Building business
Interbuild returns on 18 to 21 October with an electrifying new line-up aiming to attract a broader base of trades and specifiers than ever before.
The show, which will be held in Halls 4 and 5 of the Birmingham NEC, attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year from the UK and overseas. Ever keen to meet the wants and needs of its exhibitors and visitors, the exhibition has evolved and 2009 will see the launch of two new shows, Interbuild Specifier and Interbuild Onsite.
Interbuild Specifier
‘Interbuild Specifier’ is set to reach out to a variety of audiences including architects, engineers, project managers, local authorities as well as professionals across the electrical industry. Visitors to the show will be impressed not just by the range and quality of exhibitors, but also a host of new visitor attractions.
Providing four packed days of dealmaking and networking opportunities, Interbuild Specifier will focus on all areas of the specification market including lighting & electrical, interiors, IT and fire & security.
Visitors will be particularly excited by the prospect of seeing the showpiece attraction at Interbuild Specifier – Sustainability Street. This area of the exhibition will feature real-life residential and commercial structures offering the opportunity to see, touch and experience contemporary sustainable construction at its best. Each structure will feature a range of product innovations supplied by exhibitors from across the show:
The Intelligent Building
Supported by CEDIA, the Intelligent Building will boast a unique collaboration of the latest intelligent and innovative technologies integrated into a two-storey building constructed using SupaWall® - a system that offers world class timber frame performance.
Featuring low energy lighting throughout, as well as a games room, a high quality home cinema, an advanced home office and an urban lounge, which has speakers hidden in rocks, the Intelligent Building will be the place to visit to see all the latest sustainable innovations under one roof.
Thermal Reflections Ltd will also be bringing its new solar panel system, ‘Energie’ to the Intelligent Building. The new product, which can even work at night, will produce domestic hot water from solar panels mounted on the walls of the intelligent house.
The ‘Energie’ system circulates refrigerant through the panels which efficiently harvests heat energy from the ambient atmosphere as well as from direct solar radiation. Working well in virtually all climatic conditions, ‘Energie’ performs impressively in cloud, wind, rain and even at night.
Ergohome
A full scale example of their low cost, sustainable two-storey house will be displayed by Ergohome at Sustainability Street. Through a combination of careful design, material sourcing and 'factory' assembling, the Ergohome showcases sustainable technologies, which can be installed at affordable prices. With their first trials having been installed at Birmingham University, the Ergohome offers high quality, affordable housing that minimises the impact on the environment both in its construction and use as a home.
Mtech Innovation Theatre
Featuring presentations from the contributors to Sustainability Street, the Mtech Innovation Theatre will prove to be a vibrant hub of networking and learning, with the focus on product design and innovation. Assembled visitors will gather within a unique eco pod which has been designed specifically as a low impact, carbon responsible module and will be used to stage a number of seminars.
SummitSkills
SummitSkills’ live action grand finals are plunging their way back to the exhibition following a hugely successful debut at the exhibition last year. The SkillELECTRIC competition, organised by the sector skills council for building services engineering, will run across the four days of the show.
The highest scoring electrical competitors from regional heats across the UK will be invited to participate at the final to battle it out in a number of practical challenges. Electricians will test their wits on a mixture of domestic and commercial wiring circuits to install and test.
The finals will conclude with an awards ceremony which will be held in the show’s Construction Forum Theatre between 3-4pm on the last day of the exhibition.
New Product Awards
In search of the very best building industry’s products and innovations, Interbuild has launched its coveted annual New Product Awards.
Representing current trends in the industry, the awards will enable visitors to see genuinely ground-breaking new products for the first time and vote online for their favourite innovation.
There are nine categories to enter this year, three of which are new for 2009 and include ‘Best New Sustainable Product’ and ‘Best New Product for the Education sector’.
All shortlisted entries will be displayed in The Construction Forum Theatre, Interbuild’s free, case study focussed conference, with a special awards ceremony taking place in the Forum on Monday 19th October.
Construction Forum
More than 30 high profile speakers will be on hand to address the major talking points affecting the entire construction industry over three days (19th - 21st October) of insightful presentations and rigorous debates.
The high level, case study-led conference will aim to tackle challenges in the construction supply chain and how to overcome these in testing economic and political times. Key clients from both the public and private sector will present their plans for the next three years and offer a fascinating insight into a wide range of building projects.
Several high profile speakers will focus on a series of public and private sector concerns including Eamonn Boylan (Deputy Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency), Sal Wilson (Operations Director at Partnership for Schools), Cliff Jones (Senior Policy and Performance Manager for the Department of Health).
Interbuild Onsite
Interbuild Onsite will be located in Hall 4 of the NEC and promises to provide visitors with 'Everything you need when you go onsite'. Featuring everything from tools to commercial trucks, work wear to installation equipment, it is a must attend for anyone who buys building materials and equipment to find cost-effective suppliers, discover new ideas and try out products for themselves. It will also for the first time incorporate Glassex, the event for the glass and glazing industry.
David Pierpoint, Event Director at Interbuild, says: “Interbuild Onsite is brash, loud and proud and we want to celebrate this by creating a dedicated area, which will offer something very different from the built environment focus of Interbuild Specifier in Hall 5.
“With live demos, interactive challenges, business advice and many new exhibitors signing up, Interbuild Onsite will enable small businesses and installers to obtain essential information and guidance that will see them through the current downturn.”
Big brand exhibitors already signed up to showcase their offerings to the industry include PolyFlor, Irwin, Ford and Bahco.
Irwin Challenge
Irwin Industrial Tools is calling on all professional trades to see if they can take the heat in their Ultimate Tradesman Challenge, which takes centre stage at Interbuild Onsite 2009.
With a fully-customised Irwin Porsche 911 up for grabs, the Challenge is designed to test the speed and skill of the nation’s professional tradesmen. Visitors to Interbuild will be able to watch contenders go head-to-head to compete for the title of Irwin’s Ultimate Tradesman in the live final at the show. The competitor who can saw, mark, clamp and drill the fastest will drive away with their own super-car!
Ford Football Challenge
Ford is back, alive and kicking, and is giving visitors a chance to win UEFA Champions Leagues tickets in a live and interactive ‘Ford Football Challenge’.
Running across all four days of the exhibition, the football competition will challenge visitors to test their skills and shoot for the stars in a UEFA Champions League themed penalty shoot out.
As well as being awarded a brand new football for their efforts, lucky winners will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win two tickets to a UEFA Champions League Group Stage fixture of their choice in the UK. Eight tickets are up for grabs over the four days, with a winner announced every day.
To learn more about these unique features please visit: www.interbuild.com.
To register for free to attend Interbuild, saving the £20 entry fee, use priority code EPA at www.interbuild.com/register