Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Chinese Government Ministers visit BRE Innovation Park

Posted on 12/01/2011

China's Vice Premier Visits BRE

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (c) pictured with BRE Chief Executive Peter Bonfield (l) and Business Secretary Vince Cable (r) at the centre of the BRE Innovation Park, Watford

Accompanied by the Business Secretary Vince Cable, and a selection of Chinese Government Ministers and officials, the Vice Premier was given a tour of BRE’s groundbreaking demonstration park featuring some of the world’s most sustainable buildings and homes.

The Vice Premier toured three of the twelve buildings on the park – the net zero carbon Barratt Green House, the UK manufactured, recycled steel Cub House and the BRE Victorian Terrace which features a range of materials and technologies used to improve the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of existing homes.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“The UK is already a world leader in many low carbon goods and services. We are changing the way the world thinks about carbon, from our proactive regulatory environment and carbon reporting through to collaboration and accountability throughout the supply chain.

“This is nowhere more evident than in the construction sector where sustainability is at its heart. BRE Innovation Park is a great example of what can be achieved in low carbon and I am delighted to bring Vice-Premier Li to this centre of excellence.”

Vice Premier Li, who is widely expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as China’s Premier in two years has been visiting the UK with the aim of strengthening political and economic ties between the two nations.

Dr Peter Bonfield, Chief Executive of BRE, said “It was an honour to host Vice Premier Li at BRE today. He was impressed by what he saw here and this is a very positive endorsement of the work of BRE and our park partners. We hope the visit will open up new opportunities for us in China, particularly on the new low-carbon city developments currently being planned and constructed. We also hope the visit will encourage more Chinese companies to get involved with what we are doing here.

‘For further information contact Linda McKeown, tel 01923 664569, email mckeownl@bre.co.uk

David Cameron visits the BRE Innovation Park

Posted on 16/12/2010

PM at BRE

Prime Minister David Cameron took time out from his busy schedule today to meet with BRE’s Chief Executive Dr Peter Bonfield in advance of a planned announcement about the Government’s energy strategy.

The Prime Minister toured the BRE Innovation Park, spending time in the Victorian Terrace building as well as the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 Barratt Green House where he heard about the key principals that underpin the delivery of more sustainable homes.

Following the tour, he said: “Looking at the houses here today, it is clear that people’s energy bills can come down if homes are properly insulated and properly built.”

Chief Executive Dr Peter Bonfield said ‘It was great to host the Prime Minister at BRE today and to show and discuss with him how BRE and our industry partners are rising to the challenges and opportunities facing our country.

BRE Innovation Park celebrates its 5th Anniversary!

Posted on 09/11/2010

The British Research Establishment’s Innovation Park in Watford was officially opened in June 2005 by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Prescott. He set a competition to the industry to build a sustainable home for £60,000 which would work in line with the Government’s carbon targets to eradicate fuel poverty and provide better living conditions. This initiative has shaped sustainable house building in the UK as we know it today.

Lord Prescott, following dinner, visited the Cub house and was extremely impressed with the concept of an affordable off-the-shelf housing option that not only adheres to code level 5 but also comes pre certified. He was already aware of the benefits of off site building, which greatly reduces delivery programs.

Cub was shortlisted for Edie Awards Finals 04.11.10

Posted on 05/11/2010

Charlie Greig & Darrin des Vignes

November has been a spectacular month for Cub!! We are extremely honoured to have been short-listed for the Edie Environmental Excellence Awards this year and to rub shoulders with companies associated within the Sustainable Construction category. The short-listing for the 2010 Awards was one of the toughest ever with a record breaking number of entries demonstrating the incredibly high standard of today’s environmental projects. Out of 700 entrants we made it into the top 5! Cub’s Sustainable Construction category can be viewed by clicking here.

Cub has been issued their Pre-approval certification from BRE Global.

Posted on 03/11/2010

ANOTHER INDUSTRY FIRST!!
We’ve done it!! There is no other housing system on the market that comes pre-approved for water management, interior & exterior lighting, daylighting, drying space, office area, white goods, waste management, insulation, elementals & materials specification! Cub is excited to announce that we have been granted our Pre-approval certification from BRE Global. It covers the approval of all the elements within the Cub Polar range of homes prior to being installed on site. Cub is the only housing system in the UK to have attained these credentials from BRE Global as part of their pilot scheme to ensure that construction of homes and their components adhere to the Code For Sustainable Homes Level 3, 4 & 5. You can view an example of one of our certificates here. (PDF 89.5KB)

Cub is shortlisted for Edie’s Awards for Environmental Excellence 2010

Posted on 30/07/2010


Edie’s Awards for Environmental Excellence today (July 28) announce the Project Award shortlist for the 2010 event.

The short-listing for the 2010 Project Awards was one of the toughest ever with a record breaking number of entries demonstrating the incredibly high standard of today’s environmental projects.

The shortlist for Cub’s Sustainable Construction catagory can be viewed by clicking here or scrolling down this story to the relevant section.

This truly was a bumper year for award entries and the people behind every project to be shortlisted should be justifiably proud of their achievement.

And commiserations to everyone who missed out this year it was an incredibly tough competition and not getting shortlisted should not be seen as a failure of the project, more a sign of the growing strength of the environmental market.

