Two booths for the electric aircraft developer, one year apart. At Farnborough in 2022, FSC MDF in place of standard MDF saved 1.4 tonnes CO2e. At EBACE in 2023, the measured footprint was 1.82 tonnes on a partial scope.
Lilium · Farnborough International Airshow; EBACE · Farnborough; TBC, UK; TBC · 2022-2023 · Travel, transport, and hospitality · Design; Production; Project Management
Lilium is a German aerospace company developing electric aircraft. Two trade shows, twelve months apart, both aerospace audiences. The requirement on both was a booth that could carry a technical engineering story without the material contradiction of a single-use build. For a company selling zero-emission flight, a booth that goes to landfill is a visible inconsistency. The specification was set on material recyclability, take-back, hire over purchase and local supply, and it was measured afterwards.
Two builds with different construction logic. Farnborough 2022 was a bespoke build in sheet material. The floor was Tarkett circular selection vinyl, specified because it is fully recyclable and carries the ReStart take-back scheme, so the flooring leaves the show as feedstock rather than waste. Vertical surfaces were cut from FSC plywood and zero formaldehyde FSC MDF. Polygood, 100% recycled and recyclable, was used for solid surfaces. Re-board carried lighter elements. Greencast recycled cast acrylic was used where transparency was needed. Rugs were recycled PET. Graphics were printed on a polyethylene substrate, PVC free and fully recyclable. Furniture was hired.
EBACE 2023 was built the other way round. The frame was a hired aluminium modular system, infinitely recyclable and returned to the hire stock afterwards. Cladding was recycled FSC cardboard. Joinery was FSC plywood finished in VOC free paint. The carpet was Rewind polyolefin, Cradle to Cradle Silver certified, needing no water and 85% less energy to make. Over 80 square metres of traditional vinyl graphics were replaced with a responsible alternative. Fixings were biodegradable cable ties and recyclable eyelets. Plants arrived in reusable pots. Everything travelled in reusable flight cases, wrapped in recyclable paper and paper tape.
EBACE put 70% of the supply chain in Switzerland and 85% in mainland Europe, which is the harder half of the job for a UK workshop. Local sourcing removes freight carbon and freight cost together, but it means specifying to another country's available stock, hire ranges and print capability rather than shipping a known kit from Feltham. The frame was hired locally, and the flooring, raised floor, plants, furniture and print all came from suppliers near the venue.
Farnborough carries no total carbon figure. One saving was calculated: specifying zero formaldehyde FSC MDF instead of traditional MDF avoided 1.4 tonnes CO2e. Waste to landfill was zero. EBACE was measured at 1.82 tonnes CO2e on a scope covering logistical movement of people and materials and electricity for event technology only, which excludes the embodied carbon of materials, so this is not the booth's full footprint. 742kg of waste was recycled or reused. 0kg of materials was left on site. Single-use plastic was under 200g. Over 80 square metres of vinyl graphics were replaced. 70% of suppliers came from Switzerland and 85% from mainland Europe. Indicative, calculated in house, not independently audited.