Speaking yesterday at the Think 08 conference at ExCeL, Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs outlined his strategy to address energy consumption in existing stock. He also considered the introduction of feed-in tariffs following the policy proposals put forward by industry leaders in the pre-conference Think Tank Event.

The short-list of the 2008 Mail on Sunday British Homes Awards with VELUX and in partnership with Crest Nicholson PLC will be displayed for the first time at Think (7th, 8th May at ExCeL). The award challenged the UK’s very best architects to design Tomorrow’s Lifestyle Home. The panel of judges chaired by Michael Manser, CBE RA PPRIBA, Chairman of the Manser Practice, has selected the ten designs below for the short-list which will be showcased for the first time at Think.

A panel of experts will discuss future needs and models of supply and production - Think will stir up the sustainable energy debate with ‘Re-thinking Energy’, a roundtable discussion which tackles the issues around energy use in the built environment. The roundtable will be held in Dockland’s ExCeL Centre on Wednesday 7th May 2008 as part of Think’s extensive conference programme. The roundtable will focus on how future energy needs will be satisfied for buildings and developments, and whether there are any models for creating community systems and frameworks to radically change the supply and production of energy.