Episodes

Support this podcast - Patreon The first of a Barnaby Carder ( Barn the Spoon ) double bill. Barn is a spoon carver, co-organises spoonfest and is the author of several books including the excellent Spon . In this episode Barn tells us about how he got into wood-working at a young age and later discovered the joys of working green wood. His journey has been unusual and is told with Barn's classic humour. This episode is sponsored by https://www.cyclaireshop.co.uk/ Episode links Spoonclub The Gre...

This episode is a conversation with Bristol Permaculture legend Sarah Pugh. We discuss the nuances of permaculture in a city and how permaculture is all about building communities. Black Lives Matter Links Donate to Stop Hate UK Black Lives Matter UK (UKBLM) Legal fund to combat racial injustice Petitions to sign Update GCSE reading list Teach British Children About the Realities of British Imperialism and Colonialism Anti-Racism Education to be Compulsory in U​K Schools Anti Racism Resources bi...

I talk with Paul Allen from the Centre for Alternative Technology about how Britain can get to Net Zero carbon using only existing technologies. Incorporating work from the last 12 years of Zero Carbon Britain research and the latest scientific and technological developments, the report presents a technically feasible scenario showcasing a future Zero Carbon Britain using only proven technology. Link: Executive summary of Zero Carbon Britain: Rising to the climate emergency Zero Carbon Britain: ...

This week we have a conversation with mud mason, Becky Little from Rebearth . "Rebearth is a Scottish company founded by mud mason Becky Little. We specialise in building, art and education using raw earth and natural materials. We have 25 years of experience in earth building techniques including mudwall (cob), wattle and daub, light clay and hemp, turf building, soft capping, clay plasters, earth sculpture and decoration. By learning from the past and working with nature, we celebrate and dev...

We continue our meander into the benefits for human health of access to countryside. This week in a conversation with writer, Illustrator and land justice campaigner - Nick Hayes Nick is just putting the finishing touches to his new book, 'The Book of Trespass - Crossing the Lines that Divide Us' and talks us through the themes and issues presented in the book. The Book of Trespass, Crossing the Lines that Divide Us A meditation on the fraught and complex relationship between land, politics and ...

This episode takes us a little away from our chosen niche, and looks at how we can create sustainability by getting out into nature, learning the plants and developing a deeper connection to the natural world. I talk with Fern Freud about foraging. Fern is a passionate forager and loves everything it encompasses: food, history, folklore, anthropology, the natural environment. She grew up foraging with her family on the South Downs, mainly for mushrooms, and now runs workshops and classes in Suss...

Claire O'Neill is a director at 'A Greener Festival' a not-for-profit company, committed to helping events, festivals and venues around the world to become more sustainable and to reduce environmental impacts. As pioneers in event sustainability since the first research in 2005, AGF provide certification, training, expertise, and facilitate the exchange of best practice. A Greener Festival Award was set up in 2007 and since assessed nearly 500 events across 5 continents, from 500 to 200,000 dail...

In the second of our birthday / lockdown triple bill... I have a conversation with Beth Williams, who is a 'Structural Engineer + Certified PassivHaus Designer. Passionate about diversity in construction, timber engineering and efficient, humble design' BETH WILLIAMS MEng (Hons), CEng MICE Beth graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2011 having studied Structural Engineering and Architecture. Beth has worked in architectural and engineering practices in Sheffield, Gloucestershire and now ...

It's Building Sustainability's first birthday & most of the world is on lockdown... So this month sees a triple Building Sustainability podcast release to celebrate / occupy your mind. The first of this month's episodes is: Lucy Pedler - Architect & Director 'The Green Register' Lucy started both The Green Register (TGR) and her architectural practice in 2000 when her children were 3 and 5 - she attributes the creation of these two new companies to sleep deprivation at the time. From a desk in h...

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: Recycling timber from the waste stream, Promoting social inclusion, Being self funding Providing affordable timber to the community. This is an excellent project that benefits the community on many levels and gets the maximum use out of precious materials. BWRP is part of nationwide group of wood recycling projects - hopefully this episode will encourage you to se...

