tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58158179010507803122024-03-06T20:02:56.579+00:00the WoodlouseBlogging about strawbale selfbuild, sustainable building, adaptation to climate change, and associated ramblings.John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.comBlogger80120tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-68832408825805196602018-05-09T14:30:00.001+01:002018-05-09T14:30:11.568+01:00All things sustainable build relatedHello neglected readers,<br />
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I meant to keep posting links to the new home for this blog each time I posted there, but clearly I have failed to do that. Sorry!<br /><br />There are a few new posts on the new page, all related to sustainable building in different ways. To be sure of seeing new posts as I write them, please follow or bookmark the new home for The Woodlouse Blog:<br />
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<a href="http://sustainablebuildconsultancy.com/blog/">http://sustainablebuildconsultancy.com/blog/</a><br />
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-77646123819976579002017-01-19T14:08:00.000+00:002017-01-19T14:08:05.686+00:00New Home!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello - it's been a while!<br />
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Any remaining subscribers have probably given up any hope of me ever posting anything here again. I'm back - but in a new home integrated into my new website. For a while I'll post a link here when I post things on the new site, but for a seamless transition I recommend following or book-marking the new site.<br />
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So, the new home is (unnecessarily melodramatic drumroll).... <a href="http://sustainablebuildconsultancy.com/blog/">http://sustainablebuildconsultancy.com/blog/</a><br />
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If I can get my head around the necessary steps I may be able to import this blog into the new one, but I think you'd still need to subscribe again individually, should you wish to. John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-86754223095244657432015-09-15T21:21:00.000+01:002015-09-16T21:47:08.736+01:00Embodied and Disembodied Carbon<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">UPDATED 16.9.2015 - see notes in hempcrete section </span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Sustainable materials</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Earlier this week I posted this chart on twitter, showing the carbon emissions resulting from the production of one square metre of some different walls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s been generating some interest, not least from those very sensibly wanting to see the calculations that led to it. The chart came from a talk I gave last week on embodied carbon in building materials, part of West Dorset Open EcoHomes. This blog is a combination of some of the main points from my talk, and an explanation of how I arrived at the chart above. For each section I’ve put key points first, with more-detailed explanation of the calculations and data second. Those that are interested can look at them, but anyone who doesn’t want the detail can scroll past it to the next bit. I’m very interested to see whether my figures and calculations stand up to scrutiny – please do critique and correct them via the comments box at the bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">This is a bit of a long blog. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Two things have emerged repeatedly during the last year on the awesome </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation-in-the-built-environment"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MSc Sustainability Adaptation and the Built Environment, at Centre for Alternative Technology</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">:</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The interconnectedness of all things</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's complicated</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Many things affect what is or isn't a sustainable material. The choice must be the best balance of them all. There are a few key factors. Sustainable materials should minimise energy use and extraction of raw materials, and maximise potential for reuse or recycling <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_1J2BEi2lYgGcY9UBLfDmp">[1]</a>. Energy use is important mainly because of the carbon emissions associated with it.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied energy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Buildings contribute to energy use during production of materials, operation (mainly heating and cooling), and deconstruction <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_Rc83L8VpwJrNzyAqyhqu5">[2,3]</a>. The energy used to extract, process and transport raw materials is their embodied energy <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_g3VAxeOqbw3DNatSMZmlT">[4,5]</a>. The CO<sub>2</sub> released by production of that energy is their embodied carbon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">As buildings become better insulated, more airtight, and generally more energy efficient, the importance of embodied carbon increases <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_zCOPqxUQqnTiDBHnM1kID">[6]</a>. It is important to reduce energy use (and associated CO<sub>2 </sub>emissions) in both production <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> use of buildings by using materials with low embodied-carbon, which also provide high levels of insulation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">If that can be done using materials which use minimal non-renewable resources, and which have least toxic pollutants associated with their production, then all the better.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied Carbon</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">So, embodied carbon refers to the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions resulting from production of a material. It’s expressed as kg of CO<sub>2</sub> per kg of material: kgCO<sub>2</sub>/kg, sometimes given as kgCO<sub>2</sub>e/kg – the ‘e’ means ‘equivalent’ meaning other greenhouse gases are included, represented by the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> that has an equivalent contribution to global warming potential <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_3TDquWV1SQsXLFOu8PBHt">[7]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">That chart above shows my calculation of the embodied carbon per square metre of four different wall systems, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">each providing the same level of insulation </i>(U-Value 0.118 W/m<sup>2</sup>K – slightly arbitrary but chosen to match the U-value of my own strawbale walls). I find it more useful to compare embodied carbon this way as it relates to the amount of materials used, and accounts for density. Some materials may have high-embodied carbon per kg, but if that material is light then not many kg of it will be used.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">A brief note on calculations.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br />
After calculating the thicknesses of each insulation material needed to reach the same U-Value, I worked out the volume of all the different materials in each wall. From this the embodied carbon per m<sup>2</sup> is calculated as follows</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Volume of material in one m<sup>2</sup> of wall (m<sup>3</sup>) x density of that material (kg/m<sup>3</sup>) = weight of material in one m<sup>2</sup> of wall (kg/m<sup>2</sup>).<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Weight of material in one m<sup>2</sup> of wall (kg) x embodied carbon of that material (kgCO<sub>2</sub>/kg) = embodied carbon per m<sup>2</sup> (CO<sub>2</sub>/m<sup>2</sup>)<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Adding together the CO<sub>2</sub>/m<sup>2</sup> of each material gives the total embodied carbon per m<sup>2</sup>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied carbon, density, and some thermal conductivity data is taken from the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.circularecology.com/embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-database.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Inventory of Carbon and Energy</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_4WmNCGhGLaAGYLB8kvP9X">[8]</a>. This is a brilliant resource, with data sourced from peer-reviewed studies. There already some newer materials which aren’t covered, but a huge range are.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Four walls</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The four wall-types are used as examples to illustrate the differences in embodied carbon of different materials. I’m hoping they represent a sample of conventional and sustainable building methods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve factored in the main materials in each wall type, but have had to make some assumptions (eg: number of studs in timber frame wall), and have excluded fixings (screws, nail-plates, nails, wall-ties etc). A key omission in the U-value calculations is thermal bridges, which – frankly – I’ve ignored. I just wanted accurate-enough data to explore and compare embodied carbon in a meaningful way, but there is a limit and I should be writing my dissertation (funnily enough, about timber thermal bridges in strawbale buildings).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Given the identical U-value, each wall-type should produce a building with identical operational energy (differing thermal mass will have some impact on this, but that’s beyond my ability to calculate), with the differing levels of embodied carbon being the significant variable in lifetime carbon emissions.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Strawbale</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">First up, a loadbearing strawbale wall. The calculations include timber used in base and wall plates, internal earth-sand plaster and external lime-sand render.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">What surprised me about this was the amount of carbon relating to lime – this makes up a quarter of the render, which is a 30mm layer on the wall, yet is by far the biggest contributor to the embodied carbon of wall. This begins to suggest that lime is not a low carbon material, though it is still a lower-carbon alternative to cement for situations where a hardwearing cementitious substance is needed. The embodied carbon of lime is 0.78 kgCO<sub>2</sub>e/kg; cement is 0.95 kgCO<sub>2</sub>e/kg. Lime is also less dense, reducing embodied carbon per volume, compared to cement. More on lime (including possible re-absorption of CO<sub>2</sub>) later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The straw (acting as insulation and structure) is the biggest part of the wall by volume, but still the second-lowest contributor to embodied carbon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Straw is annually-renewable, the waste stalks left from grain production.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Techie bit</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s the u-value calculation, also indicating the thicknesses of different materials.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The thermal conductivity value for straw bale is a median of figures from Wimmer et al (2000) <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_V5TKoMejztEQVKaeVUCI2">[9]</a> and Goodhew and Griffiths (2005) <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_sHLlMcFnTSIMBK3P5Odil">[10]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s the spreadsheet with volume, weight and embodied carbon figures. See above for calculations used, as I forgot to add them visibly to the spreadsheet (if anyone <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">really</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> wants to check my figures I’m happy to email the spreadsheet).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Timber and OSB volume is based on detail drawings from </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.strawworks.co.uk/technical/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Straw Works</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> for base plate and roof plate. Volume of timber in linear metre of each, totalled then divided by two, assuming room height of at least 2 m (rough and ready calculation but hopefully close to reality).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bale density is derived from the median weight and size of a construction bale in Jones (2009) <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_7A5AxNtJ30xXSVaLjmcg7">[11]</a>: 20.5kg, size 1.05 m x 0.36 m x 0.46 m</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Brick, block and polyurethane (PUR)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is still the most common conventional building technique, though the thickness of insulation here is probably much greater than in standard builds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I was expecting a high figure for the PUR (oil-based) insulation, but was shocked by the high-embodied carbon of the bricks – production of one m<sup>2</sup> of standard brick wall causes 41.62 kg CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. That excludes the mortar, which I failed to calculate. Hard to escape the conclusion that bricks should be avoided! On the other hand, if built with lime or other relatively-soft mortar that allows the bricks to be separated at the end of a building’s life, then bricks can be reused repeatedly, which would share their embodied carbon over the lifetime of several buildings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The PUR board is a big contributor to the embodied carbon of this building system, as are the insulating concrete blocks. Having just looked at Kingspan and Celotex websites, it seems PUR board is being replaced by PIR (polyisocyanurate) or phenolic foam board, which may have different embodied carbon to PUR (ICE database doesn’t list them, but </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/insulation-oil-derived/#urethane"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Greenspec</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> lists PIR and PUR as having the same embodied energy).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">This wall system is composed entirely of non-renewable resources, though some materials can be reused.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve been “kind” to this wall by giving it low-embodied carbon earthen plaster on the inside, which hasn’t made much impact on the total embodied carbon.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Techie bit</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">U-value calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied carbon calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Calculations exclude mortar in brick and block walls.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Twinwall timber frame, cellulose fibre insulation</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Image source: MBC Timberframe <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_x6BXFnAx7VMKnLDwRNqTA">[12] </a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied carbon contributions are more evenly spread amongst the components of this wall, with plasterboard and cement-sand render being the largest individual contributors. Overall I think this wall performs well for sustainability. It has much lower embodied carbon than the brick/block wall, and although higher carbon than strawbale, still has a high proportion of renewable materials in timber and cellulose fibre (which is made from recycled newspaper).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">U-Value calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied carbon calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">In calculating timber volume I’ve assumed two uprights per m<sup>2 </sup>(500mm centres), which makes four uprights, each 100 mm x 50 mm x 1000 mm (0.005 m<sup>3</sup> x 4 = 0.02 m<sup>3</sup>), plus four noggins, each 100 mm x 50 mm x 100 mm (0.0005 m<sup>3</sup> x 4 = 0.002 m<sup>3</sup>). Service cavity has another two uprights, 1000 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm (0.005 m<sup>3</sup> total).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Cellulose fibre density and embodied carbon figures are the medians of figures from two Environmental Product Declarations for cellulose fibre <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_athCY3p8OMZAXGzYMBM6Q">[13,14]</a>.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Hempcrete</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Hempcrete is chopped hemp stalk mixed with a lime binder. To make sense of the charts here a brief explanation of building lime is needed, in particular the lime cycle. To produce building lime as lime-putty, limestone is burned, driving off carbon (as CO<sub>2</sub>) and converting Calcium Carbonate into Calcium Oxide. This is then reacted with water to form Calcium Hydroxide – lime putty. Lime putty is mixed with aggregate (e.g. sand or hemp), and as it cures it recombines with carbon from the atmosphere (CO<sub>2</sub>) to form Calcium Carbonate again. In theory – if fully carbonated – cured lime has reabsorbed all the CO<sub>2</sub> that was driven off during it’s production, but not any CO<sub>2</sub> emitted by burning the fuel used to heat the lime the first stage of the cycle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Another kind of building lime is Natural Hydraulic Lime (NHL), made by burning limestone that contains impurities. NHL sets faster than lime-putty, and though it still re-carbonates does not do so to the same degree as lime-putty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Pozzolans (crushed brick or calcined china clay) can be added to lime-putty to encourage a faster set, similar to NHL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Why is this relevant? The carbon driven off during the burning of lime is included in the embodied carbon figure for lime, so it’s reabsorption by curing lime should be included in calculation of total embodied carbon for walls using lime. There’s a very big <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">but</i> here: that assumes 100% re-carbonation, which is unlikely. Most commercial hempcrete is made using NHL, which doesn’t recarbonate as well as hempcrete made using lime-putty, even if the lime-putty has pozzolan added <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_fkWfhDbAue9YKF3SAHQu7">[15]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve calculated the embodied CO<sub>2</sub> of hempcrete walls for two cases, one with no carbonation, and one with 100% carbonation. Neither is an especially likely scenario – the truth is probably somewhere in between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">These results surprised me. Even if the lime has 100% re-carbonated (second chart), the total embodied carbon from a lime-rendered hempcrete wall is second only to the block and PUR wall. Hempcrete is often touted as a highly sustainable material, but now I’m not so sure. In its defence, the use of non-renewable resources is limited to the lime, with hemp being a fully renewable crop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>UPDATED 16.9.2015:</b> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">after a conversation </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">with <a href="https://strugsus.