Hosted at the School of Natural Building at Tod College in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, the conference will focus on exploring the context and opportunities for building responsibly - in an age of profound uncertainty and increasing instability.
As with all AECB events, knowledge transfer will be at the forefront with thought-provoking talks and case studies from fantastic speakers, AECB experts and selected suppliers together with hands-on technical workshops, an exhibition area and plenty of time for questions and discussion.
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Headline Speakers
Charlie Luxton, Charlie Luxton Design
Talk: Thoughts on low-energy buildings, embodied energy and the circular economy
Charlie Luxton is passionate about sustainability and architecture. He has spent the last 20 years designing sustainable buildings and making television programmes about architecture and design.
This combination of doing and talking is what Charlie is all about.
Charlie is interested in creating beautiful sustainable architecture fit for the 21st century; designs that respond to local materials, traditions and climate.
He is the principle of Charlie Luxton Design (CLD), an architecture firm of 12 working on projects that range from Community led housing, through to recording studios and one off homes CLD always seek to deliver sustainable architecture to the highest standard. They begin the design process from people and place; the client and the site, it’s from here that their architecture grows.
Prof Robert J. Lowe, UCL Energy Institute
Talk: Energy, economy and life: scarcity, substitution and the energy system transition
Robert Lowe is a physicist with a broad interest in the field of buildings, energy and sustainability, and in the interplay between energy end-use demand systems and the whole energy system. He is the author or co-author of approaching 100 journal and conference papers, 3 books and numerous reports, spanning energy systems, economics, and energy use in buildings, and including theoretical, empirical and methodological contributions. He joined UCL as Professor of Energy and Building Science in 2006. In 2009, with Prof Tadj Oreszczyn, he established the UCL Energy Institute, which he directed from August 2014 to January 2018. He is Director of the London-Loughborough EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Demand (2008-), and of its successor, the EPSRC-SFI Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Resilience and the Built Environment (ERBE). He was the first chair of the SAP Scientific Integrity Group (2012-14). He served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Building Research & Information from 2000-2018, and on the Board of the BBA from 2014-2019. Among his many research projects, he has been co-investigator on UCL-Energy’s Centre for Energy Epidemiology, one of six EPSRC-funded Energy End-use Demand Centres, and has directed a major BEIS-funded project on the field performance of domestic heat pumps, at the time of writing, the largest such project to have taken place in Europe. Since 2018 he has led the EPSRC Decarbonisation of Heat Challenge, within the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS). A key focus of this project has been the development and application of the concept of Energy System Architecture to the problem of decarbonisation of heat and of the energy system as a whole. Since 2020 his work has also included transition dynamics and analysis of the political, economic and resource requirements for a successful energy system transition.
Mary Clear MBE, Incredible Edible Todmorden
Mary is a dreamer and schemer; she is living her life on the edge. Mary sleeps like a baby because every day is filled with adventure. She is an Activist, in a hurry to do her bit for a better world. She believes in the saying “Be the change you want to see”. Mary is the chairperson of Incredible Edible Todmorden and co-founder of an idea that has rooted across the world. We are seeking to make a kinder world; we use food and growing as the lever. We have achieved more than anyone reckoned was possible, by having oodles of passion and a sense of fun. We have no offices, paid workers or worries; we use the gifts and energy of the community. Kindness is our currency. Incredible edible Todmorden is self-sufficient, we earn money for our activities by inspiring people across the world and vegetable tourism. We have talked in countries all over the world and delivered presentations in the House of Lords, Strasbourg, Korea, Russia, Japan and most of Europe. We love to reach out to small community groups best of all.
Prof Steven M Newman, Biodiversity International Ltd
Talk: Food forests and new forest villages: a peaceful path to real reform
Professor Steven Newman is a senior natural resource, climate change and climate finance consultant.
He has undertaken over 122 major assignments in over 63 countries linked to multi-billion pound investments in agroforestry and nature-based solutions worldwide.
He is MD of BioDiversity International Ltd, Visiting Professor in the Agriculture Department Reading University
He is co-editor of the leading textbook on “temperate agroforestry systems” now in its second edition. He also wrote the design chapter in the Soil association’s Agroforestry Handbook and a ground breaking paper in the TCPA journal
Reading:
Rural New Settlements in 2018: What might Ebeneezer Howard Say?
