Central forum for sustainability

Sustainable planning, building and operation make up the latest theme of the future and this theme will continue to grow. This is the clear tenor for Consense – international congress and trade fair for sustainable building. The event, which took place for the third year at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre, is once again clearly showing significant growth with 1,862 visitors. Two-thirds of the visitors predict Consense will grow in importance and classify it as a relevant forum for sustainability.
 
The joint event by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) and Messe Stuttgart confirmed its reputation as a unique platform for sustainable building in Europe. Consense is continuing the trend of the previous years in terms of the visitor figures. Parallel to this the number of exhibitors was almost double and with it also the exhibition area. The organisers also registered a strong increase in the number of foreign exhibitors (14 exhibitors from seven countries). “Consense has experienced very positive development and is becoming more and more popular year by year“, according to Holger Schirmeier, hebel/Xella Aircrete Systems GmbH, who was there for the third time.
 
From the exhibitors to the visitors: The catchment area of the event is expanding. More than one third of the visitors travelled over 300 kilometres to the event. In addition to Stuttgart, the important property locations of Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and the Ruhr area form a main focus. Most of the visitors came from Baden-Württemberg, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Hesse. The media response is also evidence of its increasing importance: 90 journalists from seven countries used the opportunity to obtain first-hand information.

The congress and trade fair are receiving a larger response from abroad; here the organisers are recording a figure of plus 50 percent. The largest proportion is made up of representatives from Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark, but there are also participants travelling from Kenya, New Zealand, China and Russia to Stuttgart. In spite of the some very long journeys, Consense 2010 also took place without impacting on climate change – to balance the CO2 concentration the ecological balance sheet specialist PE International supports climate protection projects.

The trade fair is attracting an increasing number of day visitors independent of the congress. Almost all congress participants are using the opportunity to see for themselves the latest developments at the trade fair. A synergy effect which is greatly appreciated by exhibitors: “The expert competence is really high. During networking we also benefited from the congress which took place parallel to the event”, Susanne Kaber, Corporate Communication, HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung GmbH, states convincingly.
Consense is a magnet for architects, planners and engineers, who represent 40 percent of visitors. This figure also includes project developers and managers, as well as representatives from consultancy companies and business. The next largest group includes manufacturers and industry representatives. The main interest of visitors is considered predominantly to be construction products and building services, as well as architectural and planning services. This matches the structure of the exhibitors. Their main focus is on the areas of building materials and building technology, consultancy, services, as well as architectural and planning offices. They see Consense mainly as a platform for the presentation of products and services and image cultivation, as well as a tool for increasing the awareness level, which this year’s event once again achieved very well. The get-together on the first day of the event is a popular communication option for exhibitors and congress participants.

The visitors were also impressed by the trade fair and satisfied with the information and contacts at the stands (91 percent). This result is reflected in the overall visitor evaluation: 96 percent of them would recommend a visit to Consense.

The next Consense will take place from 29 to 30 June 2011 in Stuttgart.

Other exhibitor opinions on Consense 2010:

Gert Eckert, Area Sales Manager for D/A/CH/CZ, Gerhard Geiger Antriebstechnik:
Up to now we, as a supplier, had hardly any direct contact with planners and architects. The trade fair provides us with a good framework to specifically address this clientele and make them aware of our products.

Gertrud Müller, Managing Director, Industrial Association for Technical Textiles – Roller Shutters – Sun Protection (ITRS):
The association aims to make industry products more widely known and intensify the contacts with the decisive target groups. We conduct good discussions with an interested specialist public.
 
Andreas Gradinger, Planning and Property Manager, CAPAROL:
The people came to our stands with very specific queries. These people included the important target group of decision-makers, planners and auditors. We conducted many excellent discussions over the course of the day. As a founding member of the DGNB, we also bring our experience into the product advisory board because quality must be able to be measured continuously.

Arnd Reinhardt and Mario Kurtz, Sales Engineers for New Systems, Schindler Aufzüge und Fahrtreppen GmbH, South-west region:
Here we come into direct contact with specialists who come to us with specific questions, for example on the theme of retrofitting, smoke extraction or the classification for the energy efficiency of lifts. Sustainable building is a growth market that one can not ignore.
 
Louis Wolswijk, Sales Executive, Benelux/Holland, Eurofins Product Testing A/S:
Our service is the focus at the trade fair stand. We show, for example, how VOC emissions tests are performed. The trade fair offers the opportunity to foster our customer relations. We have also made many promising contacts.
 
Jörg Niescher, Sales Manager, Bilfinger Berger Hochbau GmbH:
Taking the lifecycle of property into consideration is part of our corporate philosophy. It is very pleasing that more and more companies are engaging in sustainable building and the benefits of interdisciplinary cooperative ventures are being increasingly recognised. We have been at Consense right from the start.

More information on the trade fair
Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH
Melanie Bachmann
Messepiazza 1
70629 Stuttgart
Tel.: +49 (0)711 18560 - 2631
Fax: +49 (0)711 18560 - 2657
melanie.bachmann@messe-stuttgart.de
www.messe-stuttgart.de

More information on the congress
German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB)
Kronprinzstrasse 11
70173 Stuttgart
Tel.: +49 (0)711 72 23 22 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)711 72 23 22 - 99
info@dgnb.de
www.dgnb.de

Press contact
Proesler Kommunikation GmbH
Martin Prösler
Karlstrasse 2
72072 Tübingen
Tel.: +49 (0)7071 234-16
Fax: +49 (0)7071 234-18
info@proesler.com
www.proesler.com