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">fellow MSc student Cornelia Peike</a></span></span> about the surprisingly high embodied carbon of hempcrete shown here, I looked</span> again at the study [17] I drew hempcrete embodied carbon data from. I now realise it includes transport to building site, which is excluded from calculations for all the other wall-types here, and would likely lead to significant increase in their embodied carbon if it was included. This inflates the hempcrete figures somewhat in comparison. I've tried to find an embodied carbon figure for hemp aggregate without transport to site but haven't yet managed to.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Techie bit</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">U-value calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Thermal conductivity from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_Lf5f4uow7eJ8Vh7zfLlRR">[16]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Embodied carbon calculation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Density, embodied carbon, and carbon reabsorption data derived from Ip and Miller (2012) <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_5vh1L3fm1YMjdhhqUssBo">[17]</a> (which includes timber frame but excludes render, which I’ve added).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>UPDATED 16.9.2015:</b> Ip and Miller [17] give the carbon emissions (46.63 </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">kg</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CO<sub>2</sub></span></span></span>) and density (275 kg/</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3</sup></span>) of 0.3 </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3</sup></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> of hempcrete wall, including timber, hemp and lime. They give carbon absorption for</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"> 0.3 </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of their wall as 28.55 kg for lime, and 45.82 kg for hemp.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">I've calculated the kg</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CO<sub>2</sub></span>/kg from that as follows:<br />Density/Volume = 275/0.3 = 82.5 kg = weight of 0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of hempcrete wall</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Carbon emissions of 0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall / weight of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall = 46.63/82.5 = 0.57 </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">kg</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CO<sub>2</sub></span>/kg</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Lime carbon absorption of 0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall / weight of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall = 28.55/82.5 = 0.35 </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">kg</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CO<sub>2</sub></span>/kg</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Hemp carbon sequestration of 0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall / weight of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">0.3 </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">m<sup>3 </sup></span>of wall = 45.82/82.5 = 0.56 </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">kg</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CO<sub>2</sub></span>/kg</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Transport</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Transport emissions have a major impact on embodied carbon. The chart below shows the weight per m<sup>2</sup> of the four wall systems. I haven’t calculated the transport emissions, but they will be greatest for the heaviest materials, if hauled the same distance (the heavier the load – the greater the amount of fuel needed to haul it).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">The twinwall timber frame with cellulose insulation starts to look pretty good here. The light weight of the system means its transport emissions will be lower, if hauled the same distance as the other systems. Hempcrete is not looking so good here – it’s heavy! The combined materials of a strawbale wall are quite heavy too, though only second-heaviest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">A key factor for transport emissions is distance. Greater distances incur greater transport emissions. With any of the wall types, embodied carbon can be reduced or increased by shortening or lengthening the distance from source to site of use.</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">Carbon storage (sequestration)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is an argument that in addition to having low-embodied CO<sub>2</sub>, straw and hemp (and other crop-based building materials) can help reduce atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> levels by storing it in the structure of a building. As the plants grow they process CO<sub>2</sub> from the air, releasing oxygen back to the atmosphere and storing the carbon in their molecular structure. In this way a kg of strawbale sequesters 1.35 kgCO<sub>2</sub> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_pUo95g5NUnKrYXrpXeAX5">[18]</a>, and a kg of hemp sequesters 0.56 kgCO<sub>2</sub> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="ZOTERO_BREF_Suhmy41Txn7TPU6YhczG0">[17]</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Potentially, a lot of CO<sub>2</sub> can be locked up in this way (27.7 kg of CO<sub>2</sub> per each 20.5 kg strawbale), and it is often stated as an extra environmental benefit of building with straw and hemp (I’m guilty here). The difficulty is that the stored carbon could be released at the end of a buildings life if the straw or hemp are allowed to rot, or burned. In this case their embodied carbon values (as above) remain the same, but the storage value is lost. For the storage to be significant long term, the materials would need to be reused.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Endnote</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hopefully I've made some sense of how I got my figures. There are holes in the data, but I think it's enough to provide some useful comparison of the contrasting carbon emissions from production of a few different wall-types. When there are different means to produce a building with the same operational energy efficiency and operational emissions, choosing the means with the lowest embodied carbon will always result in the lowest overall carbon emissions.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt;">References</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: ZOTERO_BREF_3CLByTlBAw5NPJRw22hsz;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[15]<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>R. Walker, S. Pavia, R. Mitchell, Mechanical properties and durability of hemp-lime concretes, Constr. Build. Mater. 61 (2014) 340–348. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.02.065.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: ZOTERO_BREF_3CLByTlBAw5NPJRw22hsz;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[17]<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>K. Ip, A. Miller, Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of hemp–lime wall constructions in the UK, Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 69 (2012) 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.09.001.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: ZOTERO_BREF_3CLByTlBAw5NPJRw22hsz;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[18]<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>B. Sodagar, D. Rai, B. Jones, J. Wihan, R. Fieldson, The carbon-reduction potential of straw-bale housing, Build. Res. Inf. 39 (2011) 51–65. doi:10.1080/09613218.2010.528187.</span></span></div>
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John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-288949690135843092015-03-27T10:17:00.000+00:002015-03-27T10:17:09.875+00:00Energy Flows and Thermal Comfort<br />
<em></em><em>This post was written for the <a href="http://www.cat.org.uk/index.html" target="_blank">Centre of Alternative Technology's</a> student blog, reporting on the latest module of the <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation">MSc Sustainability and Adaptation</a> courses at CAT (I'm studying<em> on the </em><a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation-in-the-built-environment" title="course details">MSc Sustainability and Adaptation in the Built Environment</a> course). The original blog can be found here: <a href="http://blog.cat.org.uk/2015/03/26/getting-to-grips-with-thermal-comfort/">http://blog.cat.org.uk/2015/03/26/getting-to-grips-with-thermal-comfort/</a> along with some great blogs by other students on the MSc and Architecture Part II (Professional Diploma) courses, and CAT's own excellent blog covering a wide range of sustainability issues.</em><br />
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<a href="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/16317057873_04bf734290_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="educational building" border="0" class=" " height="148" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/16317057873_04bf734290_z.jpg" title="educational building" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>The view from a bedroom in the WISE building, home of the MSc and Part II Architecture students</i></div>
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The March module of CATs <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation" title="MSc">Sustainability and Adaptation MSc</a>
was part B of Energy Flows in Buildings. Part A (in February)
introduced us to ideas of thermal comfort and its relation to heat
transfers from the human body to its surroundings. This was tied to the
implications of maintaining that thermal comfort, and the impact on
energy use. We learnt about calculating U-Values (used as a standard
measure of the thermal efficiency of a building element), and
daylighting: making best use of natural daylight in a building and
calculating the resulting energy savings.<br />
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Part B expanded on this getting into more detail about limiting the
flows of energy through a building, whilst addressing issues around
ventilation and movement of moisture. A sustainable building should
maintain a comfortable environment – comfortably warm in winter,
comfortably cool in summer, ideal humidity levels, good air quality –
with minimal energy input, and without moisture ingress causing
degradation of the building fabric. Throughout the week different
elements of possible means to achieve this were discussed.<br />
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A recurring theme throughout the week was retrofit – upgrading the
thermal efficiency of existing buildings to reduce their energy use and
related CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. The most commonly stated best-estimate
is that around 80% of existing houses will still be in use by 2050; the
potential contribution to reduced energy use and emissions from such a
large number of buildings is huge, but presents a challenge. There are
advantages and disadvantages to various approaches, from aesthetic
considerations (eg: changing the appearance of a building when
externally insulating it), to practical (eg: loss of space when
internally insulating), to technical (eg: the risk of condensation
forming at the meeting of new insulation and existing structure if it is
not carefully considered). Planning and conservation concerns can also
influence or restrict choices for retrofit.<br />
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<img alt="viewing insulation retrofit" class=" " height="300" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8725/16936128631_5b87db8f8f.jpg" title="viewing insulation retrofit" width="400" /></div>
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<i>MSc students examine mockups of internal and external insulation, for solid-wall retrofit</i></div>
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There are also issues and trade-offs surrounding choice of insulation
materials – the most highly efficient materials may have a greater
overall environmental impact than some less efficient materials. Some
are more breathable (open to passage of moisture vapour) than others,
which can have both positive and negative implications, depending on
application.<br />
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Another recurring theme was the need to account for future changes to
our climate in both retrofit and new build. In particular, too much
emphasis on designing to conserve heat could lead to overheating further
down the line when atmospheric temperatures increase. Careful attention
to placement of glazing and shading to control solar gain can help
address this, allowing direct sunlight in to provide warmth in winter
when the sun’s path is lower, and sheltering the building from the most
intense direct sunlight in summer when the sun is higher.<br />
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The role of thermal mass in regulating internal temperatures was
discussed in a number of lectures. Depending on climate and design,
thermal mass may hang on to winter day-time heat, releasing it within
the building through the night – or assist cooling by absorbing excess
heat in summer, if combined with effective ventilation to purge that
heat at night. Used inappropriately thermal mass may add to overheating,
so its use must be considered carefully.<br />
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<i>Thermal imaging shows hot heating pipes (bright) and cold area where air is coming in around cables (dark areas). There was much geeking-out while playing with the thermal imaging cameras.</i></div>
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A practical in the second half of the week provided a demonstration
of heat loss through unplanned ventilation (ie: draughts). This was
linked to the need to provide controlled ventilation (whether through
opening windows or via mechanical ventilation), and highlighted the
difficulties of achieving airtightness (eliminating draughts) in some
existing buildings. The practical involved carrying out an air-pressure
test to establish the air-permeability of the timber-framed selfbuild
house on the CAT site (ie: how much air moved through the fabric of the
building at a certain pressure). In groups we surveyed the building with
thermal imaging cameras, before and during the test. The resulting
images clearly showed how the cold incoming air cooled surrounding
surfaces, demonstrating the impact of air infiltration on energy use. A
scheme to retrofit the selfbuild house at CAT would have to include a
means to reduce this.<br />
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<img alt="air pressure test" class=" " height="500" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8754/16314705824_cd49047713.jpg" title="air pressure test" width="375" /></div>
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<i>The door-fan, used to de-pressurise a building to identify air-ingress</i></div>
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The end of the week saw us discussing Passivhaus and visiting the
Hyddgen Passivhaus office/community building in Machynlleth, with the
building’s designer John Williamson. Some myths about Passivhaus were
busted (for instance: you can open windows), and the physics-based
fabric-first approach was explained. The standard is based around high
comfort levels combined with incredibly low energy input. While on site
we investigated the MVHR unit (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat
Recovery), which removes stale air from the building, and uses it to
heat fresh incoming air. These are a common feature of passivhaus, as
they allow the removal of moist air and other airborne contaminants and
it’s replacement with fresh air, whilst minimising heat loss. This
system has been the subject of some heated debates with fellow students
at CAT, due to questions about the amount of energy needed to run the
system and how user-friendly it is or isn’t. We were shown that when
installed correctly, the system recovers more energy than is needed to
run it.<br />
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<i>Hyddgen Passivhaus in Machynlleth</i></div>
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As ever, throughout this course connections were constantly drawn
between all the different areas covered (the inescapable
interconnectedness of all things!). Nothing stands in isolation; each
decision in one area can have repercussions in another. The different
elements of building physics and materials must be balanced with each
other and with the effect of any action on the wider environment.<br />
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<i>Measuring
the air temperature in MVHR heating ducts at Hyddgen, prior to
calculating the overall efficiency and heatloss/recovery of the the
system</i></div>