Waste and Recycling

  • Advantage West Midlands (AWM’s) landfill diversion infrastructure
  • Bosch Thermotechnology Ltd 100% recycled boilers scheme
  • British Retail Consortium (BRC’s) on pack recycling label
  • Marks and Spencer, Severnside Recycling, Shanks Waste Management Ltd and Helistrat Management Services delivering on Plan A
  • National Magazine Company’s waste reduction and recycling programme
  • PRUPIM’s sustainable shopping centres
  • Verdant & South Oxfordshire & Vale of White Horse District Council’s procurement partnership

Sustainable Transport

  • ADAS’ reducing business travel green house gas emissions
  • British Telecom (BT’s) emissions cuts
  • B9 Shipping’s fossil free fuel and dry bulk cargo ships
  • Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrators (CABLED) & Arup low carbon vehicle demonstration scheme
  • Natural England transport emissions cuts
  • Think EV electric urban vehicles

Water and Wastewater

  • Bathroom Manufacturers Association’s The Water Efficient Product Labelling Scheme
  • Greenvale AP’s cutting water use in potato industry
  • Mott MacDonald’s Water Resources Demand Management Assistance project
  • Race Cottam Associates for Wessex Water Services’ £25M green rebuild of a water treatment plant
  • Southern Water’s Blooming schools campaign
  • Talisman Communications’ water reduction across 12 water companies shorter shower campaign

Renewable Energy

  • Arup’s Esholt Wastewater Treatment Works
  • A1 Housing’s greening properties in Bassetlaw
  • Fernbrook Bio’s Rothwell Lodge Farm Anaerobic Digestion Plant
  • Imtech Process UK’s largest AD plant for Anglican Water
  • Oxford Catalysts Group’s biomass gasification facility
  • University of York & Arup sustainable energy and utilities strategy

Local Government Initiative

  • Amey & Central Bedfordshire Council sustainable roads scheme
  • East Lothian Council’s PrintSmart
  • Enterprise Islington Partnership’s Driving Environmental Excellence
  • Essex County Council’s Sustainable Essex Partnership
  • Leicester City Council’s Greening the Laughs
  • London Development Agency & Arup’s Decentralised Energy Master Planning programme

Green Retail Initiative

  • AB Sustain Waitrose’s WildCare scheme
  • MT TFM & Tesco’s MITIE lighting innovation
  • Marks and Spencer’s Hanger Reuse initiative
  • The Green House Hotel’s carbon neutral accommodation
  • Moto Hospitality’s energy reduction scheme
  • Wiles Greenworld’s combined delivery and recycling collection scheme

Green Corporate Initiative

  • BPR Group Paper Round’s Walking the Talk
  • Finning UK’s eco driving training
  • Metropolitan Police Service’s Mainstreaming Responsible Procurement
  • Polythene UK’s 100% recycled bags, covers, tubes and much more
  • UESL /Gala Gala Coral Group’s energy reduction scheme
  • 1E’s green IT and PC power management

Carbon Reduction

  • ADAS UK & Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) low carbon footprinting tool
  • AEA’s greening government department’s supply routes
  • Anyvan.com’s delivery auction scheme
  • International Synergies’ National Industrial Symbiosis Programme
  • May Gurney’s Carbon Reduction Programme
  • Metropolitan Police Service’s Carbon Reduction Programmes

Sustainable Construction

  • Aspire Defence’s Ministry of Defence’s Project Allenby/Connaught
  • Cube Housing Solutions’ Cub Homes
  • Mott MacDonald’s Darwin Centre Phase 2
  • Sainsbury’s and Arup’s green laboratory
  • Scott Wilson’s new Brent Civic Centre
  • Sinclair Knight Merz/ SKM Enviros’ MediaCityUK

CUB House at BRE – YouTube Video

Posted on 27/05/2010

Peter White interviews Charlie Greig inside the Cub House at the BRE Innovation Park.

Is this the House of the Future?

Posted on 26/05/2010

Simon Gompertz infront of our 3 bedroom Cub at the BRE.

(VIEW VIDEO) Cub’s director Charlie Greig had the pleasure of being interviewed by BBC’s Simon Gompertz who visited the BRE Innovation park in Watford. Click here to view the video on BBC’s Working Lunch website. (Broadcasted on: BBC Two, 12:30pm Tuesday 25th May 2010)

We now live at the BRE.

Posted on 12/05/2010

Cub now lives at the BRE! Our 2 storey 3 bedroom house can be found on the grounds of the Building Research Establishment Innovation Park. The doors opened for public viewing on the 12th May and appointments can be made through info@cubhousingsolutions.com. BRE is an independent and impartial, research-based consultancy, testing and training organisation, offering expertise in every aspect of the built environment and associated industries. They help clients create better, safer and more sustainable products, buildings, communities and businesses – and support the innovation needed to achieve this. Read more…

Grand ending to Grand Designs Live!

Posted on 12/05/2010

We at Cub would like to thank everyone who visited us at Grand Designs Live exhibition in London’s Excel! We all had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed chatting to everyone about our homes. The feedback throughout has been extremely positive and continues to drive Cub forward.  We endeavour to educate and inspire those seeking to achieve a greener, healthier, carbon neutral way of living and hold in high regard, the people who are receptive to our cause and product!

So, hopefully we will see you at the show next year!

Cub regards!