An innovative vegetated wall system that offers an eco-friendly solution to flash floods, will be exhibited at the Resilience 14 extreme weather construction event in November. Developed in Canada and now available in the UK following an exclusive distributorship deal, the patented Flex MSE system comprises two engineered components; soil filled geotextile bags and spiked interlocking plates. This proven erosion control solution is ideal for applications where land meets water, for example on culvert headwalls, channels, unstable stream banks, groins and weirs or on flood protection schemes. With very high settlement tolerance and rapid drainage, its components are able to withstand strong water flow and even complete submersion without breaking down prematurely.

Using the same globally accepted principles of mechanically stabilised earth that builders rely on for making massive retaining walls, the system is also ideal for many landscaping projects. It can be built up to 82 degrees, providing a natural solution when near-vertical structures are needed, and can be installed in two thirds the time of concrete block and other conventional retained wall structures and requires no specialist equipment or skilled labour.

The product is also able to accept almost all types of vegetation. Depending on the application and desired aesthetic, this can include pre-seeding and hydro-seeding with native grass and flower blends, or live planting and staking of perennial ground covers, shrubs, grasses and flowers to achieve an instant, fully customised vegetation finish. In a rural environment, the vegetated wall system can blend seamlessly with the surrounding countryside; in an urban application it can reinvent the landscape with an attractive, graffiti-free green space.

Savings in complex installation equipment, materials, labour and transportation help to keep project overheads down, with all-in costs for one of these walls generally 60% of comparative concrete wall systems. The anticipated lifespan of 120 years is almost twice as long as other systems.

Resilience14 is a two-day, content driven, BRE hosted conference offering in-depth coverage of the challenges and solutions to threats posed to the built environment by the UK's changing weather. The extensive conference programme and interactive demonstration areas will follow the three themes of flooding, storms and extreme temperatures, looking at products, services and solutions based around prediction, design and repair. The event will also include BRE Centre for Resilience, a space dedicated to the latest resilience-related research. Resilience14 takes place at London Olympia on 26-27 November 2014. For more information and to register online for free visitor places, please go to www.resilience14.com.