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The immersive learning environment during module weeks at CAT is
highly effective, and very intense. It’s a wonderfully stimulating and
supportive place to be, but at the end of the week that intensity needs a
release in order for us all to return to our normal lives without
winding up our friends and family when we get there. That takes the form
of the vitally essential Friday night social, which this month was
themed around a Cyfarfod Bach, a laid back Welsh social. We had
beautiful music and singing, comedy, artwork, silliness, a rousing
rendition of the Welsh National Anthem (not too shabby, considering only
a handful of people were Welsh speakers or had any idea how the tune
went in advance) and finally a leg-shattering amount of dancing,
ensuring we could all go home in physical pain but happily and calmly
buzzing.<br />
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<em>See <a href="http://blog.cat.org.uk/category/gsestudentblogs/aeesstudentsblogs/">more blogs</a> about the MSc Sustainability and Adaptation course.</em>John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-27396671153525976092015-02-05T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-12T13:50:36.816+00:00How The First Little Pig Could Have Beaten The Wolf and Helped Tackle Climate Change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw3Z2_kiMAY/VNJWXOXKfwI/AAAAAAAACbs/S7kMkdWbfOs/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lw3Z2_kiMAY/VNJWXOXKfwI/AAAAAAAACbs/S7kMkdWbfOs/s1600/Untitled.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Constructing a load-bearing straw-bale extension. </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Source: Jakub Wihan, 2012.</span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>This blog was written as an assignment for the <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation-in-the-built-environment-introduction" target="_blank">MSc Sustainability Adaptation and the Built Environment </a>that I am studying at the the <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/" target="_blank">Graduate School of the Environment</a> at the <a href="http://www.cat.org.uk/" target="_blank">Centre for Alternative Technology</a>, at Machynlleth in Wales. It's a brilliant course and I highly recommend it! I've been meaning to write a "what's so good about bales anyway?" blog for ages, so it was great to be able to do it with the access to resources and peer-reviewed journals that being on the course brings.<br /><br />I debated stripping out the in-text references for easier flow of reading, but in the end I've left them in so you can </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>choose to ignore them or </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>check any statements I make.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When discussing straw-bale building with the unacquainted, the Three Little Pigs are often mentioned (representing structural concerns). If worries are based outside fairy tales people may ask “isn’t it a fire risk?”, “won’t it rot?”, or simply “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why</i>?” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These are sensible questions. This blog will summarise the evidence and show that straw-bale construction can create safe, comfortable buildings, and contribute towards climate change mitigation and limitation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buildings and climate change</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The international community agree to urgently limit emissions; to prevent “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” by containing global temperatures at 2<span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span>C above pre-industrial levels <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#UNFCCC"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(UNFCCC. COP, 2009)</span>.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The UK released 474.1 million tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> in 2012 <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#UK_DECC"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(UK. DECC, 2014)</span></a>. The construction industry can influence an estimated 47% of this, of which 83% is related to use of buildings <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#UK_DBIS"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(UK. DBIS, 2010)</span></a>. Creating buildings that reduce this is essential.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sustainable construction must limit emissions from energy-use whilst preparing for uncertainties of climate change, energy security, and the potential need to withstand increased extremes of weather and temperature.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Straw and carbon</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Jones">Barbara Jones <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(2009)</span></a> estimates unused wheat straw in the UK could build 423,000 3-bed (350 bale) houses a year. Straw is a waste product of monoculture agriculture, the sustainability of which is arguable; but it makes sense to use currently available waste rather than extracting virgin materials.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The embodied carbon of straw (amount of CO<sub>2</sub> released by its production) is 0.01 kgCO<sub>2 </sub>per kg straw <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Sodagar">(Sodagar <i>et al.</i>, 2011)</a>, or 1.21 kg CO<sub>2</sub> per cubic metre.<i> </i>The chart below compares straw with other structural and insulation products (straw-bales act as both); kgCO<sub>2</sub>/m<sup>3</sup> is used as it takes into account different material densities. (Click on the image for a larger version).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BdSerbxUVjU/VNJWXDzoCwI/AAAAAAAACb4/lRxUStro68Y/s1600/Scientific%2BBlog_WoodlouseVersion.docx%2B(Read-Only)%2B2015-02-04%2B17-22-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BdSerbxUVjU/VNJWXDzoCwI/AAAAAAAACb4/lRxUStro68Y/s1600/Scientific%2BBlog_WoodlouseVersion.docx%2B%28Read-Only%29%2B2015-02-04%2B17-22-24.jpg" height="196" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comparing the embodied carbon of straw to that of some commonly used building materials.</i></span></span><br />
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</i>* kgCO2e/kg - including other gases whose greenhouse potential has been converted to CO2 equivalent.</span></span><br />
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Data sources:</span></span><br />
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Calculated from ICE – Inventory of Carbon and Energy </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Hammond"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Hammond and Jones, 2011)</span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">. Median values used where range given in ICE.</span></span><br />
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Straw-bale density derived from construction-grade bale in </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Jones"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Jones (2009</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">, median weight 20.5kg, size 1.05m x 0.45m x 0.36m. Wood wool density data from </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#TyMawr"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Ty Mawr Lime (2009)</span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">; Glass fibre density data from </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#RIBA"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">RIBA Enterprises Ltd (2014)</span></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" /> </span> The chart shows straw-bales have significantly less embodied CO<sub>2</sub> than alternatives (though increased recycled content in standard construction products could reduce their embodied CO<sub>2</sub>, and that of bales would increase if transported long distances).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Straw is a carbon sink: it absorbs CO<sub>2</sub> as it grows, storing it within its molecular structure. 1kg of straw contains 0.367kg of carbon; if burned or biodegraded this would re-combine with oxygen to produce 1.35kg CO<sub>2 </sub><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Sodagar">(Sodagar <i>et al.</i>, 2011)</a>. So 1kg of straw stores 1.35kg CO<sub>2</sub>. A standard 20.5kg construction bale would store 27.68kg of CO<sub>2</sub>. A 350 bale average 3-bed house would have around 9688kg CO<sub>2</sub> sequestered in its walls (163.35 kgCO2/m<sup>3</sup>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To avoid releasing sequestered carbon when dismantling buildings, materials should be reused – straw-bales removed from walls could be re-baled if required, sending little to be composted. Buildings should be designed with maximum possible lifespan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5tUMFAbaNQ/VNJWW12mldI/AAAAAAAACbc/269P_tqx13k/s1600/Untitled2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5tUMFAbaNQ/VNJWW12mldI/AAAAAAAACbc/269P_tqx13k/s1600/Untitled2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Straw-bales used as external insulation of an existing building</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Insulation</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Straw-bales can reduce energy-related CO<sub>2</sub> emissions as part of a super-insulated home. Straw-bale walls have thermal conductivity of 0.045 W/mK <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Wimmer"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Wimmer et al, 2000)</span></a>. The table below compares this with other insulation materials. (Click on the table for a larger version)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UN2JCKr2XkA/VNJWX9kmQyI/AAAAAAAACbw/KmWNKXYSDlc/s1600/Untitled3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UN2JCKr2XkA/VNJWX9kmQyI/AAAAAAAACbw/KmWNKXYSDlc/s1600/Untitled3.jpg" height="110" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Temperature sensors embedded in straw-bale walls confirm that they insulate interiors from outside temperatures <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Ashour">Ashour, Georg and Wu, 2011</a>.; and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Straube">Straube and Schumacher, 2003</a>). Combined with low embodied CO<sub>2</sub> this makes straw-bales eminently suitable for use in low-energy building.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fire risk.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">UK Building Regulations require dwelling-walls to resist spread of fire for between 30 and 60 minutes, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#UK_DCLG"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(UK. DCLG., 2013)</span></a>. In recent tests a 3m by 2.6m plastered straw-bale wall survived 135 minutes without failing <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Strawbuild"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Strawbuild, 2014)</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The furnace test-rig hydraulically compressed the wall to simulate real-life loadings, while subjecting one face to 1000<span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span>C. Timbers embedded in the wall’s centre reached 90<span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span>C maximum. The test ended after 135 minutes when “fireproof” boards protecting the hydraulics burned through <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Strawbuild"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Strawbuild, 2014)</span></a>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Studies of moisture in straw-bale walls agree they have low risk of decay, provided external plaster and protective detailing is well executed. <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Lawrence">Lawrence et al, 2009</a>.; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Ashour"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Ashour et al, 2011</span></a>.; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Straube"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Straube and Schumacher, 2003</span></a>.; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Straube">Wihan, 2007</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Lawrence">Laurence et al (2009)</a> monitored straw-bale moisture content of a building in Bath, UK during a period of frequent rainfall (828mm during test period). Microbial decay needs bale moisture content of 25% to 120% <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Lawrence"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Lawrence et al, 2009)</span></a>. Despite the walls having little chance to dry out, moisture content ranged from 8% to 20%, well within the safe range.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Monitoring of a straw-bale house in Germany found humidity variations inside and outside had little effect on moisture within the wall. Straw samples removed after 5 years showed no signs of decay, even within the bathroom wall <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Wihan"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Wihan, 2007)</span></a>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Structure and longevity.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The oldest known load-bearing straw-bale house was built in 1903 in Nebraska, USA. It is in good condition despite being unoccupied since 1956 <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Chiras"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Chiras, 2000)</span></a>. One nearby has been continuously occupied since 1925 <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Huxley"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Huxley, 2010)</span></a>. In Europe the oldest straw-bale building is a 2-storey straw-infilled timber-frame house in France, built in 1921 and still in good condition <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#CNCP_Main"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(CNCP, 2013)</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0yF1jjnT_JA/VNJWXwG_mSI/AAAAAAAACb0/GUZENmlDvms/s1600/Untitled4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0yF1jjnT_JA/VNJWXwG_mSI/AAAAAAAACb0/GUZENmlDvms/s1600/Untitled4.jpg" height="230" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1921 newspaper article about La Maison Feuillette from ‘La Science et la Vie’ No. 56.</i> Source: </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#CNCP_Article"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">CNCP, 2014</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">.</span></i></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A number of studies tested load-bearing strength of straw-bale walls. The walls safely withstood between 19.2 kN for an un-plastered bale wall <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Walker"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Walker, 2004)</span></a> and 40kN/m for a plastered one <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Faine"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Faine, M. and Zhang, J., 2002)</span></a>, compressing as little as 55mm <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Walker"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Walker, 2004)</span></a>. In practice compression is usually forced before plastering, to minimise future movement. Wall failure is “unspectacular”, involving some detachment and cracking of plaster <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Faine"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Faine, M. and Zhang, J., 2002)</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Testing in Bath found prefabricated straw-bale panel walls could safely withstand hurricane force winds of 120mph <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Uni_of_Bath"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(University of Bath, 2014)</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A Load-bearing straw-bale building has even been subjected to a simulated Mw 6.7 earthquake <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5815817901050780312#Uni_of_Nevada"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(University of Nevada, 2010)</span></a>. It was damaged, but in no danger of collapse <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Ibid)</span>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMlL9HE6Yus&feature=youtube_gdata_player">The video of the test is worth watching</a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conclusion.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Currently straw is abundant. Building sustainably involves choosing materials with the best balance of positive properties and least harmful repercussions, from those available at the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If first little pig had used plastered straw-bales, it could have saved itself and its siblings, boiled the Big Bad Wolf in a cauldron of hot water heated with no risk of burning the house down (or damaging it with steam), and lived away its days in a comfortable home handed down to its descendants – all while storing away several tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">References.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ashour, T., Georg, H. and Wu, W. (2011) ‘<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778811001526"><span style="mso-bookmark: Ashour;">Performance of straw bale wall: A case of study</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Ashour;">’, <i>Energy and Buildings</i>, 43(8), pp. 1960–1967. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.04.001. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elsevier</i> [Online]. (Accessed: 12 November 2014).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="mso-bookmark: Ashour;"></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Chiras, D. D. (2000) <i>The natural house: a complete guide to healthy, energy-efficient, environmental homes</i>. White River Junction, Vt: Chelsea Green Pub.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">CNCP (Centre National de la Construction Paille) (2013) <a href="http://cncp-feuillette.fr/maison-feuillette/"><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Main;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Maison Feuillette | CNCP</i></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Main;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Main;"> Available at: </span><a href="http://cncp-feuillette.fr/maison-feuillette/"><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Main;">http://cncp-feuillette.fr/maison-feuillette/</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Main;"> (Accessed: 26 November 2014).