Town and Country Planning August 2018 p301-305
Dr Lai Fong Chiu, UCL Energy Institute
Talk: The impacts of the pandemic and energy crisis responses on health and energy systems
Lai Fong is a Principal Research Fellow at the UCL Energy Institute. She joined UCL after a long and productive research/practice career in the National Health Service and at Leeds University, UK. Her aim on joining the UCL Energy Institute was to use her experience and expertise to contribute to the establishment of a socio-technical perspective on energy demand through active participation in empirical research, teaching, and PhD supervision.
In 2010, Lai Fong led the qualitative component of a Post Occupancy Evaluation project - FLASH (Facilitation, Learning, And sHaring) - funded by the Energy Saving Trust and the Institute for Sustainability, and has been since been involved in series of Post-occupancy Evaluation projects in both residential and commercial sectors. She was co-investigator on the Institute’s first large project, PEB-D3 (EP/H051112/1), and on the £6 million EUED Centre for Energy Epidemiology (EP/K011839/1).
In 2014 Lai Fong completed a major case study project commissioned by BEIS (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, previously DECC, now DESNEZ). The report on the socio-technical analysis of data from 21 cases from the Renewable Heat Premium Payment Field Trial is listed below.
Lai Fong is currently CI on the £1.5 million EPSRC Decarbonisation of Heat Challenge, which is being undertaken within the Centre for Research on Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS: EP/R0352881). Her role is to support the application of system architecture concepts and methods to investigate how policy and governance might be integrated with system modelling of options for decarbonising heat in the UK. Lai Fong is also the PI of the HCC_19 Integrated Project funded separately by the CREDS programme. This project aims to investigate System Shocks, Response and Recovery
Toby is a founder-director and building physicist at Greengauge; he is particularly interested in moisture risk in retrofit and traditional and historic buildings. Toby is one of the most experienced practitioners of hygrothermal simulation in the UK, sits on the modelling and monitoring technical working group of the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings and is currently undertaking a PhD on moisture in historic brickwork at UCL. He is also an experienced Passivhaus consultant and trainer on the Carbonlite Passivhaus Designer course.
Barbara Jones, School of Natural Building
Workshop: Pre-fab straw panels - a game-changer, plus not forgetting the traditional small bale approach.
Coming soon
Dr Huda Elsherif
Workshop: Climate resilient buildings in the Global South
Dr Huda Elsherif is a built environment consultant with a background in architecture, sustainability and building performance research. Her PhD focused on exploring a practical design framework for climate appropriate housing in Sudan. Recently she has applied her expertise to a live project for a 10-person accommodation unit in an Eco-village in Tanzania. Working alongside Simmonds.Mills architects she used project data logger measurements provided by the architects to help validate her compact fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of the project, advising on design changes during the build to further improve thermal comfort performance. She has published a number of her conference presentations on thermal comfort and has written a chapter for the Routledge Handbook for Resilient Thermal Comfort.
Tim Martel, AECB Expert Advisor and AECB standards and certification program
Workshop: Discussing the AECB Level 1 Retrofit Standard
Tim is an AECB Expert Advisor and an expert in CO2 calculations for buildings. He qualified as a Passivhaus Designer in 2012 and worked on new build, retrofit, domestic and commercial PHPP models. For several years he contributed data for the AECB Retrofit course. Later he also qualified as a Retrofit Coordinator and coordinated 90 retrofits in London. Four years ago he started developing the AECB’s PHribbon software, combining his experience in PHPP with earlier work in research and as a programmer. Tim saw a great need for Embodied CO2 calculations that could be easily done in PHPP. He has continuously improved the software ever since, given many talks on it, and there are now Canadian and US versions.
As a Technical Director at QODA Sarah has over a decade of experience in the construction industry and specialises in Passivhaus, sustainability and retrofit. Sarah has worked on over 100 certified Passivhaus buildings and dozens of retrofits projects. She is a Chartered Engineer, an AECB expert advisor, a Passivhaus and AECB Certifier, and a member of the Retrofit Steering Task Group set up after the Each Home Counts review. Sarah is the technical author for PAS 2035:2019 and PAS 2030 retrofit standard, and the lead technical author for the BEIS Retrofit IWI, RIRI and solid floor guides, published (2021-22).
