Natural Materials Episodes

Sigi Koko is the principal designer of Down to Earth Design, which she founded in 1998 to help her clients manifest their dreams of living in a natural, healthy home. She works exclusively on projects that are natural, energy-efficient buildings, on the forefront of sustainable design. Every project functions in synchronicity with its environment, relating to seasonal cycles of sun, wind, and rain to provide natural heating and cooling primarily from passive (free!) sources. Her clients enjoy an...

Well, there's a title I didn't expect to write when I started this podcast! Today I'm talking to Danny and Zach from Terran Robotics about their work training AI drones to build cob homes. Now this might sound a little crazy when you are first introduced to the idea, but the logic behind it is solid. To make affordable homes, build with the cheapest material and reduce the labor costs. Have a listen to the work that Danny and Zach are up to today and let me know what you think! Episode Links ...

With energy prices soaring, everybody has good reason to be thinking about adding more insulation to their home. In this episode we are discussing the best types of insulation for your home and the pros and cons of some different types. A recommended listen for anyone looking to increase the energy efficiency of their home. Ben Kerslake is back! Ben last joined us way back in Episode 45 to discuss solving damp problems with lime plaster. Check out insulation month at: https://www.carringtonlim...

Part 2! (Check out episode 67 for Part 1) With energy prices soaring, everybody has good reason to be thinking about adding more insulation to their home. In this episode we are discussing the best types of insulation for your home and the pros and cons of some different types. A recommended listen for anyone looking to increase the energy efficiency of their home. Ben Kerslake is back! Ben last joined us way back in Episode 45 to discuss solving damp problems with lime plaster. Check out ins...

We discuss the report created by Material Cultures and ARUP which examines the potential positive impacts of a bioregional construction economy, from improvements in biodiversity to an increase in construction jobs and security; building a case for redistributing the values of the construction industry towards a cleaner, sustainable methodology for growth that is beneficial to all. It can be viewed here. Until recently, little attention has been paid to the carbon impacts of the construction an...

John Butler is back for another episode, this time focussing on 'natural' materials and their whole life carbon. Topics include: What natural means, is it a useful descriptor? The results from a new UK Straw Bale Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Is there enough straw to build a reasonable quantity of homes with? Why is John called the woodlouse? This episode has associated graphs to peruse on the BSP website: https://www.buildingsustainabilitypodcast.com/what-is-the-environmental-im...

In this episode John explains the principles and requirements of Passivhaus construction. He dispels some common myths and goes into some of the nuances of how its achieved. Does living in a passivhaus mean living in a bubble? Can I open the windows in a passivhaus? How airtight should it be? What are the benefits of MVHR? John's work can be found here: https://www.sustainablebuildconsultancy.com/ Links from this episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies https://passivehouse...

The construction industry needs a shake up. Not just in the materials that are used but in the cultures within the industry. We talk about George and Summer's take on how we should be constructing and discuss their design for the Waste Age exhibition in London. My Movember Space - https://uk.movember.com/mospace/14634309 Mental health support links: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/getting-help https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/mental-health-and-stigma/help-and-support Find local support charit...

Welcome back to Building Sustainability, this episode I'm joined by Architect, Academic , Author & Environmental Activist - Duncan Baker Brown. We are talking circular economy in the built environment, issues of sustainable development, deconstruction and closed-looped systems. - We've had a short break here while doing a plastering job for the Design Museum in London. The exhibition opens on the 23rd of October 2021 and full info can be found here: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/waste-ag...

Part two of the conversation with earth builder Alex Gibbons. Applications for the SPAB fellowship close on the 14th of September - https://www.spab.org.uk/learning/fellowship Sarah Pugh Just giving link - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sarahpugh?utm_term=qGVKkgbAG SPAB craft fellowship - https://www.spab.org.uk/learning/fellowship William Morris - News from Nowhere book - https://tinyurl.com/23n8b6c7 Alex Gibbons Website - https://www.stickinthemudconservation.com/ Work I did with Ale...

Part one of the conversation with earth builder Alex Gibbons in which we discuss his route into mud building, old buildings, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Clay Dabbins, and his clay barn Priors Lynn. Applications for the SPAB fellowship close on the 14th of September - https://www.spab.org.uk/learning/fellowship Sarah Pugh Just giving link - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sarahpugh?utm_term=qGVKkgbAG SPAB craft fellowship - https://www.spab.org.uk/learning/fellow...

Daniel Postma is natural builder who has come to it from an interesting background - Archeology. Daniel is a specialist in traditional turf construction and learnt by doing as an experimental archaeologist. Archaeo Build specialises in the interaction between past and present forms of natural building. We bring together skills and understanding from archaeology, vernacular building conservation and modern-day natural building. It's fascinating to learn the intricacies about this seemingly very...

