The three day event at Earls Court, attracted 41,000 visitors, an increase of 20% on last year’s total, emphatic proof, said the organisers, that “the building sector is alive to the benefits of sutainable and innovative construction, even in the teeth of recession”.

Stand numbers were up over 20% to around 1,000 and timber in some form featured on more than ever. In fact, it is estimated it was present on around 10% of displays, more than any other single building material.

The Timber Works area of the show, was once more sponsored by the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), and this year featured 20 exhibitors.  

The TTF also ran a seminar on timber in sustainable construction and co-hosted another on the implications of Eurocode 5 for timber with TRADA, both of which said Mr White were well attended.

Overall he described the show as a a ‘fantastic event’.
“There was a great atmosphere and it was fabulous just to walk around and see how the green, sustainable agenda is now part  of the mainstream in construction,” he said. “These issues are  here to stay and timber clearly has an in-built advantage in this new environment given its renewability, embodied carbon and embodied energy, which is set to become an increasingly important issue.”

One trend that was worth all timber businesses noting, he said, was towards exhibitors offering product packages and systems.
“It’s increasingly not about supplying simply pieces of wood, but wood made into something to offer a total solution to the market,” he said.

He added that the TTF  was already talking about repeating the Timber Works area at next year’s Ecobuild.

This was confirmed by event director Moira Edwards. 

“And we’re also looking at a timber feature as well, though it's too early to put flesh on the bones,” she said.

Next year Ecobuild will move to the ExCeL exhibition complex in east London and has already booked more space than the entire event this year.

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