Info, news & debate
Rammed earth building
Building the new economy with mutual credit in Costa Rica
Here’s a conversation with Emmanuel Savard, co-founder of a group in Costa Rica that’s looking at providing all the essentials of life – food production, housing and energy – for their town via regenerative, non-extractive, sustainable, community-based exchange and investment models.
Virtual International Clayfest 2020 – ‘building’ skills and building ‘skills’
It’s a highlight of the natural building calendar not to be missed. EBUKI share news of this year’s upcoming virtual Clayfest, exploring and celebrating all things earth building on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th November 2020.
Interested in earth building? Come to EBUKI’s mini Clayfest 2019 in Wales!
Rowland Keable of Earth Building UK and Ireland shares news of a mini but mighty Clayfest 2019 with the theme of building confidence in clay.
Calling all earth-building enthusiasts – come and join Clayfest 2018!
With nine different earth building techniques covered and a whole host of activity planned, this is the place to be for anyone interested in building with earth. Rowland Keable at EBUKI tells us more.
A south-facing, rammed earth, straw-bale-insulated house doesn’t need heating; why aren’t all new houses built this way?
Rowland ran rammed earth building courses with us for years. He said then that a C-shaped, rammed earth house with straw-bales for external insulation, and as much glass on the south side and as little glass on the north side as possible, wouldn’t need any heating. We wanted to catch up with him to learn …
Join our new online community Living Low Impact
We’re excited to introduce our new Facebook group Living Low Impact – and you’re invited!
Clayfest, June 12-17: let’s build more homes with earth rather than bricks and cement
The renaissance of earth building in the UK reflects not only the beauty and utility of the material but also the pressures of rising building costs and the need for lower energy use and waste in building products.
Can you help Barbara Jones and Straw Works set up a National Skills Centre?
Barbara Jones of Straw Works / School of Natural Building is the country’s top straw-bale builder. She is the author of Building with Straw Bales, and is the star of our straw-bale building online course.
Building a small home has a big payback
Let’s get one thing straight right away…When I say “small”, I don’t mean living in a shoe box. What I mean by “small” is living in a space that is designed…well designed…for your needs…and no more. A small space doesn’t mean cramped.
Can you adopt a natural builder for 3 nights in exchange for a free VIP ticket to Ecobuild?
Ecobuild is a three-day natural building exhibition at the Excel Centre in London from the 8th to the 10th of March. Ecobuild is the leading UK exhibition and conference for the construction and energy market
Why cement should never be used with natural buildings
I am often asked to help with other people’s designs, but one of my principles is never to design with cement. Not everyone knows this about me, and I was recently asked what my general experience was with stem walls made of concrete
Career change? How to become a self-employed natural builder
We’re approached a lot by people wanting to change career to one focused on one of the topics on our website. The most common topic is probably low-impact building.
Earth Building UK are looking for two new directors – can you help?
Earth Building UK is a registered charity involved in a wide range of activities to do with all aspects of earth building. We don’t know exactly how many earth buildings there are in the UK – many thousands certainly, and built using a wide range of techniques.
Why ‘rammed earth’ doesn’t contain cement
Earth building, including rammed earth building, produces very low carbon emissions. However, there is a confusion between rammed earth – a mix of clay, sand and stones – and dry-pack concrete, too often called ‘stabilised rammed earth’.