This is the first of two episodes with Craig White of White Design, Modcell & Agile Homes. This episode focuses on Craig's design principles with some side nerding about windows and a small amount of architect poking! Episode Links Agile Homes - https://agile.property/ Modcell - https://www.modcell.com/ Post Occupancy Evaluation - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236144016_Post-Occupancy_Evaluation_A_Multifaceted_Tool_for_Building_Improvement LILAC - https://www.lilac.coop/ TRADA - ht...

Phil Christopher is treasurer for SBUK as well as running Huff and Puff construction, specialising in straw bale construction. We have a little catch up and Phil tells me about the projects he's been working on over the last few years. Links ACAN Natural Building Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSkp1SwgOA ACAN Straw Event - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/natural-materials-masterclass-straw-tickets-163901043433 Bale House Hastings - https://www.hastings.gov.uk/parks_gardens_allo...

Something a bit special for episode 50 of the Building Sustainability Podcast. This is a reciprocal episode with Amy Umbel and Brien Beidler from Cut The Craft Podcast - They came on Building Sustainability to talk about craft and give their delightful insights into some of the nuances within the area. In return I was a guest on their Cut the Craft podcast to talk about Natural Building. It was a really fun day of getting to know Amy and Brien, we laughed a whole lot! Links Cut the Craft Podc...

This week I am incredibly excited to be joined by Bill Browning and Catie Ryan from Terrapin Bright Green to discuss biophilic design. Biophilic design is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions. Used at both the building and city-scale, it is argued that this idea has health, environmental, and economic benefits for building occupants and urban envi...

This week I'm joined by Flora Arbuthnott from www.plantsandcolour.co.uk. Having met Flora a few years ago, I was keen for her to be a guest on the podcast. We discuss the many similarities between her practices of creating colour from plants and my practice of building homes, from plants. Flora also goes through the process of extracting some colour from a flower so that you can try it at home. Flora's Bio: I make dyes, inks, and paints out of plants for drawing, painting, printing, and dyeing...

Martin Brown joins me to discuss how we can make regenerative buildings. We discuss Martin's 'Zoom Regenerative' which was alongside Building Sustainability in the ASBP 2021 Awards final. We also discuss The Living Building Challenge to find out what it is and how it works. Building Sustainability Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability Links Martin's website - https://fairsnape.com/ Regen Notes (Newsletter) - https://fairsnape.substack.com/ Building Sustainability Website - ht...

This is part 2 of Rowland Keable of Earth Building UK & Ireland (EBUKI) & Rammed Earth Consulting giving us a byte size delve into the magic that is clay. Clay truly is a magic material and it continues to surprise me all the time. This substance that sticks to the soles of our boots that the peasants used to build with.... Surely we can do better than that as a building material? Well, as it turns out, this hugely versatile material is actually hugely beneficial for our health when we live aro...

Chris Magwood not only has a huge wealth of experience building straw bale homes, but has the building science Masters degree to back up his experience. We discuss how the built environment can go from being the worst offender for climate change, to every building being a carbon store, so actively reversing climate change. Links Chris Magwood website - https://www.chrismagwood.ca/ Endeavour Centre website - https://endeavourcentre.org/ Canada's Greenest Home - https://endeavourcentre.org/proje...

Rowland Keable of Earth Building UK & Ireland (EBUKI) & Rammed Earth Consulting gives us a byte size delve into the magic that is clay. Clay truly is a magic material and it continues to surprise me all the time. This substance that sticks to the soles of our boots that the peasants used to build with.... Surely we can do better than that as a building material? Well, as it turns out, this hugely versatile material is actually hugely beneficial for our health when we live around it. It's also r...

This week I am joined by Ben Kerslake from Carrington Lime. As well as a general geek out about lime, we mostly talk about how to solve damp problems in homes with some simple observation and materials choices. We discuss why the modern conventional approach of 'tanking' a building is usually fixing a symptom, rather than dealing with the problem. ASBP Awards - Register for your free ticket here: https://asbp.org.uk/events/asbp-awards-2021-final Triodos Free £60 - https://join.triodos.co.uk/...

Patreon support - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability This episode I'm talking with Caz Ingall, who is a willow coffin weaver. We talk, not just of the process of weaving a vessel to bury a loved one, but a lot to do with the disconnection our modern culture has with death and the grief surrounding. About Caz: "I started working with willow more than a decade ago and was immediately hooked on both the craftform and the fact that I could be in control of everything along the journe...

Today I'm talking with Alice and Gavin Munro from Full Grown about their exceptional work growing complete chairs from trees. So the normal procedure is to wait 50 years for a tree to grow, chop it down and begin cutting it into smaller and smaller parts. At some point the parts are small enough and you can now join them back together with glue to make a chair. Depending on the competency of the joinery and strength of the glue, your chair might last 50-100 years? Alice and Gavin Munro have a ...