by Mike Fell
27. February 2009 02:29
It's the final day of the World Sustainable Energy Days conference in Wels, Austria. Yesterday I had a chance to look around the main exhibition. It always impresses me just how popular sustainable building is with the public in Germany, and evidently here in Austria too. I'm sure that Ecobuild next week in London (look out for the Earthscan stand) will be busy, but that's the major show in the UK and the event here is just one of quite a few that happen in towns and cities around these countries every year. Why aren't things the same in the UK? We don't have the same extremes of temperature (being an island), and this may be something to do with it. Land and property are also more expensive in the UK, meaning (I suppose) less cash for capital-intensive renewables/efficiency projects. These things (amongst many others I'm sure) act on individuals and feed through to social and political concensus and action. Feel free to disagree in the comments though...
Anyway, I thought I would share a few photos I took of the latest in eco-building technology. Spot the insulating roof tiles towards the top right of this shot:
Some insulating bricks in the back of this one:
Some even more intricate blocks:
Some super-insluating triple glazed windows (side-on, in the background, sorry about the delegates obscuring the shot):
And finally, some tropical plants, snow, rain, and the conference banner:
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Next stop: Ecobuild...