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://d/" name="CNCP_Article" target="_blank"></a>CNCP (Centre National de la Construction Paille) (2014) <i>Article ‘La Science et La Vie’.</i> Available at:<span id="goog_1936864918"></span> <a href="http://cncp-feuillette.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Article-la-science-et-la-vie.jpg"><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Article;">http://cncp-feuillette.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Article-la-science-et-la-vie.jpg</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: CNCP_Article;"> (Accessed: 7 December 2014)</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Faine, M. and Zhang, J. (2002) ‘A Pilot Study examining and comparing the load bearing capacity and behaviour of an earth rendered straw bale wall to cement rendered straw bale wall.’, in <i>International Straw Bale Building Conference, Wagga Wagga, December 2002</i>. University of Western Sydney, Australia. [Online] Available at: <a href="http://naturalbuildingcoalition.ca/Resources/Documents/Technical/two_storey_lb.pdf" title="PDF download"><span style="mso-bookmark: Faine;">http://naturalbuildingcoalition.ca/Resources/Documents/Technical/two_storey_lb.pdf</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Faine;"> (Accessed: 21 November 2014)</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hammond, G. and Jones, C. (2011) ‘Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE)’. Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT) Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Bath, UK. Available at: <a href="http://www.circularecology.com/embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-database.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: Hammond;">http://www.circularecology.com/embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-database.html</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Hammond;"> (Accessed: 28 November 2014).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Huxley, E. (2010) <i>The Bozeman Straw Bale Project - History of Straw Bale</i>. Available at: <a href="http://www.bozemanstrawbale.com/strawbalehistory.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: Huxley;">http://www.bozemanstrawbale.com/strawbalehistory.html</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Huxley;"> (Accessed: 26 November 2014)</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jones, B. (2009) <i>Building with straw bales: a practical guide for the UK and Ireland</i>. Totnes: Green Books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">United Kingdom. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS) (2010) <i>Estimating the amount of CO2 emissions that the construction industry can influence: supporting material for the low carbon construction IGT report.</i> [Online]. Available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-construction-igt-report-co2-emissions-influenced-by-the-construction-industry"><span style="mso-bookmark: UK_DBIS;">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-construction-igt-report-co2-emissions-influenced-by-the-construction-industry</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: UK_DBIS;"> (Accessed: 27 November 2014).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">University of Bath (2014) <i>BaleHaus: innovation in straw bale building | Research | University of Bath</i>. Available at: <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/case-studies/balehaus-innovative-straw-bale-building"><span style="mso-bookmark: Uni_of_Bath;">http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/case-studies/balehaus-innovative-straw-bale-building</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Uni_of_Bath;"> (Accessed: 19 November 2014)</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">University of Nevada (2010) <i>Seismic Performance of Innovative Straw Bale Wall Systems</i>. Available at: <a href="https://nees.unr.edu/projects/straw-house"><span style="mso-bookmark: Uni_of_Nevada;">https://nees.unr.edu/projects/straw-house</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Uni_of_Nevada;"> (Accessed: 18 November 2014)</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Walker, P. (2004) <i>Compression load testing straw bale walls, test report</i>. Test report. Bath: University of Bath. [Online] Available at: <a href="http://people.bath.ac.uk/abspw/straw%20bale%20test%20report.pdf" title="PDF download"><span style="mso-bookmark: Walker;">http://people.bath.ac.uk/abspw/straw bale test report.pdf</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Walker;"> (Accessed: 19 November 2014).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wihan, J. (2007) <i>Humidity in straw bale walls and its effect on the decomposition of straw</i>. MSc. University of East London.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wimmer, R., Hohensinner, H. and Janisch, L. (2000) ‘Heat Insulation Performance of Straw Bales and Straw Bale Walls’. GrAT (Center for Appropriate Technology) Vienna University of Technology. [Online] Available at: <a href="http://naturalbuildingcoalition.ca/Resources/Documents/Technical/heat_insulation_performance_strawbales.pdf" title="PDF Download"><span style="mso-bookmark: Wimmer;">http://naturalbuildingcoalition.ca/Resources/Documents/Technical/heat_insulation_performance_strawbales.pdf</span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: Wimmer;"> (Accessed: 21 November 2014)</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-37141703921067398432015-02-01T17:10:00.001+00:002015-02-01T17:10:40.168+00:00How to wrap a house in strawbalesLooking back at my blog I realise that bits of the information about different aspects of our build are scattered through different posts, because I wrote blog posts as things happened - which wasn't necessarily in a coherent order. To rectify that I'd like to write a few posts recapping some crucial specific aspects. These will probably appear somewhat sporadically in between other things.<br />
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First up: using strawbales as external wall insulation. I'll be posting a blog soon about many of the good reasons to build with strawbale (an unusually fully-referenced blog, as it was written for the MSc course I'm currently on which requires much more rigorous justification of any assertions than has been my practice on this blog!). So for now, in brief: straw is a waste product (much more is produced annually than is needed for animal bedding etc.), it is a good insulator (against noise and heat/cold), is much cheaper than other insulation materials, and it stores lots of carbon dioxide - so as long as your walls don't rot (and if they're well-built, well-detailed, and well-rendered then they won't) you'll be storing lots of carbon that would otherwise be adding to greenhouse effect.<br />
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To reduce carbon emissions and energy use, it is essential to improve the insulation of existing buildings. 60% of household energy use is related to heating* - better insulation = less heating = reduced energy use = reduced carbon emissions.<br />
* <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/united-kingdom-housing-energy-fact-file-2013" target="_blank">UK Department of Energy and Climate Change figures, 2013.</a><br />
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There are probably other ways to do this, but here's how we wrapped our bungalow in strawbales. Huge credit here must go to <a href="http://jakubwihan.com/" target="_blank">Jakub Wihan (Kuba)</a> who advised us throughout, drew up the plans and constructions drawings, and came onsite to supervise the main bale work. We would have been utterly lost without him.<br />
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Above: The structure of the soffits was reinforced with extra timber 18mm thick OSB (we used SmartPly - it's made with waste wood and forestry trimmings, and is bonded without use of formaldehyde resins - unlike standard OSB). The soffits need to be strengthened to allow use of hydraulic jacks to compress the strawbales (shown later...). The vertical sheet of OSB in the bottom right of the photo is to contain the cellulose fibre insulation that was added later - this flowed over the top of the existing wall to reduce thermal bridging (conduction of heat up the wall and into the loft)</div>
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Above: another shot of the reinforced soffits, with new rafter at the far end to extend the roof over the gable, to allow wrapping of the wall there. We were lucky that the bungalow already had large overhangs front and rear - it's good practice to have about a foot of overhang above strawbale walls to prevent rain ingress. </div>
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Above and below: The bale walls require their own shallow foundations, to ensure the weight of the bales is supported. We dug as far as the top of the existing foundations and built back up from there.</div>
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Foundations full of rain. We had a lot of this. <br />
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Digging foundations for the wrap in a narrow space. Note roof overhang above.<br />
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Above: foundations lined with geotextile to prevent clay soil washing into them and mixing with the gravel (see below).<br />
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Above: cement-free foundations. 40mm clean (no fine particles) gravel, compacted in layers.<br />
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Another layer of geotextile on top of the compacted gravel, then a 150-200mm layer of limecrete. Lengths of reinforcing bar were resin-bonded into the existing wall before the limecrete was poured, to ensure the new foundations couldn't slide away from the existing walls over time. (That's me on the right, looking thinner than I am now, and looking on with site level in hand).<br />
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Another bit of standard strawbale best-practice: the bales should be raised above ground level to prevent potential for "splashback" rain ingress, especially at the join between bales and walls. It also raises them above any potential floods. We live up a hill but there's always the possibility of surface-water flooding.<br />
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Above: Stainless steel wall ties were used to fix the new plinth-wall foundations to the existing wall. It's probably worth mentioning here that we decided to use half-width bales for the wrap - this would add a significant amount of insulation without resulting in excessively deep window-reveals which could restrict daylight. The bales were sliced between the two strings using a sawmill's big bandsaw.<br />
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Above: a damp-proof course of reclaimed slate, bedded in hydraulic lime mortar.<br />
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Pointing lines between bricks can allow airflow and rodent access; to prevent this this the walls were roughly levelled with clay plaster (made using clay dug from the garden during the ground works phase). The clay plaster also acts as a humidity regulator to reduce the chance of condensation where the bales meet the bricks, though with external rather than internal insulation this is less likely anyway.<br />
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Above: The void behind the plinth wall was filled with compacted foamed glass chunks (like big chunks of Crunchie bar, made from aerated recycled glass) to insulate, reduce thermal-bridging, and prevent rising damp (the foamed glass is non-capillary). A timber base plate provides support for the bales, and the gaps in this are insulated with LECA (Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate). The masonry screw-eyes are used to tie the bales back against the wall (see below).<br />
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Above: durable UK timber (Douglas Fir) timber boxes fixed to the walls to provide a fixing for the windows, later.<br />
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Above: packaging strap is threaded through each pair of screw-eyes and out to the outer-face of the bale wrap. The eyes were positioned to come between each course of bales<br /><br /> <br />
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Above: Using a wood-carving blade on angle grinder, a groove is cut into the bales into which a hazel pole is fitted, in line with each screw-eye.<br />
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Above: each pair of hazel poles is joined by a length of Douglas Fir batten, with a V cut into each end to slot around the hazel. The packing strap (previously threaded through the eye-screws in the wall) is passed around the outside of each pole, joined by a buckle on the douglas fir batten, and tensioned with a tensioning tool. This clamps the bales firmly to the existing wall and provides some compression of the straw.</div>
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Above and below: the height of the plinth-wall foundation was calculated so that the top course of bales would not quite fit. To fit the last bales, the penultimate bale is compressed using hydraulic jacks and a steel plate (shown below, compressing beneath a window box). The plate is held in place by thin pieces of wood, the jacks are removed, and the top bale is persuaded into position. The plastic sheet acts to reduce friction between bales. The steel plate is then slid out (using string wrapped tightly around it).<br />
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Above: small custom bales are made to fit under the window boxes. Again the course of bales below is compressed to fit these in. This is important as it results in a strawbale wall that is all slightly compressed. Compressed bales are stronger, denser, more stable and provide a much better structure to plaster onto.</div>
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Above: the wrap up the gable wall. A strong timber and smartply wall plate provides a firm point to bale up to and to compress the bales down from. </div>
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Above: Completed bale wrap on the gable.<br />
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Above: if you are externally insulating a building with cavity walls, it is really important to insulate the cavity. Otherwise air movement in the cavity could convect all your heat away, rendering the external insulation pointless. For various reasons we didn't manage to get this done first (probably bad organisation on my part...), so it was blown into the cavity from the inside. As this happened before any interior re-plastering this wasn't a problem.<br />
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Above: Locally-sourced oak render stop (with drip groove beneath to prevent water running back into the wall). <br />
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Above and below: scratch-coat of lime render going on. Hessian scrim used over all timber, hazel poles and strapping.<br />
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New windows, fitted into the timber boxes on the wrap. That brick section above was left as brick and internally insulated as a compromise with the planners - the bungalow is in a row of four identically-built ones, and keeping this brick section ties it visually to the others.<br />
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Above: reclaimed slate external sills, to shed water away from the walls.<br />
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Above: completed render on both wrapped section and strawbale extension.<br /> <br />
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Above: completed render (lime and recycled glass) and oiled render-stop.<br />
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Above: to avoid the need for a big roof overhang on the gable (which would have looked out of place in the street), the top half of the gable was clad with locally sourced cedar).<br />
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Above: with new gutters and downpipes fitted at last.<br />
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Above: complete wrap and extension! Hopefully not looking too different in the street scene. One day soon the front garden (and the rear one at that) will look more gardeny again.
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Just a brief post today, primarily to share the link to a podcast I was interviewed for recently. The House Planning Help podcast series covers a huge and very interesting range of topics related to sustainable building, energy efficiency, selfbuild, water use, community involvement, and more. The most recent one features me talking about the good and bad bits of externally insulating and extending our bungalow with strawbales.<br />
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I found it surprisingly nervous-making being recorded, although I'm normally happy to extol the virtues of strawbale building at great length. I still did talk at length, waved my arms around a lot and pointed at things (always useful for an audio recording), but Ben Adam-Smith - the podcast's creator - did an excellent job of getting me back on topic and editing it down to a coherent whole.<br />
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So here's the link to the House Planning Help Website, with my podcast and many more:<br />