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! 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...

Flo Hamer lives in a tiny house, it measures 4.8m x 2.4m - It contains everything she needs - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and lounge. It's a normal house, but tiny. For images check out her instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flostinyhouse/ Her house is a tiny house on wheels (THOW) meaning it's built on a trailer and it towable to new locations. Tiny houses have become quite the movement, especially in the US, New Zealand and Australia. Flo designed and built her tiny house and now lives in it...

Adrian Leaman from wholewoods.co.uk talks to us about his journey into the world of roundwood timber framing and green woodworking in general. We go off some wonderful tangents and end up with Adrian discussing his natural building gripes! Topics covered include: Adrian's journey from hands on education, to desk job and back again How permaculture has affected Adrian's life Working on Ben Law's renowned woodland home The hidden depths of processing your raw materials Support this podcast: https:...

In this month's Building Sustainability podcast we talk with Kiko Denzer. Kiko is perhaps best known as the author of ' Build Your Own Earth Oven' - https://tinyurl.com/2bu6xj7t (A book that made it into our favourite books list ). The interview is a meandering discussion featuring such topics as: Spoon carving Natural Building Christopher Alexander Bill Coperthwaite .....And a whole lot more! It was a really joyous time spent with Kiko, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Support this podca...

Natural builder, Bee Rowan talks to us about Ecococoon straw bale panels. These prefabricated panels are load bearing and highly insulating - the result is being able to build the entirety of your eco home in 2 days! We also talk about Bee's background, and how she ended up involved in straw bale building. Finally Bee talks about her work in Pakistan stabilising earth bricks with locally available lime to make them flood proof. Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability...

In this episode we talk to architect, Noel Isherwood. The discussion is largely based around Poundbury, which is the expansion of Dorchester. It was designed for humans and community, not cars. We talk about some of the ideas which made Poundbury ground breaking, elements that worked and what didn't and how it has been received by others. Click here for more information on Poundbury (includes images of the architecture and planning details) Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/buildings...

This month sees us talking to Judith Thornton from Aberystwyth University. Judith is looking at alternative natural insulators that can be grown. She has a particular interest in how we stop biodegradable materials biodegrading. Judith was just involved in building the world's first miscanthus insulated house. The Miscanthus was baled up like a regular straw bale and the house was build in the same way that a regular straw bale house would be. Why does she want to improve on current straw bale m...

In this episode of Building Sustainability I talk with Dave ‘The Bodger’ Cockroft about the hidden benefits of craft. We talk specifically about spoons and chairs of which Dave is an exceptionally talented maker. We start off with some tool chat, then find out what a ‘Bodger’ is and how the term has been changed over the year. There is a fair amount of spoon carving chat, as well as a lot about chairs and Dave’s particular style. A theme we talk a lot on is the benefits gained by concentrating o...

Emma Appleton has drawn up a list of 100 ways to make an anti capitalist building site. We discuss some of the issues that exist on current building sites and the larger effects, then we delve more deeply into Emma's list to better understand how we can create a more harmonious building culture. Links to Emma work Emma's Website - http://emmaappleton.co.uk/ Emma Appleton TEDx Talk - Building sites without patriarchal capitalism Support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability...

One Planet Development is a welsh planning policy which enables those wishing to live off the land to buy agricultural land and build a house. Chris Vernon has not only just done this, but also runs the One Planet Council to give advice and assistance to those wanting to do the same. In this episode we discuss: The One Planet Development policy, what it entails and how it's unique. Chris' particular piece of land and how they are meeting the requirements for the policy. The straw bale house that...

Jeffrey is joined by his colleague Joe Duirwyn to discuss how their company, Hartwyn, uses a unique student model to train future natural builders on their live builds. They discuss how Hartwyn's free training program benefits the students and finds a unique way to make the labour heavy natural building process more affordable. They also discuss the aims of the podcast and run through some of the upcoming episodes that will be delighting your ears in the upcoming months! Support this podcast: ht...