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Straw-bale building





One Planet Development smallholder Paul Jennings : how to make a living on an organic smallholding

Trying to make a living on an organic smallholding: Paul Jennings, ‘One-Planet’ smallholder

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This is part 2 of an interview with Paul Jennings, who has built his own straw-bale house and lives with his family on a smallholding in Carmarthenshire in Wales. They were able to build their house via the One Planet Development (OPD) policy in Wales. Here’s part 1 of the interview.

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Natural building meets mutual credit: Phil Christopher of Huff & Puff Construction

Natural building and mutual credit: Phil Christopher of Huff & Puff Construction

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This is an informal chat with Phil Christopher of Huff & Puff Construction. He’s a natural builder who has registered his business with the Open Credit Network. He sees mutual credit as a way to build an alternative economy – sustainable, based on small- and medium-sized businesses, and embedded in communities. We talk about ways

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Interested in building with straw? Don’t miss The Big Straw Bale Gathering!

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It’s not too late to join the biggest straw-bale building event of the year this August in Swansea. Jeffrey Hart of SBUK tells us about how you can get involved, learning all about building with straw from an impressive line-up of speakers to hands-on workshops.

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Could all new houses be built with rammed earth and straw-bale?

A south-facing, rammed earth, straw-bale-insulated house doesn’t need heating; why aren’t all new houses built this way?

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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

Read more about A south-facing, rammed earth, straw-bale-insulated house doesn’t need heating; why aren’t all new houses built this way?