Exhibition construction.
A more sustainable trade show experience
Elegance and effectiveness: A unique booth in Munich
In June 2022 we were asked to build a new booth in an outdoor area in Munich for the Bauma international event which was to be held in October 2022. Our customer needed to create an iron structure covered with structural glazing and with internal wooden finishes. A stylish, sophisticated statement of a booth, with a strong stylistic impact.
During the design phase, a newly built iron framework was proposed, designed to be used in a mezzanine arrangement and with a modular structure making it suitable for subsequent use by another client at an event that would be held in Rimini two weeks after Bauma; in consideration of its stylistic features, the project could be perfectly adjusted to different requirements using the same structure in a different setup.
Innovation and Sustainability: The Segafredo Booth Project for Sigep
During the trade show design stage, we were contacted by a leading brand in the coffee industry that was looking for a new partner capable of developing a new project focussing on reuse and sustainable development. We submitted a project which, starting from two installations proposed for Bauma and Ecomondo, enhanced the strong reuse value of most of the materials and structures, integrating the display section with pre-existing items available in our warehouses. From this proposal and commitment, the Segafredo booth project was born which was to feature at the Sigep event held in January 2023.
A 90.4% success rate
Upon completion of the process including design, creation of structures and construction of the booth, we calculated the amount of reused material and separated the waste material – obtaining an impressive 90.4% of reconditioned and reused equipment.
Design training – Design For Disassembly.
To support its entire organisational structure and project development, the company has focused heavily on training its human resources, increasingly developing the concept of DFD – Design for Disassembly. In order to further develop this principle, it is essential to train human resources on a project approach method that focuses on 3 key factors. Architecture, Connections and Materials.
Architecture
The projects must be minimised in terms of number of items and materials, by creating decoration items and components in ways that make them adaptable to other installations in shape and composition. The structures are designed as easily separable sub-assemblies and modules – which helps optimise material storage by reducing road transport requirements. Maximising and streamlining the assembly of components, making them easy to handle, improving the quality of on-site work and making the process safe and accident-free.
Connections
Fasteners and joining systems play a fundamentally important role in efficient assembly and disassembly. This allows us to reduce the number and type of fasteners which must be easy to remove and easily reversible. For this reason, welding, gluing or sealing agents should be avoided.
Materials
A limiting factor for cost-efficient recovery and recycling of complex assemblies lies in the feasibility of separating materials into pure material flows. This allows quality and economically sustainable post-consumer raw materials to be obtained. Financial sustainability is strongly influenced by the time required for material separation upon disassembly. This can be reduced through careful selection of materials. For example, items and couplings made of the same material may not require disassembly, resulting in significant advantages in terms of cost and work time savings, thus making the recycling and/or recovery of materials cost-efficient. Using a single type of material will lead to process optimisation; however, it is also essential to evaluate the chemical and physical nature of each product, to be able to use the highest performing materials in terms of product life, cost and availability. Our company mainly uses wood combined with iron structures.
Why do we value Design for Disassembly?
There are several reasons but three key points in particular.
• Reducing waste during production and recovery processes using DfD techniques can significantly reduce production costs and ensure greater technical efficiency.
• Modular design within the scope of DfD techniques allows for greater flexibility during product development, shorter development times and lower development costs.
• Implementing DfD in a design specification helps to ensure that the resulting product and its components are more suitable for reuse or recycling on reaching their end of life, thus reducing the amount of resources needed to create new products.
Conclusions
Our considerations so far highlight the important economic, environmental and social role of the design processes of exhibition construction products. Sustainability cannot and should not be reduced to empty catch phrases or short-sighted choices dictated by marketing needs aimed at product recycling only; we believe in the development of a sustainability concept that embraces the entire project chain – from the initial idea through to production. Design for Disassembly is one of the key principles underlying our company’s growth over its forty years of activity. There is still a long way to go, but to be able to walk it, we need to invest in the training of all the stakeholders involved in our business. We are convinced that with a proactive attitude to innovation and a holistic vision of production systems, of company products and of their impact on people’s lives, greater economic, social and environmental value can be generated in the long term. Since December 2022, Arredart Studio srl has been ISO9001 / ISO14001 / ISO45001 certified and is in the process of obtaining ISO 20121 certification.
