It is difficult to find a building product or material that doesn’t claim to be sustainable these days. Construction professionals need to be able to feel confident when they specify building materials but how do we tell which ones are the least harmful to our environment?

At our July Twilight Talk we heard from three manufacturers who ‘pitched’ their products and their green credentials: Sam Chapman, co-founder and MD of Kenoteq Bricks (slides available here); Eunsun Nightingale, MD of Margent Farm/COO Hemspan; and Roly Ward, Head of Business Development at MEDITE SMARTPLY (slides available here). Alex Watson, founder of Cleantrade, also gave a presentation on ‘Prospects for government regulation of high-embodied-carbon imports’ (slides available here). This event was kindly supported by Ecomerchant.

You can watch the full recording below. All previous Twilight Talk videos are on our YouTube page.

To learn more about sustainable construction practices, check out our upcoming events:

• If you’re in the Bristol area, we’re running a free retrofit networking event where you can hear from expert speakers about the new West of England Combined Authority Retrofit Accelerator, business growth grants (up to £10k available to purchase kit, vehicles, training and consultancy), free organisational sustainability training and energy efficient housing developments using offsite construction. 27th July, 5 – 6.30pm.
• Our ever-popular ‘A fabric first approach to healthier more energy efficient new and existing buildings‘ with Ecological Building Systems kicks off on September 6th. This series is comprised of three training sessions: How to Internally Insulate Solid Stone and Brick Walls; Roofs, External Walls & Floors; Achieving Airtightness. Book all three in the series and save over 10%!
• Also in September is our ‘Tour and Talk – Live from the Showroom with Installers’ Tales‘, where Alex McKinney will be coming to us live from the new PHC showroom in Bristol to give you a tour and talk through the installations. September 14th, 4 – 6.30pm.
• We’re launching a brand-new airtightness series with Ecological Building Systems this autumn, which kicks off with ‘Contractor and Builder Air Tightness & Vapour Control Training‘ on October 18th from 9 – 11am.  Achieving and installing stringent levels of airtightness may feel daunting, but this training series will guide contractors and builders on both theoretical and practical training for both domestic and commercial projects. During these four sessions, you will learn what airtightness is (and isn’t), why it matters, the causes and effects of poor moisture management and current vs. future airtightness standards.  

Keep an eye on our ever-changing events and training page for more throughout 2023 to expand your construction sustainability knowledge.

Have you considered membership?
Join today and you’ll be in the fine company of like-minded professionals committed to improving our built environment. Here are some of the benefits of joining us:

• Big discounts on tickets for our training events and those of our partners throughout the year – you’ll be the first to hear too 
• Your business listed on The Register for customers and collaborators to find you easily 
• Free promotion of your work through our digital media networks 
• Use our logo in your communications to signal your sustainability knowledge 
• A free subscription to Passivehouse+ magazine for the year

Find out more on our Membership page and we hope to see you at an event with The Green Register soon.