Plumb Center helps advance the case for renewables at Ecobuild

Visitors to Ecobuild 2010 were given unprecedented access to the latest renewable technologies at an attraction called Practical Installer organised in association with Plumb Center, the UK’s number one supplier of heating and plumbing products.
Practical Installer offered informative demonstrations / hands on displays from the industry’s leading manufacturers throughout the three days of the show – the world's biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment – at Earl’s Court in London.
A host of leading manufacturers – including Worcester, Bosch Group, Uponor, CME Sanitary Systems and Mira Showers – put the latest innovations in renewables under the spotlight and explained how this technology can raise efficiency levels and lower harmful emissions.
With live and interactive sessions on various renewable technologies throughout the day, visitors were shown that renewable really is more do-able. As well as highlighting the features and benefits of renewables, each session also demonstrated the ease with which renewable technologies can be installed.
In the solar section, Plumb Center in association with Ploughcroft, demonstrated how easy it is to install solar panels and Worcester Bosch, Kingspan, Baxi and Vaillant showcased the latest thermal solar technology.
In the heating section Baxi (biomass/micro CHP), Dimplex/CTC (heat pumps) and Uponor (underfloor heating) worked in partnership to show how the technologies can work together to maximum effect.
And, in the water section Kingspan (water harvesting), Ecoplay (greywater recycling) together with water efficient products from Saracen, Mira, Grohe and Cistermiser demonstrated how households and businesses can limit their water consumption by combining renewable technologies.
Worcester Bosch provided real examples of renewable appliances delivering tangible benefits to homeowners in the form of reduced energy consumption and lower carbon emissions. Martyn Bridges, director for marketing and technical support of Worcester, Bosch Group, said: "The best way for installers to get an appreciation for the quality and simplicity of the Worcester solar thermal system is for them to experience full size product first-hand in this type of practical demonstration area.
"[Practical Installer] also provided installers who may be relatively new to renewable technology, with a great opportunity to get an understanding of how to best link solar into a new or existing boiler system. "
Uponor was also upbeat about Practical Installer. The company’s sales director Brian Winter said: "Underfloor heating is increasingly becoming the users and designers choice, bringing sustainability and efficiency into the environment. A fully compatible system linking with any management process provides lower water temperature from the energy source to floor system, increasing boiler efficiency and decreasing distribution loss.
"The installer should have gone away [from the demonstrations at Practical Installer] feeling confident in installing underfloor heating."
Practical Installer also provided a powerful vehicle for CME Sanitary Systems to demonstrate its grey water recycling system Ecoplay which re-uses bath and shower water for toilet flushing, saving up to 30 per cent of household water consumption.
Manjit Lall, the company’s marketing manager, said: "Whilst it is easy to put a sustainable spin on products, through actually demonstrating how they work and showing how the technology provides the described benefits is a much powerful means of understanding the benefits and savings gained."
Roger Crabb, marketing manager of Mira Showers, agreed. He said: "In order to get our message across, it is important to be able to demonstrate how our products work and to show that showering in a more eco friendly way does not necessarily mean a diminution in the showering experience."
For Baxi Group, Practical Installer was an ideal opportunity to showcase upcoming products, to meet customers and answer questions.
Sabine Zschaler, Baxi Group channel manager, said: "It’s important for installers and householders to get up close to the technologies that they are considering investing in, so they can find out exactly how low and zero carbon technologies work, ask about the different systems and discover which products would be most suitable for them.
"In addition, they need to understand about the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, and learn how to apply for funding to help with their installations."
To that end, Baxi demonstrated the Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP, the next generation gas boiler available from April.

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To download images of Practical Installer visit
http://www.lightworkphotos.co.uk/waxpr