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<a href="http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/category/podcast/">http://www.houseplanninghelp.com/category/podcast/</a>John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-44011894557289040592014-10-01T12:54:00.002+01:002014-10-01T12:54:40.924+01:00The Interconnectedness of All ThingsA couple of weeks ago I started the new <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation-in-the-built-environment-introduction" target="_blank">MSc Sustainability and Adaptation in the Built Environment </a>course at the <a href="http://gse.cat.org.uk/" target="_blank">Centre for Alternative Technology</a> (CAT) in Wales. I was unfeasibly nervous before heading up there for the first week. I don't remember being anything like as anxious when last going to University 16 years ago to start a ceramics degree, but this time I was imagining anything and everything that could go wrong, from randomly not being registered on the course when I arrived, to public humiliation and being exposed as the only ignorant one, surrounded by highly knowledgeable and intelligent people. As the journey progressed and time drew on all these worries were eclipsed by the all encompassing horror that <i>I might miss dinner!</i><br />
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Thankfully I made it in time to enrol, meet my room mate for the week, and eat. As it turned out, all the other new students were equally ignorant or knowledgeable, coming from a diverse range of backgrounds and bringing different experiences. I won't talk at length about the course because fellow new student Helen Kennedy has already written a brilliant account of the week and the issues it introduced us to here: <a href="http://blog.cat.org.uk/2014/09/30/transition-people-transformation-people/">http://blog.cat.org.uk/2014/09/30/transition-people-transformation-people/</a> and I highly recommend reading it.<br />
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It was amazing and intense. A huge amount of information was thrown at us, all really interesting or fascinating, all really important. In some ways it was quite a doom-laden week. A lot of the lectures summarised the effects, dangers and extent of human-made climate change and just how much a challenge it is to adapt society to it, and to avoid potential catastrophe. It was also (thankfully) optimistic, as the beginnings of solutions were suggested (these will be expanded upon throughout the course) and the general drive was to motivate us to action. There was also a lot of talk of the interconnectedness of the different subject areas and approaches. This is very important, but also made me smile everytime the phrase was mentioned as I couldn't help thinking of Douglas Adams and <i>Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency</i>, in which the detective seeks to solve the cases he is given through investigating "the interconnectedness of all things".<br />
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I came away from the week exhausted but buzzing. The people were lovely to be around, both students and staff, and it felt like a wrench to leave them all behind. We'll all be back there is less than a fortnight though, and I can't wait.<br />
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And as seems to be the habit of this blog, after that blurb - here's some pretty pictures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my bedroom at CAT</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Where it all began' - clay plaster samples on the wall of the outside area where I first learned to strawbale build, on a course taught by the wonderful Bee Rowan of <a href="http://www.strawbuild.org/">http://www.strawbuild.org/</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside one of the reed-bed poly-tunnels at CAT, where plants and useful bacteria treat the sewage run-off from the site</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A creation by previous architecture students at CAT, known as The Bird Hide, although it isn't one.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another ex-students beautiful creation</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The WISE building (Wales Institute for Sustainable Education), home of the Graduate School of the Environment at CAT</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The site is an old slate quarry, so there's a lot of this.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of an old water-turbine exhibit (I think)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rammed earth wall of the main lecture theatre in the WISE building.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this is an old water-wheel housing, now ingeniously re-used as part of the rainwater management for the WISE building.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roof light in an upstairs study/meeting room</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A small sample of drawings from the Professional Diploma Architecture students (ProfDips) who are at CAT at the same time as the MSc students and share some of the same lectures.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQrDZw1hMi0/VCvld1tCoSI/AAAAAAAACX0/Vj67-PcSN08/s1600/IMG_6638.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQrDZw1hMi0/VCvld1tCoSI/AAAAAAAACX0/Vj67-PcSN08/s1600/IMG_6638.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the terrace, just outside my bedroom window.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPcW-UVD0LI/VCvld_VR9JI/AAAAAAAACX4/1fRixZ51JAk/s1600/IMG_6639.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPcW-UVD0LI/VCvld_VR9JI/AAAAAAAACX4/1fRixZ51JAk/s1600/IMG_6639.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working on the group practical. I think this was the "have we lost the whole presentation" moment (we hadn't, phew!).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOausI0kvaU/VCvlesl4l1I/AAAAAAAACYI/0UXSRQWFA0M/s1600/IMG_6640.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOausI0kvaU/VCvlesl4l1I/AAAAAAAACYI/0UXSRQWFA0M/s1600/IMG_6640.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picnic table</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktXWJ-Znd6U/VCvlfJa_L7I/AAAAAAAACYU/4_qQ9QMv-AE/s1600/IMG_6641.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ktXWJ-Znd6U/VCvlfJa_L7I/AAAAAAAACYU/4_qQ9QMv-AE/s1600/IMG_6641.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUeZchbJ3BU/VCvlfg1usMI/AAAAAAAACYQ/y1jA1AZ4H3A/s1600/IMG_6646.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUeZchbJ3BU/VCvlfg1usMI/AAAAAAAACYQ/y1jA1AZ4H3A/s1600/IMG_6646.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The biscuit Union Flag, offered around by the Scottish contingent in the wake of the referendum with the words "help me break up the UK".</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EWKBe5AxRyM/VCvlgp0TC_I/AAAAAAAACYc/7CtSnHf9eVM/s1600/IMG_6655.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EWKBe5AxRyM/VCvlgp0TC_I/AAAAAAAACYc/7CtSnHf9eVM/s1600/IMG_6655.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We celebrated/commiserated the referendum result with a Ceilidh, brilliantly organised by <a href="https://twitter.com/koistycassels" target="_blank">Kirsty Cassels</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l8gnLmdTV6U/VCvlhX4BZCI/AAAAAAAACZw/0up8hG6DTaI/s1600/IMG_6661.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l8gnLmdTV6U/VCvlhX4BZCI/AAAAAAAACZw/0up8hG6DTaI/s1600/IMG_6661.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outside of the lecture theatre by night</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JKPhvFBqgig/VCvlhnZ90wI/AAAAAAAACYo/duno8XYZAhs/s1600/IMG_6664.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JKPhvFBqgig/VCvlhnZ90wI/AAAAAAAACYo/duno8XYZAhs/s1600/IMG_6664.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the upstairs study/seminar room</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fUV1rmtvcg/VCvlh-L7TNI/AAAAAAAACYs/6491aqVCgyo/s1600/IMG_6669.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fUV1rmtvcg/VCvlh-L7TNI/AAAAAAAACYs/6491aqVCgyo/s1600/IMG_6669.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Presentations on the last day, showing and discussing the results of our group practicals</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkMKb5lfpC8/VCvliWKp24I/AAAAAAAACY0/TohK8oXCq0A/s1600/IMG_6671.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkMKb5lfpC8/VCvliWKp24I/AAAAAAAACY0/TohK8oXCq0A/s1600/IMG_6671.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An unexpected side-effect of the first week is that I've learned to really appreciate clear presentation of data. I even enjoyed creating graphs in Excel. Strictly speaking, I didn't particularly enjoy the process of creating them, but I was really pleased with them when we had (no photos of my groups' presentation exist)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YFd6s3S1co4/VCvli5DN5TI/AAAAAAAACY8/ot8jy-f2n1M/s1600/IMG_6674.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YFd6s3S1co4/VCvli5DN5TI/AAAAAAAACY8/ot8jy-f2n1M/s1600/IMG_6674.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squeezed between the incredibly full lecture/seminar schedule was a goodly amount of drinking tea, chatting, debating and gesticulating.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NmTSLpN7yNI/VCvljQLFlmI/AAAAAAAACZE/q3QaE5Rc_5E/s1600/IMG_6680.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NmTSLpN7yNI/VCvljQLFlmI/AAAAAAAACZE/q3QaE5Rc_5E/s1600/IMG_6680.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way home I visited a friend - these are some lovely bricks in his house</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_TNJcU5aaE/VCvlj3QAL1I/AAAAAAAACZI/HntlhDWbhqs/s1600/IMG_6681.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0_TNJcU5aaE/VCvlj3QAL1I/AAAAAAAACZI/HntlhDWbhqs/s1600/IMG_6681.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giants Chair in the Forest of Dean</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2mmtI0wn-yo/VCvlkd9jEuI/AAAAAAAACZU/JgnXW6AGOoc/s1600/IMG_6683.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2mmtI0wn-yo/VCvlkd9jEuI/AAAAAAAACZU/JgnXW6AGOoc/s1600/IMG_6683.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree Cubed in the Forest of Dean</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zju-jUcohvY/VCvlk6WYmtI/AAAAAAAACZc/5-bF0PBuTms/s1600/IMG_6687.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zju-jUcohvY/VCvlk6WYmtI/AAAAAAAACZc/5-bF0PBuTms/s1600/IMG_6687.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More sculpture in the Forest</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1WqWozWkPo/VCvllBaKYQI/AAAAAAAACZg/nzMrAyacwk4/s1600/IMG_6692.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1WqWozWkPo/VCvllBaKYQI/AAAAAAAACZg/nzMrAyacwk4/s1600/IMG_6692.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the writing at the Wales Millennium Centre, with Mum, also on the way home.</td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-18541484086621596232014-08-20T21:37:00.000+01:002014-08-20T21:37:43.842+01:00Living in the baley bungalowAs anybody reading this who knows us or follows me on twitter will probably already know: we're in! We moved in at the beginning of June after an epic push to get the place ready.<br />
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It's not <i>finished</i>, but it mostly looks it if you don't look too closely. Architraves and skirting need filling, sanding and painting, the bath needs a bath panel, various cupboards and shelves need to be fitted (or created, then fitted), the garden needs emptying of extraneous building materials, the pile of clay needs levelling, the shed needs painting, a gate needs fitting; the sunroom needs plastering, painting and flooring; and paintwork everywhere needs touching up. But I think that might be kind of 'it'. Things have slowly been getting more finished since move-in, but everything takes longer when there's the apparatus of daily life to work around, and be kept clean, and be distracted by. Also when, frankly, we're both knackered! We started work on site roughly two years and two months before we moved in.<br />
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It was - of course - never meant to take so long. To blame for that is a mixture of wildly optimistic scheduling, appallingly bad weather (the wettest year in England on record), several major life events, flare-ups of chronic ill-health, total lack of experience, and various other things within and without our control. But whatever, <i>we're living in our own strawbaley bungalow</i>, and both refurb and extension are lovely to live in.<br />
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The day before move-in, Darren (wonderful brother-in-law and carpenter), Mike (lovely builder, window-fitter, solar-thermal installer and incredibly helpful person) and me were still hanging doors and frantically fitting skirtings and architraves well into the evening. Darren and Mike helped with clearing the larger debris from a week of last-minute works, then left me alone to clear everything else from the bungalow (mostly by cramming into the sunroom), try to remove all traces of sawdust and rubbish, and generally make the place presentable and ready to move in. It was a long evening, but actually really good for me and the bungalow to have some quiet time together while after the build stuff was removed and before everything we own arrived. Sort of time for me to go "so, then: we've done all-right together haven't we baley bungalow?". That probably sounds odd. Oh well.<br />
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Seeing the "finishing" touches come together in that last week, with the architraves and skirtings suddenly crisping up the look of place, was amazing and overwhelming.<br />
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On move in day itself I stayed at the mouldy bungalow to pack the inevitable "last few things" (about a big van's worth...) while Anna came ahead to the bungalow to be here when the removal men brought the first load (we used movers and I'm so glad we did. I was exhausted by the last push and would have collapsed completely if faced with moving everything too). A little while after Anna left to come up here, she called in tears and I had the usual worries about what could have happened, but then she said "it's beautiful" and I realised she was happy, not upset. Until that point Anna had naturally only ever seen the bungalow while I was working on it, so it was almost always a mess, and an unfinished mess at that. She didn't get to see it emerging from the mess in the same way I did. Turns out the place scrubbed up pretty well.<br />
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At some point soon I'll write about how the building is performing (mostly very well - a comfortable, low-energy living environment). For now I'll just say a massive heartfelt thankyou to everybody who has helped us get here. There are many of you and it wouldn't have happened without you. Really wouldn't. To all of you who built walls, brought cake, tied bales, shovelled gravel in the rain, chopped straw with a lawnmower, cleared rubble; nailed, tied, glued, wedged, screwed or otherwise fixed things together; hefted things about, scrabbled in the ground, scaled scaffolds and walls; mixed various types of mud, and plastered walls; fed us, brought us drinks; advised us, taught us, steered us away from some huge mistakes and towards solutions to others; put up with me talking about little else, were patient with my incessant posting of pictures online of walls, or holes in the ground, and even encouraged me by liking some of them; friends and family who encouraged us, and let us complain about things even though we chose this and are so very lucky to be able to do it; helped and entertained Anna when I was too busy, or tired, or both; really everybody who has helped in anyway at all; <span style="font-size: x-large;">THANKYOU!</span> You're all amazing.<br />
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And here's some more photos (in more or less chronological order).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FHzNqjvxlXM/U_TxRvDJS4I/AAAAAAAACSE/JuLghktyaIM/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FHzNqjvxlXM/U_TxRvDJS4I/AAAAAAAACSE/JuLghktyaIM/s1600/1.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sedum-roofed extensions, sitting nonchalantly between the bungalows</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxs8EBUCl_U/U_TxVVrlvHI/AAAAAAAACS8/32WbJfT4YV4/s1600/2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxs8EBUCl_U/U_TxVVrlvHI/AAAAAAAACS8/32WbJfT4YV4/s1600/2.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainwater system sorted (more on this in a future blog - rainwater harvesting is more complicated than I'd thought, especially environmental credentials or otherwise, but if done correctly can be great)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I581F94ekSk/U_TxaLpI3xI/AAAAAAAACUM/0o_ICl72Yg4/s1600/3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I581F94ekSk/U_TxaLpI3xI/AAAAAAAACUM/0o_ICl72Yg4/s1600/3.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late night working the brother-in-law, two days before move-in. This is the main bedroom. Darren selected the pink as his preferred colour for the evening.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-STn5y7Sj7tY/U_TxcdygTiI/AAAAAAAACUg/PBEf2ibwF5w/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-STn5y7Sj7tY/U_TxcdygTiI/AAAAAAAACUg/PBEf2ibwF5w/s1600/4.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bathroom (shower is out-of-shot)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vAiNfup37KM/U_TxdZc2nOI/AAAAAAAACUo/kh3_3APb6TM/s1600/5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vAiNfup37KM/U_TxdZc2nOI/AAAAAAAACUo/kh3_3APb6TM/s1600/5.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">External lighting on lime/glass render</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmzmyUSI_bw/U_TxdkZWbPI/AAAAAAAACVQ/psHbm2ysUJQ/s1600/6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmzmyUSI_bw/U_TxdkZWbPI/AAAAAAAACVQ/psHbm2ysUJQ/s1600/6.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7:30pm, day before move-in, the living room.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Llq_e2EoPM/U_TxeMuGFAI/AAAAAAAACU0/Fc2tgb9vDos/s1600/7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Llq_e2EoPM/U_TxeMuGFAI/AAAAAAAACU0/Fc2tgb9vDos/s1600/7.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Later that night... (sawbench in previous photo was on far side of that counter)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZK2-N-N-wI/U_TxelrBk2I/AAAAAAAACVA/JMrdYVWK1P0/s1600/8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZK2-N-N-wI/U_TxelrBk2I/AAAAAAAACVA/JMrdYVWK1P0/s1600/8.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen, night before move-in.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujKzTksfsQc/U_TxfaP6sJI/AAAAAAAACVI/WFoG7PG0-cM/s1600/9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujKzTksfsQc/U_TxfaP6sJI/AAAAAAAACVI/WFoG7PG0-cM/s1600/9.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our lovely neighbours gave us flowers when we moved in. I felt like we should have given <i>them</i> flowers for putting up with us!