Pushing the Envelope
March 2016

A recent report by the New London Architecture forum and property consultant GL Hearn says that a total of 436 tall buildings are in the development pipeline across London, of which 119 have been proposed or approved since this time last year. More than 80 tall buildings – here classed as those with more than 20 storeys – are under construction: 233 have received planning approval and a further 114 are somewhere in the application or pre-application parts of the system. In comparison, 19 tall buildings were identified as being completed in London in the last year.

It is against this bristling tall building backdrop that the Council for Aluminium in Building (CAB) has launched its Aluminium in Building Conference and Exhibition, “Pushing the Envelope”, taking place in Loughborough on 12 May 2016. With the use of aluminium and the demands on the building envelope ever increasing, as clients demand ever greater levels of performance from the façade, how do technology and regulation keep pace?

Neesha Gopal, Associate Director at Meinhardt Façade Technology, will be giving the opening keynote address, highlighting opportunities and threats for the aluminium in building sector and she will be followed by Ant Wilson, Director, Sustainability, Building Engineering, AECOM. Ant will take stock of building energy efficiency regulations and look at the future for nearly zero energy buildings. When will the next Part L take shape and what might it look like? Ant will then chair a symposium of CAB members on the topic of energy efficient façade elements, specifically in the areas of glazing, shading and airtightness.

At the start of the afternoon session, delegates face a choice: façade fire testing and performance or chrome (VI) free coatings. For the fire testing session, we will be joined by Russ Timpson, convenor of the Tall Buildings Fire Safety Network. Russ will be talking about emerging fire issues in tall buildings, which promises to be extremely topical given recent events in Dubai and the large number of tall buildings planned for London. Russ will be followed by Steve Evans from NHBC. Steve is also the Chair of the Building Control Alliance Technical Working Group, and it is in this capacity that Steve will review the options for fire testing of facades.

In the parallel powder coatings session, chaired by Mo Panam of Barley Chalu and President of both CAB and Qualicoat, Martin Ings from Chemetall will review the status of the legislation banning the use of chrome (VI) by industry and the implications for the aluminium in building supply chain from going chrome-free. This will be followed by a presentation from Russell Deane, Akzo Nobel, highlighting possible risks from chrome-free coatings and how to overcome them.

The formal sessions will close with a look at standards and regulations from both UK and European perspectives. We will be joined by Pavlos Vatavalis from European Aluminium and Pavlos will provide an update on several important product standards used for CE marking in our sector, including: BS EN 13830 (curtain walling), BS EN 1090-1 (structural aluminium) and BS EN 16034 (fire doorsets). Pavlos will also give us the latest news from the European Commission concerning proposals for Window Energy Labelling and the review of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. What is the best way for regulators to assess the energy performance of products? Yours truly will then conclude proceedings with an update on CAB activities, including the status of Responsible Sourcing standards and Building Information Modelling.

Throughout the day a table top exhibition will be open during the breaks and exhibitors will include CAB members as well as selected non-members. Delegates are also welcome to continue networking after the conference closes over a slice of pizza. We are offering an early bird rate for registrations received before 15 April 2016, which offers a 50% discount on the normal price, representing excellent value for all of the above content.

You can book and pay online at http://bit.ly/1R38P9H or to reserve your place please email julie.harley@c-a-b.org.uk