Innovators in the education construction sector have taken centre stage at this year's Interbuild show with the event's first major award ceremony taking place – the Interbuild BSF Innnovation Awards. Six awards were bestowed on companies competing in five categories, following a full day of judging by experts including Andrew King, New Projects Development Director at Bovis Lend Lease; Helen Aston, Transformation Lead at Birmingham Local Education Partnership and Mike Donovan, Transforming Education Principle Advisor for Birmingham City Council.
In the 'Best sustainable product' category, the competition was so tight that the submissions from HushTex and Steelway couldn't be split and were awarded joint winners. Best M&E innovation went to E-Stack, a pioneer in low energy natural ventilation systems for schools. Other category winners included Polyflor for 'Best building fabric innovation', Steljes for 'Best ICT innovation', and Furniture Keystage, which picked up the 'Best product for enhancement of learning' award. In the Construction Forum, education remained a strong debating theme with guest speakers including Sal Wilson from Partnerships for Schools, Ian Fordham from the British Council for School Environments and Robert Holt from Carillion. The day's keynote address was left to Peter Bonfield, chief executive of the BRE and Olympic Delivery Authority, who discussed whether London 2012 will be the most sustainable Games in history.