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KJ4MkBC0F9w/U_TxRfTV9uI/AAAAAAAACSI/L9l-AZMFxhI/s1600/10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KJ4MkBC0F9w/U_TxRfTV9uI/AAAAAAAACSI/L9l-AZMFxhI/s1600/10.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dog enjoying his new garden, despite the debris.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlOGjcojwJA/U_TxRWgNFZI/AAAAAAAACSA/QeR6S26pbdE/s1600/11.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mlOGjcojwJA/U_TxRWgNFZI/AAAAAAAACSA/QeR6S26pbdE/s1600/11.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar thermal working well: 85 degrees C at the top of the hotwater tank</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sRw-Mra7F60/U_TxSbuOOpI/AAAAAAAACSM/TEuLQif08Iw/s1600/12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sRw-Mra7F60/U_TxSbuOOpI/AAAAAAAACSM/TEuLQif08Iw/s1600/12.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excess skirting and architrave re-purposed as wardrobe shelving, allowing us to unpack some more boxes</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-navZqRX2_-4/U_TxSr5cSJI/AAAAAAAACSQ/OvYDvHDdKKQ/s1600/13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-navZqRX2_-4/U_TxSr5cSJI/AAAAAAAACSQ/OvYDvHDdKKQ/s1600/13.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna enjoying her maiden voyage down the newly sorted side-access (recycled-plastic paving grid filled with gravel - firm surface for scooter but well-draining)</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o75RyGwVDAI/U_TxS8s_14I/AAAAAAAACSY/2UK1057QOE8/s1600/14.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o75RyGwVDAI/U_TxS8s_14I/AAAAAAAACSY/2UK1057QOE8/s1600/14.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sedum roof starting to flower.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy_s9KFAr6I/U_TxTX0N04I/AAAAAAAACSc/beoMZ6T63zM/s1600/15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy_s9KFAr6I/U_TxTX0N04I/AAAAAAAACSc/beoMZ6T63zM/s1600/15.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the back with some of the building debris cleared.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yaSw-po-iWs/U_TxT6w-Z5I/AAAAAAAACSg/qzkGefF85TQ/s1600/16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yaSw-po-iWs/U_TxT6w-Z5I/AAAAAAAACSg/qzkGefF85TQ/s1600/16.jpeg" height="190" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The roof in flower.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQNU87uFB0I/U_TxUSB59dI/AAAAAAAACSo/KqXUiiqfqA4/s1600/17.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQNU87uFB0I/U_TxUSB59dI/AAAAAAAACSo/KqXUiiqfqA4/s1600/17.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hauled Anna up onto the roof so she could see it too.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1UV6iySgLw/U_TxUsxO9-I/AAAAAAAACS0/6CNpA2yLJ7U/s1600/18.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1UV6iySgLw/U_TxUsxO9-I/AAAAAAAACS0/6CNpA2yLJ7U/s1600/18.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbows of light from a solatube</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cREbs8R2CO4/U_TxUqxHXOI/AAAAAAAACSs/NolLSBQxNMM/s1600/19.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cREbs8R2CO4/U_TxUqxHXOI/AAAAAAAACSs/NolLSBQxNMM/s1600/19.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More solatube rainbows, over glass light-fitting (I have a lot of photos of these rainbows. I love them)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ST1dDpJXzn0/U_TxVhTuCvI/AAAAAAAACS4/2EoDnAUssQU/s1600/20.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ST1dDpJXzn0/U_TxVhTuCvI/AAAAAAAACS4/2EoDnAUssQU/s1600/20.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally persuaded the heat-recover ventilation controller to speak English. I was surprised to find it could control time.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFCcCe_hv5w/U_TxWP8idYI/AAAAAAAACTE/1VLoUVj4NcQ/s1600/21.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFCcCe_hv5w/U_TxWP8idYI/AAAAAAAACTE/1VLoUVj4NcQ/s1600/21.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excess UK larch decking turned into shoe, coat, hat, scarf and bag racking in porchy bit.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vQrz0SPBeA/U_Txd4xcqZI/AAAAAAAACUw/dmpBtlz3JA8/s1600/22.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0vQrz0SPBeA/U_Txd4xcqZI/AAAAAAAACUw/dmpBtlz3JA8/s1600/22.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clay, wonderful clay, oh how I love you (clay plaster - quite a lot of photos of this too)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VmQGm_yXq4w/U_TxWlrPpuI/AAAAAAAACTI/DVRLgh1dZWg/s1600/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VmQGm_yXq4w/U_TxWlrPpuI/AAAAAAAACTI/DVRLgh1dZWg/s1600/23.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two months after we moved in, we finally got the house number up (made by a friend).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LHTg4eTFUhU/U_TxXDb7v0I/AAAAAAAACTQ/rUHSbJgH0HU/s1600/24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LHTg4eTFUhU/U_TxXDb7v0I/AAAAAAAACTQ/rUHSbJgH0HU/s1600/24.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another 'finally done' - finally glazed the truth window, to display the straw (the shelving next to it is temporary)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d94wOdNXzSo/U_TxXnsBEBI/AAAAAAAACTU/ju9HqfZTt8E/s1600/25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d94wOdNXzSo/U_TxXnsBEBI/AAAAAAAACTU/ju9HqfZTt8E/s1600/25.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally replaced the horrible plastic window sill end-caps with the metal ones we've had in a box for months, then completed the render by plastering up to end-cap - to make sure no water can find its way into the bales. Also fixed some cracks in the render.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-p35Ko-iZk/U_TxYJHDJyI/AAAAAAAACTk/TvlQlcofNiQ/s1600/26.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-p35Ko-iZk/U_TxYJHDJyI/AAAAAAAACTk/TvlQlcofNiQ/s1600/26.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear deck and access ramp. UK Larch</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A7I_aHyCpbQ/U_TxYW352-I/AAAAAAAACTo/im9ZLlsul4s/s1600/27.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A7I_aHyCpbQ/U_TxYW352-I/AAAAAAAACTo/im9ZLlsul4s/s1600/27.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the front, with pile of play.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v60R-Gpj9KA/U_TxZeBh5zI/AAAAAAAACTw/vSuO9_pfACA/s1600/28.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v60R-Gpj9KA/U_TxZeBh5zI/AAAAAAAACTw/vSuO9_pfACA/s1600/28.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front access.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lwalfJNbWms/U_TxZpTCqVI/AAAAAAAACT0/nKzcjyvpXms/s1600/29.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lwalfJNbWms/U_TxZpTCqVI/AAAAAAAACT0/nKzcjyvpXms/s1600/29.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this bit. Lime/glass plaster sparkliness, clay plaster natural clayey loveliness, oak floor, nice doors, and a bit of stainless steel for good measure.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1KbYg_PxZ0/U_TxaXGkGZI/AAAAAAAACUA/FdiJCh6fTCE/s1600/30.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1KbYg_PxZ0/U_TxaXGkGZI/AAAAAAAACUA/FdiJCh6fTCE/s1600/30.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loo.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h8ImxxkrOZ0/U_TxbOnwdLI/AAAAAAAACUQ/mk2ZQtspQNw/s1600/31.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h8ImxxkrOZ0/U_TxbOnwdLI/AAAAAAAACUQ/mk2ZQtspQNw/s1600/31.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen shelves up, with cup hooks. Pots made my me and a variety of other potters.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HNdrWVmCyG0/U_TxcOQLlEI/AAAAAAAACUc/oeV-RV9BEyw/s1600/32.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HNdrWVmCyG0/U_TxcOQLlEI/AAAAAAAACUc/oeV-RV9BEyw/s1600/32.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And to prove we're still capable of smiling after it all, even with a camera pointing at us</td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-31449766735049057312014-05-11T21:05:00.000+01:002014-05-11T21:05:05.098+01:00Nearly there!In three weeks time we'll be moving in to the strawbale-externally-insulated 1960's bungalow and loadbearing-strawbale extension that's dominated our lives for the last two years. It won't be completely finished, but will be pretty close (I write this with a startled, bewildered, and frankly disbelieving expression on my face). Having given notice to move out of the bungalow we've been renting, the 2nd June deadline is pretty final.<br />
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All being well, by then the bathroom will be fully functional, internal doors will be hung, the path up the side of the property and ramped access to the front and rear will be finished. Most things are already painted, the kitchen is fitted, lights are working (and I'm just beginning to remember that they are, and that on gloomy days <i>I can make things brighter</i> with just a click of a switch). Possibly skirting boards and architraves will be fitted, possibly not. The sunroom will be completely unfinished (still need clay plaster body and finish coats, and flooring) There is also the small matter of packing and actually moving all our clobber. Thankfully Anna has been packing for a while now, doing it in short bursts when energy levels allow between the usual hospital and ongoing treatment/health-management appointments, so the remaining packing shouldn't be an epic task. I've even finally faced the piles of paper that were crowding out my desk, so for the first time in a while I'm writing this with clear space either side of the keyboard.<br />
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I think there are a few blogs I'd like to write about different topics thrown up by the build, but they'll have to wait now until we're in and unpacked. If I'm really unlucky they'll also have to wait until I've completed Jury Service - I got a jury summons last week asking me to start (with uncannily bad timing) on the day we have to clear the rental bungalow. Obviously I have asked to defer this until later, fingers-crossed that the Jury Central Summoning Bureau will be kind! <br />
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In the meantime, here's a general photo update of things that have been happening on site that haven't made it into the blog yet. As with the last blog, some of the earlier photos are blurry because my camera/phone case had become scratched where it covers the lens. Later photos clearer with new case...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psh1N8mkxpQ/U2-m-pL8-JI/AAAAAAAACNE/ZObAjLLCGdo/s1600/IMG_4491.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psh1N8mkxpQ/U2-m-pL8-JI/AAAAAAAACNE/ZObAjLLCGdo/s1600/IMG_4491.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freshly plastered ceilings in the big room, end wall still exposed.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkXPHuBxlLs/U2-m-saaukI/AAAAAAAACM8/Ux2A7BVRI6k/s1600/IMG_4686.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkXPHuBxlLs/U2-m-saaukI/AAAAAAAACM8/Ux2A7BVRI6k/s1600/IMG_4686.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cedar cladding in the soffits, Thanks to Darren (brother-in-law) for doing this.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ett3ox9R1c/U2-m-98eYsI/AAAAAAAACNA/ftK2w8ZndpY/s1600/IMG_4690.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ett3ox9R1c/U2-m-98eYsI/AAAAAAAACNA/ftK2w8ZndpY/s1600/IMG_4690.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foamglas foundation for new bathroom / shower wall, thermally isolates it from the old concrete slab</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZ0Cn1uTsQo/U2-m_kFClbI/AAAAAAAACNI/6-hkpKcZP8A/s1600/IMG_4839.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZ0Cn1uTsQo/U2-m_kFClbI/AAAAAAAACNI/6-hkpKcZP8A/s1600/IMG_4839.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily (wonderful plastering assistant) sports the latest in boot-protection fashion</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4hOe8YEioN8/U2-m_9taFJI/AAAAAAAACNM/H3w4pCm_c0w/s1600/IMG_4850.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4hOe8YEioN8/U2-m_9taFJI/AAAAAAAACNM/H3w4pCm_c0w/s1600/IMG_4850.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, the messy gable wall disappearing behind a couple of layers of hemp-lime plaster</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awDg0tQFEg8/U2-nAEpD4JI/AAAAAAAACNk/ZOC17NraDkQ/s1600/IMG_5023.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-awDg0tQFEg8/U2-nAEpD4JI/AAAAAAAACNk/ZOC17NraDkQ/s1600/IMG_5023.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bathroom wall awaiting the hemp-lime treatment</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qW7TamkUkUg/U2-nAprwPqI/AAAAAAAACNY/QgPJVqNqM84/s1600/IMG_5037.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qW7TamkUkUg/U2-nAprwPqI/AAAAAAAACNY/QgPJVqNqM84/s1600/IMG_5037.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lime and recycled glass-aggregate (Glaster) finish coat going on. I paused for a quick lunch at this point, and the join between before-lunch and after-lunch plaster is still faintly discernible.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9SI2FNJKp6I/U2-nAya9sHI/AAAAAAAACNc/-FsN4MNaKDk/s1600/IMG_5039.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9SI2FNJKp6I/U2-nAya9sHI/AAAAAAAACNc/-FsN4MNaKDk/s1600/IMG_5039.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the look and feel of wet lime plaster covering the base coats.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JQBOd9vT_AY/U2-nBhQUBRI/AAAAAAAACNs/gMmHYq8AQos/s1600/IMG_5137.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JQBOd9vT_AY/U2-nBhQUBRI/AAAAAAAACNs/gMmHYq8AQos/s1600/IMG_5137.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pavatherm Forte wood-fibre insulation boards - first layer of insulation on top of existing concrete slab in the old bungalow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v4Hi-LG755M/U2-nB083z6I/AAAAAAAACN0/w96Og6AKAyY/s1600/IMG_5169.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v4Hi-LG755M/U2-nB083z6I/AAAAAAAACN0/w96Og6AKAyY/s1600/IMG_5169.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pavatherm Profil wood-fibre boards, tongue and groove with interlocking battens - second layer of insulation and the battens provide a fixing point for the timber floor on top.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xz6f_y8rgkw/U2-nCVs8eAI/AAAAAAAACN8/fGeLJYtvyVM/s1600/IMG_5170.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xz6f_y8rgkw/U2-nCVs8eAI/AAAAAAAACN8/fGeLJYtvyVM/s1600/IMG_5170.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished pavatherm wood-fibre insulation layer, with masonry stove in the back.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BsSxZA7mYfY/U2-nCuqcokI/AAAAAAAACOQ/fgjaFZ-Udic/s1600/IMG_5200.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BsSxZA7mYfY/U2-nCuqcokI/AAAAAAAACOQ/fgjaFZ-Udic/s1600/IMG_5200.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MVHR (mechacnical ventilation with heat-recovery) control panel, trapped in Deutsch until we get the secret access code to change it. I can understand fan speed 1, 2 and 3, and standby in any case. The pictures help. We had it running for a while to deal with the incredible amount of moisture from all that clay plaster. It massively reduced the humidity. Now turned completely off and sealed again to prevent dust from sanding doorframes etc. getting into it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6LAt-bLzH0c/U2-nDCfUj2I/AAAAAAAACOE/BMEZTyVaPVs/s1600/IMG_5293.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6LAt-bLzH0c/U2-nDCfUj2I/AAAAAAAACOE/BMEZTyVaPVs/s1600/IMG_5293.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More recycled glass lime plaster in the corridor, on what was the outside wall of the bungalow. Any chance to crowbar in another curvy window reveal, especially with a bit of sparkle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AhES8LMOVvU/U2-nDtALjfI/AAAAAAAACOM/TFbXo4g9WDU/s1600/IMG_5341.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AhES8LMOVvU/U2-nDtALjfI/AAAAAAAACOM/TFbXo4g9WDU/s1600/IMG_5341.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dull but very important - loft hatch with airtight seal. Again, thanks to Darren for making it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5P55WNElU98/U2-nENM3gWI/AAAAAAAACOY/wK0O1HecWnI/s1600/IMG_5348.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5P55WNElU98/U2-nENM3gWI/AAAAAAAACOY/wK0O1HecWnI/s1600/IMG_5348.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shower wall also plastered with lime/glass, but with extra pozzolan added to make it more hydraulic (ie: stronger and waterproof). We will treat this wall with a breathable waterproof coating to protect it from soap etc.). Bathroom floor insulated with foamglas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZFO2m7FZjA/U2-nEUPETjI/AAAAAAAACOw/YVvA5abdOaI/s1600/IMG_5368.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VZFO2m7FZjA/U2-nEUPETjI/AAAAAAAACOw/YVvA5abdOaI/s1600/IMG_5368.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We (I...) messed up here. This seductively shiny smooth surface is self-levelling floor screed, very much cement based. I have to admit it was really lovely to use, flowing beautifully to create an even, level surface. We chose <a href="http://www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/About-Forbo-Flooring-Systems/Creating-Better-Environments/Our-products-the-environment/Marmoleum/" target="_blank">Marmoleum (lino)</a> as it is hard-wearing, waterproof and highly-sustainable (according to the manufacturers it contains 43% recycled content, and all but 3% of the rest is 'natural' materials, most of which are renewed within 10 years, it is 100% biodegradable, and has a very long service-life). It needs to be laid on a perfectly smooth surface - they specify latex/cement screed. We probably could have found a suitable alternative (possibly gypsum screed?) but went for the standard option without thinking; so in order to use a wonderfully sustainable product we used a highly polluting one. Doh!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WOl-YVNX-PI/U2-nEs-4rDI/AAAAAAAACOk/yOvLI5boVmY/s1600/IMG_5371.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WOl-YVNX-PI/U2-nEs-4rDI/AAAAAAAACOk/yOvLI5boVmY/s1600/IMG_5371.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can that really be flooring going down, in a nice clean space?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-whdXYjUaprM/U2-nFNB8tVI/AAAAAAAACOo/5EuT5U4KAR4/s1600/IMG_5377.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-whdXYjUaprM/U2-nFNB8tVI/AAAAAAAACOo/5EuT5U4KAR4/s1600/IMG_5377.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's engineered oak flooring - Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC)
