In this episode of Building Sustainability we talk to Bee Rowan about prefabricated straw bale panels, Bee’s background and lime stabilised earth in disaster relief areas. Continue reading 
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher
Google Podcasts
Become a Patron!
In this episode of the ‘Building Sustainability’ podcast we chat with Adrian Leaman, a woodsman and roundwood timber framer.
Adrian Leaman from wholewoods.co.uk talks to us about his journey into the world of roundwood timber framing, green woodworking and building in general. We go off some wonderful tangents and hear many of Adrian’s philosophies. We end up with Adrian discussing his building gripes! Continue reading
In this episode of Building Sustainability we talk with Flo Hamer. Flo lives in a tiny home that she has built. We discuss how she became interested in tiny living, the build process and how it’s changed her way of life. Continue reading
Become a Patron!
In this month’s ‘Building Sustainability’ podcast, we talk with Rob Hopkins. A massive thanks to Rob for being such a wonderful guest… even if Google Maps tried to sabotage our meeting by sending him on a spurious and time consuming route!
Rob Hopkins is a cofounder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, and the author of The Power of Just Doing Stuff, The Transition Handbook, and The Transition Companion. In 2012, he was voted one of the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists and was on Nesta and the Observer’s list of Britain’s 50 New Radicals. Robhopkins.netContinue reading
This month we talk to Ben Moss from Bristol Wood Recycling Project (BWRP).
Ben set up the recycling project in 2004 with the aims of:
I’m very proud that an Earth Floor I created has just been shown on Channel 4’s: Grand Designs.
The episode can be seen here for a few more weeks
It was a joy and honour to be a small part of Ed and Rowena’s incredible journey in creating this very special home. The approach and outcome are equally wonderful.
The finish was linseed oil and a final coat of beeswax to finish. This floor is waterproof and hard wearing yet it has a slight softness to it which is very satisfying to walk on.
The clay for the floor was dug on site and the sand was from within a mile away.
Many thanks to Joe from Hartwyn for his hard work helping to lay the floor before the TV deadline!
More info on earth floors can be found on www.earthfloors.co.uk
Such a great podcast available over at abundant edge. A great range of permaculture-based interviews – go check them out.
“My guest today is Gabriel Franklin, master plasterer and the owner of the company “The Art of Plaster.” Gabriel grew up with a father who was a designer and builder who shared much of his trade with him from a young age. From the age of thirteen, Gabriel started on his dad’s bucket and cleanup crew and has been working in plastering and finish work ever since. As an artist and nature enthusiast he has traveled all over the American northeast and even as far as Australia with his trade and dedication to giving blank walls a voice with clay, lime, and gypsum plasters, saying he is inspired by artistic design and how natural materials can accentuate one’s personal experience within a living space.
In this interview Gabriel explains the difference in performance and characteristics of clay, lime and gypsum. He goes into detail about the importance of prep work and the variety of additives he uses to get specific finish effects and ad strength to his mixes. We even talk about some tricks of the trade and much more.”
I was very fortunate to attend the international straw bale conference in Colorado when I was in the states a few years ago. It had a profound effect on me. So I’m so very excited to be part of the organising team bringing you this!
SBUK Presents: The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018
Theme: Sowing the inspiration, growing the industry & harvesting the knowledge
Down To Earth – Swansea, UK – 10th,11th & 12th of August 2018:
SBUK are proud to present the inaugural ‘Big Straw Bale Gathering’ – a gathering to discuss and learn straw bale construction and share the latest and best thinking within the industry.
Held at Down To Earth’s beautiful strawbale roundhouse in South Wales. The weekend will feature talks, discussions and hands-on workshops, for all levels, led by the UK’s best natural builders and leading associated professionals. So come down and get excited about building with straw, learn some new techniques or get stuck into the geeky technical stuff.
When you are full of knowledge you can relax with great local organic food, music, dancing, yoga, ‘Strawbale Ale’, children’s activities and a host of extracurricular events ranging from walks to canyoneering on the beautiful Gower peninsular!
The Big Straw Bale Gathering will collect up everyone with an interest in straw bale building in the UK. No matter what level you are engaging with straw bale construction, there will be lots to learn at the BSBG. Jeffrey Hart – Events Director – SBUK
Tickets on sale soon from www.strawbalebuildinguk.com
StrawBale Building UK – SBUK – is a Community Benefit Society, formed in 2016 with the aim: To promote straw bale building and best practice within the sector.
In the age of the internet, I am still a huge believer in the humble natural building book. I can be drawn much deeper into a book, and stay much more focused. On our Hartwyn internship builds, I bring along my bookshelf for the interns to paw over, it’s really lovely to see!
So here, I shall list my favorite natural building books. I suspect this will be a work in progress as more come out (I’m eager to get my hands on Chris Magwood’s new one!).
If you think I have missed an important one, please add a comment!
“Making better buildings” looks at each element of a build (foundations, insulation, roofing), and analyses the options available. Using handy graphics you can quickly see how the options compare to each other and which fits your criteria for construction.
It goes into a small, but concise, amount of detail for each option but will give you a good starting point for further research.
I first became aware of Jacob and Ace at the International Straw Bale Conference in Colorado. I was hugely impressed by Jacob’s presentation and the level of thought and detail he put into his work. This book is a powerhouse of information – it is a proper read!
