a product showcase curated by ARCC, to preview next-generation materials and processes currently in either research or testing stage through a number of universities.

Also in The Campus, the BRE Academy, international provider of training and education programmes for built environment professionals, will run a series of masterclasses. Daily sessions by industry experts include BIM, responsible sourcing, BREEAM, and the Home Quality Mark.

Visitors will also learn more about the findings of the ICE’s national needs assessment. The session will see a panel of experts – Professor Tim Broyd; Professor Denise Bower, executive director at the Major Projects Association, and Adam Cooper, director of policy and engagement at the National Infrastructure Commission – debate what the UK’s infrastructure priorities should be with a view to the risks posed by Brexit and the need to align infrastructure solutions with the Climate Change Act.

The BayWa r.e company has sponsored the Performance Lab, which covers the latest in energy efficiency and building performance in association with Ecobuild’s Building Performance Partner CIBSE – the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.

Across the three days, CIBSE will host a daily session on indoor health and wellbeing, exploring how the WELL Standard relates to existing sustainability standards such as BREEAM and LEED. Visitors can also attend a daily session around ‘Modelling for Performance and not Compliance’.

Ecobuild has also announced key partnerships including RIBA, BRE, the Construction Products Association, the Institution of Civil Engineers and CIAT.