certified plywood with 5mm of solid oak permanently glued to it. It's
not as sustainable as solid timber due to the glue used in the ply
(which usually contains formaldehyde) and not our first choice but we
were sensibly advised not to risk solid timber. The risk of solid timber
warping and cupping was too great given that the floor insulation is
floating (not physically fixed to the concrete slab beneath), and
because there was still a lot of moisture in the bungalow. Engineered
flooring is much more dimensionally stable.<br />all flooring supplied and installed by the excellent <a href="http://www.bridporttimber.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bridport Timber and Flooring</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZIMvjCN_6A/U2-nF4BPDTI/AAAAAAAACO4/oodKZBP5hDc/s1600/IMG_5423.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZIMvjCN_6A/U2-nF4BPDTI/AAAAAAAACO4/oodKZBP5hDc/s1600/IMG_5423.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbows of light, refracted through the Solatube lens, onto the lovely clay plaster loo wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPI0LOKjsAU/U2-nGP1-rhI/AAAAAAAACPk/45-9zWLeDAM/s1600/IMG_5467.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gPI0LOKjsAU/U2-nGP1-rhI/AAAAAAAACPk/45-9zWLeDAM/s1600/IMG_5467.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clear, cleaned and ready for floor phase 2. Lime/glass plaster to the left, clay to the right. Here in the extension the floor is insulated beneath the limecrete slab, so the flooring is laid on timber battens fixed to the floor.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y4Vol_G8NT0/U2-nGXSn9JI/AAAAAAAACPA/TuwqbePeCpI/s1600/IMG_5513.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y4Vol_G8NT0/U2-nGXSn9JI/AAAAAAAACPA/TuwqbePeCpI/s1600/IMG_5513.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished floor, with mat well, in the main bedroom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wu6XB23OI8s/U2-nG7vxkXI/AAAAAAAACPI/KExkoZflLnE/s1600/IMG_5520.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wu6XB23OI8s/U2-nG7vxkXI/AAAAAAAACPI/KExkoZflLnE/s1600/IMG_5520.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Living room, with a snippet of the kitchen sneaking into view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZFI38pat78/U2-nHdZosNI/AAAAAAAACPg/_viKq4SPp1E/s1600/IMG_5549.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZFI38pat78/U2-nHdZosNI/AAAAAAAACPg/_viKq4SPp1E/s1600/IMG_5549.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, after relocating the old toilet and kitchen sink innumerable times, in order to maintain toileting and tea/coffee facilities: some permanent plumbing is under way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cUDmlUFuJQ0/U2-nHpHNcwI/AAAAAAAACPU/EpXP33yriQ4/s1600/IMG_5577.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cUDmlUFuJQ0/U2-nHpHNcwI/AAAAAAAACPU/EpXP33yriQ4/s1600/IMG_5577.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And there it is: an actual, proper toilet, in its final location. Ifo ES4 WC from the <a href="http://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/" target="_blank">Green Building Store</a> - most modern loos with valve (push-button) flushes are very prone to leaking and wasting water. This has a very efficient 4 litre flush, with a leak-free and reliable syphon. Flushes well using very little water, and won't waste water through leaks. Holding the flush handle down gives a short flush of just 2.5 litres. And it's supplied by rainwater.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RHy7kkpe_nI/U2-nIp3CTrI/AAAAAAAACPY/2esYoL3ttuI/s1600/IMG_5581.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RHy7kkpe_nI/U2-nIp3CTrI/AAAAAAAACPY/2esYoL3ttuI/s1600/IMG_5581.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sedum and herb roof has come to life. It's really exciting seeing it change colour and start to grow. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo5oYLJ9w9c/U2-nJqa1ViI/AAAAAAAACQI/GBpDcMc0DgA/s1600/IMG_5594.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lo5oYLJ9w9c/U2-nJqa1ViI/AAAAAAAACQI/GBpDcMc0DgA/s1600/IMG_5594.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">glass block wall, to borrow light from the roof windows beyond into the bathroom (note battered kitchen sink, in its last temporary location, hygienically next to the loo)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-guCcKeIeHV0/U2-nJ2mj4eI/AAAAAAAACPw/5C0mvo3HBKU/s1600/IMG_5599.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-guCcKeIeHV0/U2-nJ2mj4eI/AAAAAAAACPw/5C0mvo3HBKU/s1600/IMG_5599.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really do love those solatube rainbows.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PI4E8XWkcOo/U2-nKJguIOI/AAAAAAAACP0/18NWTvVCKyw/s1600/IMG_5625.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PI4E8XWkcOo/U2-nKJguIOI/AAAAAAAACP0/18NWTvVCKyw/s1600/IMG_5625.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The reason this door leaked so much in the airtest (see <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/airtestightness-test.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/airtestightness-test.html</a>): it sits about 3mm above the primary airseal. We're hopeful it can be adjusted down to sit on the seal and massively improve airtightness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTZlf4dhv3o/U2-nLGUP4rI/AAAAAAAACQE/3v45Irfbe5U/s1600/IMG_5641.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTZlf4dhv3o/U2-nLGUP4rI/AAAAAAAACQE/3v45Irfbe5U/s1600/IMG_5641.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proper loo number two, with the fine Marmoleum linoleum flooring.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eBwTRAdDA6k/U2-nLKkUz_I/AAAAAAAACQA/tzuRN1y8u_o/s1600/IMG_5661.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eBwTRAdDA6k/U2-nLKkUz_I/AAAAAAAACQA/tzuRN1y8u_o/s1600/IMG_5661.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A selfbuild selfie for National Selfbuild Week. A familiar position (in an awkward corner - in this case under the shiny new bath - with tools). Note mystery pipe to nowhere in the top righthand corner of the photo. Every home should have one, to puzzle future folk.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WuLZ7KyUa1I/U2-nMEl5GdI/AAAAAAAACQQ/jbwNe6kNgqg/s1600/IMG_5664.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WuLZ7KyUa1I/U2-nMEl5GdI/AAAAAAAACQQ/jbwNe6kNgqg/s1600/IMG_5664.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look at it from just the right angle, it's possible to ignore the building supplies bags and pallets. Looks alright I think! Given its setting in a row of four identically-built bungalows I like that it still fits in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGu8wEurD1w/U2-nMetjYVI/AAAAAAAACQU/PMjSKIG5ieQ/s1600/IMG_5695.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGu8wEurD1w/U2-nMetjYVI/AAAAAAAACQU/PMjSKIG5ieQ/s1600/IMG_5695.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted woodwork (colour: Nellie, as in The Elephant).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiesdo8wgUY/U2-nMgudYsI/AAAAAAAACQc/okB6Dn-QaIM/s1600/IMG_5696.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiesdo8wgUY/U2-nMgudYsI/AAAAAAAACQc/okB6Dn-QaIM/s1600/IMG_5696.jpeg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna's felting sink taking shape (location changed from the plans, hence misplacement of pipework)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZBAAW3jDSQ/U2-nNENbiCI/AAAAAAAACQk/nJjHGjiHCI4/s1600/IMG_5705.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZBAAW3jDSQ/U2-nNENbiCI/AAAAAAAACQk/nJjHGjiHCI4/s1600/IMG_5705.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loo with painted boxing, and disturbing tiled shower tray (it moves all over the place when you look it due to some optical illusion)</td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-27365302018360507552014-04-13T22:45:00.000+01:002014-04-13T22:45:13.809+01:00Mud, Mud, Glorius Mud!I've been meaning to write this post about clay plaster for ages. The delay does at least mean that the clay plastering is now finished (hurrah!) so I can include some photos of some posh-looking walls to round off all the shots of mud.<br />
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Clay is, of course, wonderful.<br />
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In all its states it is an incredibly versatile material that has many applications (toothpaste, paper, crockery, insulators on electricity supply lines, clarifying water and wine, bricks, tiles, mud fights, filtration, pond-lining, and plaster to name a random few). It's inert, non-toxic (the dust can be hazardous if breathed in in large quantities - but the build up of any kind of dust in your lungs is best avoided) and it's readily available in many parts of the world.<br />
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Clay is lovely to use, hold, generally be involved with. I've found that most people respond incredibly positively to playing with the stuff. It's just inherently fun to use. I may be prejudiced - as a potter my life has revolved around clay for the last 16 years - but I was drawn to it in the first place because it's just so darn lovely.
Even if you are one of those mysterious folk who are unmoved by the amazing tactile nature of clay, there are some really good reasons to plaster your walls with the stuff. Here are a few:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Incredibly low embodied energy and associated carbon emissions. </b>Even commercially produced clays or clay-plasters require massively less energy to produce compared to any other plaster (eg: standard gypsum plaster, lime plaster, cement etc). Crucially, unlike the main ingredients of most plasters the clay is used raw - it is not fired or subjected to energy-hungry heat treatment.<br />In many situations the clay for clay plaster can be sourced on site, meaning the only carbon emissions associated with it's use are from fuel for the digger used to dig it out of the ground</li>
<li><b>Low cost.</b> If sourced on site during construction, the clay is essentially free. Our clay is the spoil from the holes that were dug for a rainwater harvesting tank and soakaway. In some cases the clay dug out from foundation trenches can be used.</li>
<li><b>Thermal mass.</b> Clay plaster will help maintain an even temperature in your building by storing heat during warmer periods and releasing it slowly during cooler periods.</li>
<li><b>Humidity regulation.</b> Raw clay is hygroscopic - it absorbs and stores excess moisture from the air, releasing it as the air becomes drier. By doing this it helps maintain a more even and healthy level of relative humidity/RH (between 40% and 70% RH). This humidity range results in the lowest potential for survival of airborne viruses and bacteria, and also reduces the likelihood of mould growth. (more detailed and referenced information on this - and other aspects of clay plaster - can be found here: <a href="http://www.lowimpact.org/blog/2012/Aug/research_into_the_benefits_of_clay_plasters1.htm">http://www.lowimpact.org/blog/2012/Aug/research_into_the_benefits_of_clay_plasters1.htm</a>)</li>
<li><b>Breathability / vapour-open construction.</b> Clay-plaster is especially good for this. Allowing moisture to escape through and from the walls helps prevent condensation on the surfaces or within the walls, preventing mould growth and rot.</li>
<li><b>It's lovely. </b>Really, it is. Clay plaster can be easily sculpted into different shapes or smoothed to an even surface, allowing for greater flexibility of design. As it takes longer to dry than other plasters it is also much more forgiving and very well-suited to self-builders. </li>
</ul>
Generally, it's the perfect partner for strawbale walls, allowing them to breath, adding to the heat-storage effect of bales, and perfectly matching the sculptability of straw.<br />
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It's a very high-performance, low-technology solution, which makes me love it all the more. <br />
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There are different combinations of materials that can be used for clay plasters. The recipe used on any build will be determined by the available materials, preferences of the builders/clients, and properties of the clay used. Some clays act as much stronger binders (sticking all the ingredients of the plaster together), some are more plastic (malleable and easy to shape), different clays will shrink different amounts as they dry (affecting among other things, how wet the plaster can be applied).<br />
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The basic ingredients are clay and aggregate: usually either sand and/or chopped straw. We opted for a straw-rich mix which allowed for a higher proportion of clay in the plaster without excessive cracking (the straw-fibres reinforce the clay, and help reduce the shrinkage which is the main cause of cracking). Using as much clay in the mix as possible maximises the hygroscopic and thermal storage properties of the plaster. It also makes for a lovely finish, and a lovely feel for a complete clay-head like myself.<br />
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After trying various combinations we used a main body-coat mix of 2 parts clay, 2 parts chopped straw, and 1 part sand (the sand needs to be a "well graded sharp sand" - sand with a range of particle sizes from 4mm diameter down, from which any clay or silt has been washed. This was available locally as "plastering sand" or in a coarser form as "sharp washed pit sand"). This mix did crack quite a lot and was harder to get really smooth due to the high straw content, so for the finish-coat we use 2 clay, 2 chopped straw, and 2 sand.<br />
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The straw needs to be as finely chopped as you can manage. This feels like a fairly laborious process, but in reality a big builders jumbo-bag can be filled in about an hour or so. The video below shows the (not very sophisticated) process:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kILq7Mql2YA" width="500"></iframe> <br />
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There's another video below, showing a snippet of me doing a not-very-good job of clay plastering the body coat onto one of the timber-stud and reed-mat walls. Clay plastering can be quite slow. It definitely benefits from having a good group of volunteers or workers who can get through it all quickly. Due largely to poor-organisation skills I didn't sort this out, so did all of the slip-coat (the first coat onto the bare straw, of pure slip - just clay and water - which binds the surface of the straw together and makes an excellent surface for sticking later layers of plaster to), all of the sculpting mix (a mix of clay slip and long straw, used to sculpt window-reveals and fill out dips - usually between joins in bales), and most of the body coat by myself. After having some wonderful but very sporadic help from friends and volunteers, I finally got one excellent regular helper (Emily) as we finished the body coat in the last room, then a second (Celia) as we started the finish coats. It was really gratifying for me to see the change from when they first started to when they finished. At first they worked alongside me and did a pretty good job, then I'd go over their patch of wall and even it up; by the end I was able to leave them to complete walls on their own while I dealt with other things. I strongly (and only slightly grudgingly) suspect they were better than me by the end.<br />
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At first I kept the plaster mixes as dry as possible (almost like a putty consistency) to keep cracking to a minimum. Towards the end the mixes were wetter which made them much easier and quicker to apply. As long as the plaster was very thoroughly trowelled over it didn't crack too much. None of the mixes we used were really suitable for putting on the walls with a trowel - I think they would have needed more sand in order to flow well-enough for that, and I found sand-rich mixes more crumbly when dry (the clay-rich mix made a really durable surface when trowelled down). We put all the plaster on by hand, doing much of the sculpting and levelling also by hand, then used a metal plastering trowel to smooth it, even out bumps and reveal dips to fill, and compress the plaster. Compressing it makes it stronger and reduces the shrinkage. Once the plaster had stiffened up a bit we trowelled it down again, at least once, then when it was nearly hard trowelled it down with a plastic trowel which made for a smooth and unblemished surface. For the finish coat it was usually ready for the final trowel the day after application - the backing coats were totally dry before the finish coat was put on, so they sucked the moisture out of it and dried it out quite fast.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/__QfzkbPw_4" width="500"></iframe> <br />
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Right then, here're the photos. There's a dip in quality for a while. The photos are all taken on my phone which is in a mostly me-proof case - but the lens cover of the case got increasingly scratched making for some blurry pictures. I caved in and got a new case eventually, so hopefully the more recent photos are better quality.<br />