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Location
The conference will take place at TOD College in Todmorden, West Yorkshire OL14 7BX.
Hosted by the School of Natural Building (SNaB), the venue will allow delegates to explore hands-on approaches to building with natural materials. The School raises awareness about the benefits of using natural materials in the built environment and offers educational and training services for anyone interested in natural building.
Accommodation:
Accommodation is quite limited in Todmorden, so early booking is advised: rooms and self-catered premises in the town are available on booking.com and Airbnb. Additional self-catering, Hotels and B&Bs are available at nearby Hebden Bridge, including the IOU Hebden Bridge Hostel.
Trains run regularly between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden with a journey time of 6-7 minutes
The AECB is very grateful for the kind support of our sponsors
PLATINUM SPONSOR
Partel
Partel is a global leading developer and supplier in the low-energy construction sector, specialising in high-performance building envelope systems.
With a focus on sustainability and innovation, Partel combines knowledge of architecture, engineering, and technical expertise in building physics, creating a unique approach in providing solutions for offsite projects.
Partel offers a wide range of quality certified & fire performance membranes, smart vapour control layers, solvent-free adhesive tapes, and sealants for energy-efficient buildings.
GOLD SPONSOR
Green Building Store
Delivering a low energy or Passivhaus building is complex, and you need a solution rather than a single product. At Green Building Store, we are committed to using a whole house approach to provide better performing buildings from a comfort, cost and carbon perspective. We supply a range of specialist products and services, including triple glazed timber windows and doors, MVHR heat recovery ventilation, insulation and airtightness products. In choosing us you can rely on expert consultation at every step of your project.
GOLD SPONSOR
Airflow
Airflow Developments Ltd is one of the UK’s leading ventilation manufacturers, and for over 60 years we have been forging the path of innovation. Our products range from extractor fans to MVHR units, alongside all the accessories required for installation.
We have the expertise to support architects, construction, and M&E professionals with products that comply with government building regulations and contribute to the UK’s Net-ZERO target.
GOLD SPONSOR
MEDITE SMARTPLY
MEDITE SMARTPLY is Europe’s leading producer of engineered wood-based construction panels and is committed to manufacturing products that contribute to healthier, environmentally conscious building solutions.
Our manufacturing mills in Ireland feature the latest production technology to deliver high quality MDF and OSB panels which meet the diverse needs of users.
Through consistent commitment to research, development and ongoing investment in technology, we have established MEDITE and SMARTPLY as leading brands in the wood panel market by introducing a wide variety of quality products and customer led innovation in areas such as finish quality, moisture resistance, flame retardancy, machinability, durability and strength.
Registration Information
(Remember to log in to your account first as this is for members only)
Early Booking Deadline: 1 September 2023
Please include any special dietary or access requirements when completing the online registration form.
Confirmation of your booking and all relevant information will be sent to you prior to the event.
Your registration fee includes:
- Access to all talks, workshops and tours
- Refreshments and lunch as scheduled in the conference programme
- Dinner on Friday 29 September at the conference venue
AECB members
Early booking (early booking on or before 1 September)
£225 + VAT @ 20% = £270
Late booking (after 1 September)
£275 + VAT @ 20% = £330
Day delegate
£180 + VAT @ 20% = £206
Discounts available for organisations sending three or more delegates - please email contactus@aecb.net for details
AECB non-members
The AECB conference is for members only.
If you wish to join as a student or on a corporate/institutional basis please contact our membership office for details.
QUERIES
Please direct any booking queries to:
Karen Purvis
AECB Conference Secretary
Tel: 07792 296861
Email: conference@aecb.net
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Cancellations: Substitutions can be made at any time but please advise the conference secretary (conference@aecb.net) of any change in name. If you find it necessary to cancel your booking please notify the conference secretary immediately in writing. Provided written notice is received the following cancellation terms will apply: Cancellations prior to 1 September 2023: full refund less 10% administration fee. Cancellations between 1 September 2023 and 15 September 2023: 50% refund. Cancellations after 15 September 2023: full fee is payable.