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Selecting the photos for this blog post has made me see how far things have come. I've loved all the clay work but when working alone for a bit too long it did seem to be taking an awfully long time! The slip coat was done in July, the long-straw/sculpting mix (also know as the wet-rat mix due to its appearance before using) in September, the body coat in stages from October to (I think) January, and the finish coat from February to March. Other things did happen in between...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l-N-26u5n5Y/U0q9ikOQ_nI/AAAAAAAACIQ/W4zrBXtGI-o/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l-N-26u5n5Y/U0q9ikOQ_nI/AAAAAAAACIQ/W4zrBXtGI-o/s1600/1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mountain of clay from the raintank and soakaway holes, and the bath. Clay is much easier to mix if soaked in water overnight.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZjEtf63FFvs/U0q9q34IJWI/AAAAAAAACKA/j-PUP8ITQB0/s1600/2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZjEtf63FFvs/U0q9q34IJWI/AAAAAAAACKA/j-PUP8ITQB0/s1600/2.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bath full of slip, ready to be diluted a bit and then put on the bare bales.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T4RvlYgvrr0/U0q9thr7pbI/AAAAAAAACKw/U9rhCSAdaH4/s1600/3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T4RvlYgvrr0/U0q9thr7pbI/AAAAAAAACKw/U9rhCSAdaH4/s1600/3.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's messy, but fun. The slip coat makes an excellent surface on the bales for plastering onto.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FXh-rKiyFPs/U0q9xiTJ5iI/AAAAAAAACL0/lqhXm_rmC-w/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FXh-rKiyFPs/U0q9xiTJ5iI/AAAAAAAACL0/lqhXm_rmC-w/s1600/4.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete slip coat in the sunroom, with previously clay-plastered stud and reed mat wall section above.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfTI3eSWLbQ/U0q9x3xwFBI/AAAAAAAACLw/wYYy5voKlH8/s1600/5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfTI3eSWLbQ/U0q9x3xwFBI/AAAAAAAACLw/wYYy5voKlH8/s1600/5.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reed mat/lath on timber stud internal walls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajET0YcUn-w/U0q9zM-wRvI/AAAAAAAACMc/M-u79j96ipI/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajET0YcUn-w/U0q9zM-wRvI/AAAAAAAACMc/M-u79j96ipI/s1600/6.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frame for a truth window, pinned into the bales with dowel. The straw inside will remain bare, to reveal the true construction.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk796cAgSbc/U0q9zuzNr6I/AAAAAAAACMM/uXqF67YH5Vo/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk796cAgSbc/U0q9zuzNr6I/AAAAAAAACMM/uXqF67YH5Vo/s1600/7.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of small plaster tests on reed mat (with sheepswool filling the internal walls for acoustic insulation)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KcjNro8psm8/U0q9zmp22fI/AAAAAAAACMI/b6jP8znL-7k/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KcjNro8psm8/U0q9zmp22fI/AAAAAAAACMI/b6jP8znL-7k/s1600/8.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing to fix window boards. Strawbale building sites are not good places for a vampire to be (probably said that before).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx-NevYJ_fc/U0q90lCGb6I/AAAAAAAACMU/-5bu3P9mnjE/s1600/9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wx-NevYJ_fc/U0q90lCGb6I/AAAAAAAACMU/-5bu3P9mnjE/s1600/9.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long straw and clay slip mix bridging the space between timbers, sheepswool insulation filling the gap behind. (on this big window I fixed bigger bits of wood to the stakes to provide larger fixing points).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q710mB6TqoI/U0q9i_tud5I/AAAAAAAACIU/fvnb1aZmlH8/s1600/10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q710mB6TqoI/U0q9i_tud5I/AAAAAAAACIU/fvnb1aZmlH8/s1600/10.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galvanised nails in the timbers around the windows - providing something for the straw and clay mix to grip, as I fill the holes from straggly bale ends.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3KvT46AyrE/U0q9lQhwZvI/AAAAAAAACI0/t2bRshbZwT8/s1600/11.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3KvT46AyrE/U0q9lQhwZvI/AAAAAAAACI0/t2bRshbZwT8/s1600/11.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A half sculpted window reveal. I've used woodwool board to bridge between the bales and the window, allowing me to clay-plaster right up to the window. Original plan was a timber detail here, but we hadn't realised how big and how close to the edge of the frame the window hinges would be - there wasn't room to fit a timber that would be strong enough. The wood wool is a compromise, as the wood strands (good) are bonded with cement (bad, very bad).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vj6busFdPKA/U0q9jrFoXrI/AAAAAAAACIc/_VZkq4CsWMA/s1600/12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vj6busFdPKA/U0q9jrFoXrI/AAAAAAAACIc/_VZkq4CsWMA/s1600/12.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished long-straw scultping of a door reveal.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie4yn-XcAK0/U0q9j_VQFTI/AAAAAAAACIk/6vvgDPtM2sI/s1600/13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ie4yn-XcAK0/U0q9j_VQFTI/AAAAAAAACIk/6vvgDPtM2sI/s1600/13.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hollows in the wall filled with the long-straw mix. and another window reveal. Also showing window board fitted, screwed into the stakes from the earlier photo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQrhf8crehU/U0q9m5DeGQI/AAAAAAAACJc/JCufHV8XZUU/s1600/14.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQrhf8crehU/U0q9m5DeGQI/AAAAAAAACJc/JCufHV8XZUU/s1600/14.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A highly sophisticated system of straw chopping</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vnbCsGBTmbY/U0q9lAdKKYI/AAAAAAAACIw/J2Yjycb1LPU/s1600/15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vnbCsGBTmbY/U0q9lAdKKYI/AAAAAAAACIw/J2Yjycb1LPU/s1600/15.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lawnmower's eye-view of its vanquished straw. The patent straw-chopping enclosure was later modified with higher sides to contain more of the straw (wear a mask when chopping, there's a lot of dust).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-28IdqgqstIQ/U0q9mIWMFAI/AAAAAAAACI8/7MGlSkYid-s/s1600/16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-28IdqgqstIQ/U0q9mIWMFAI/AAAAAAAACI8/7MGlSkYid-s/s1600/16.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant poo! The first batch of (too stiff) clay plaster</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3a1iZDIPf0/U0q9mSAHFII/AAAAAAAACJE/HkIKophBfK4/s1600/17.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3a1iZDIPf0/U0q9mSAHFII/AAAAAAAACJE/HkIKophBfK4/s1600/17.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat going on a reed mat wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KftmIcQy2g/U0q9nLQo2CI/AAAAAAAACJU/1jZTvKNgeOU/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KftmIcQy2g/U0q9nLQo2CI/AAAAAAAACJU/1jZTvKNgeOU/s1600/18.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And onto the straw-clay wall in the middle. I had a brief flurry of lovely volunteer activity around this time. Thanks volunteers - you're great!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z735QvRtLlM/U0q9nfgRN0I/AAAAAAAACJQ/lYo90_MJHBI/s1600/19.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z735QvRtLlM/U0q9nfgRN0I/AAAAAAAACJQ/lYo90_MJHBI/s1600/19.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First bit of body coat, starting to see those lovely round reveals come together. The reed mat at the top bridges the timber roofplate/box-beam, allowing it to be plastered over.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TNqNABorBc/U0q9opQE7lI/AAAAAAAACJk/gLiqucUyQ4o/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TNqNABorBc/U0q9opQE7lI/AAAAAAAACJk/gLiqucUyQ4o/s1600/20.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The join between roofplate and bales is skrimmed with hessian to prevent cracking (a length of slip-soaked hessian is bedded into a layer of clay plaster). The same is done over cable trunking, to prevent cracks as the plaster shrinks over the solid objects.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xzB8dSY813k/U0q9pHy279I/AAAAAAAACJs/5nje8egH8Sk/s1600/21.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xzB8dSY813k/U0q9pHy279I/AAAAAAAACJs/5nje8egH8Sk/s1600/21.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A plasterer's eye-view, inside the wardrobe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U-ukDi68BGw/U0q9puTRXjI/AAAAAAAACJ4/HsXsy7FsGiI/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U-ukDi68BGw/U0q9puTRXjI/AAAAAAAACJ4/HsXsy7FsGiI/s1600/22.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaster layers built-up around the truth window (or door)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cAhkEyizBss/U0q9qXzR0XI/AAAAAAAACJ8/8CbxUkFcVVU/s1600/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cAhkEyizBss/U0q9qXzR0XI/AAAAAAAACJ8/8CbxUkFcVVU/s1600/23.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With clay plaster it's easy to keep your tools handy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xx7_-c13yvk/U0q9u7Hsa3I/AAAAAAAACLA/ONvVCaKgmKI/s1600/25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xx7_-c13yvk/U0q9u7Hsa3I/AAAAAAAACLA/ONvVCaKgmKI/s1600/25.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of wall where we experimented with "floating up" the wall with a plastic float, giving a render-type finish. We both loved it, right until the point we painted it white, when we both hated it. It's now been painted a darker colour, we like it again, and thankfully this happened early enough to be able to ensure that all the other walls were trowelled as smooth as we could get 'em.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OyimWBEs6Qk/U0q9rclPHGI/AAAAAAAACKU/9VvyYA32wHQ/s1600/26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OyimWBEs6Qk/U0q9rclPHGI/AAAAAAAACKU/9VvyYA32wHQ/s1600/26.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbows of light from the solatube in the ceiling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--f8PH35XGtQ/U0q9rp2W9II/AAAAAAAACKQ/Hcmi7FTY1wg/s1600/27.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--f8PH35XGtQ/U0q9rp2W9II/AAAAAAAACKQ/Hcmi7FTY1wg/s1600/27.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh finish coat in the bedroom. I really love doing the curvy door and window reveals. They make me happy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oS1UehibZVo/U0q9siOCLAI/AAAAAAAACKk/JNY7mCquYPc/s1600/28.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oS1UehibZVo/U0q9siOCLAI/AAAAAAAACKk/JNY7mCquYPc/s1600/28.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The good, the bad and the ugly (clay finish coat, gyspum plaster ceiling, clay body coat)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJdl8IKP6Bw/U0q9s61w2vI/AAAAAAAACKg/hcrtxSlIdk0/s1600/29.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sJdl8IKP6Bw/U0q9s61w2vI/AAAAAAAACKg/hcrtxSlIdk0/s1600/29.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Did I mention how much I like the curvy reveals? Although not part of the original plan, using the wood wool to allow plastering right up to the windows has made for a finish I'm really pleased with. Probably I could have used off cuts of reed mat instead of the wood wool board, which would have better (more sustainable).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ycE8gHlhTkM/U0q9t9r0rEI/AAAAAAAACK0/AFe9sQswzWc/s1600/30.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ycE8gHlhTkM/U0q9t9r0rEI/AAAAAAAACK0/AFe9sQswzWc/s1600/30.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of finish coat scraped back - the scraped back bit was really dusty when rubbed, in pleasing contrast to the hard and durable trowelled surface (to the left).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cmDZ8_T_bZA/U0q9unYHuCI/AAAAAAAACLI/hw2H9vfNIGE/s1600/31.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cmDZ8_T_bZA/U0q9unYHuCI/AAAAAAAACLI/hw2H9vfNIGE/s1600/31.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curvy reveals, exciting view (just wait until we build a fence in front of it), and a selection of PPE.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r-D65rNJP78/U0q9u3GtcFI/AAAAAAAACLE/iVvqYOzYzbY/s1600/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r-D65rNJP78/U0q9u3GtcFI/AAAAAAAACLE/iVvqYOzYzbY/s1600/32.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta da! After three coats of clay paint (it is possible to make clay paint, but we bought it from Earthborn, who make a lovely and very easy to use range of clay paints - paint basically made of clay)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gdgn3QjDNEw/U0q9vtjMFPI/AAAAAAAACLg/4_zlBV5vlf4/s1600/33.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gdgn3QjDNEw/U0q9vtjMFPI/AAAAAAAACLg/4_zlBV5vlf4/s1600/33.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Light doing lovely things in the light well. After initially being highly unimpressed with the colour of our otherwise wonderful clay, we came round to the idea of keeping some walls unpainted. This wall is treated with a wall-glaze (the clay-paint base without any pigment) which helps protect the surface and make it wipe-cleanable).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eX8Rv_wRXHw/U0q9v8d8QQI/AAAAAAAACLc/rwxGHL26lPs/s1600/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eX8Rv_wRXHw/U0q9v8d8QQI/AAAAAAAACLc/rwxGHL26lPs/s1600/34.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After so much time covered in mud I'm finding this new clean phase really odd.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AwFFco0C63U/U0q9wIo5-pI/AAAAAAAACLY/c6ZIu1WSx4s/s1600/35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AwFFco0C63U/U0q9wIo5-pI/AAAAAAAACLY/c6ZIu1WSx4s/s1600/35.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This will be my office/musical play room. Another glazed wall. Clay plaster really is so lovely.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KgOpHLTd4-I/U0q9xEtfVMI/AAAAAAAACL4/PpXjrBthbbU/s1600/36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KgOpHLTd4-I/U0q9xEtfVMI/AAAAAAAACL4/PpXjrBthbbU/s1600/36.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-59392982582525592002014-03-17T22:27:00.000+00:002014-03-18T22:09:28.363+00:00Airtightness testToday we had our first blower-door test, to measure the airtightness of the building. The more airtight a building - the more energy efficient. Any warm air leaking from a building is lost heat-energy. You can cram in all the insulation you like, but if there's a hole in it allowing air through and heat out, then it's a waste of time. Achieving a good air-test result is really important, so today was a mind-frazzling mix of excitement and tension and some frustration.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWfLsLWk1Xo/UydSudaf5aI/AAAAAAAACFU/H-DNGnmEXr0/s1600/FanDoor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWfLsLWk1Xo/UydSudaf5aI/AAAAAAAACFU/H-DNGnmEXr0/s1600/FanDoor.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fan and measuring gear, sealed into the front door, ready for the airtest.</td></tr>
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To measure air leakage, ventilation openings (the heat-recovery vent ducts in our case) are sealed up, and all doors and windows are closed. A large fan is then sealed into the front door opening, the pressure inside and outside the building is measured, along with how much air the fan needs to remove from the building to maintain a set pressure (50 pascals, apparently). From this the air leakage into the building is calculated.<br />
<br />
Before this, the engineer carefully measured the inside of the building in order to calculate the area of "the building envelope" - the external walls, floors, and ceilings (aka.: the building...). The unit used to measure airtightness is cubic metres of air leakage per hour, per square metre of building envelope (m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>). Building regulations ask for a maximum of 10 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>, The Energy Saving Trust's Best Practice standard is 3 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>, for Passivhaus standard it's 0.5 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>, and for enerPHit (Passivhaus standard for retrofit/renovation) the standard is 0.6 to 1 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>.<br />
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We were aiming for 1 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup> but we're not there yet: the test gave 2.68 m<sup>3</sup>/h/m<sup>2</sup>, which is well within building regs, and within the Energy Saving Trust standard, but not as good we want. Unless we get the building tighter, we'll lose too much heat through ventilation, and there's a chance the heat-recovery ventilation may start to use more energy to operate than the amount it recovers. So it's a good start, but we're not done yet!<br />
<br />
It's a slightly frustrating result, but the test has shown me exactly where I need to seal things up more. Some of these were expected, some less so. Air is leaking in where the cables enter the light switch and electric socket back-boxes. The surprising thing is that these leaked <i>more</i> in the extension where I had used rubber sealing-grommets on all cable entries, and less in the refurb bungalow, where the sealing was just the plaster around the cables where they enter the boxes (the grommets are specifically designed for airtightness. Grr). Sealing these will be tedious but not hard - I just need to seal the cable entry to the boxes with silicone or similar.<br />
<br />
One of the more irritating air-leaks was in the fold-aside doors which were sold to us as airtight. The air-test engineer (the very helpful Sam from <a href="http://www.msafe.co.uk/air-sound-and-vibration/air-tightness-testing.aspx" target="_blank">MSAFE</a>) rates drafts from 1 (howling gale) to 3 (trickle). There are four points of these doors which he rated a 2. On inspection I found this was because there is a large break in the rubber airseal either side of each pivot point. This appears to be intentional, and is a very surprising design flaw. I will have to talk to the door suppliers about how we can resolve this.<br />
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Another leak was the join between the bale walls of the extension (or the clay plaster on them) and the timber base the bales sit on. I'd sealed the join between the timber base where it sits on the brickwork, but had hoped the weight of the walls pushing down would seal the bales against the timber. I'm hoping this can be sealed with mastic/builders-caulk once the clay plaster has had it's first coat of paint.<br />
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There were also leaks around where the water main and soil pipe entered the bathroom. The bathroom is in the centre of the building so this surprised me. Hopefully these leaks can be dealt with by sealing the floor covering to the walls and around the pipes.<br />
<br />
Finally, air found it's way through the cavity wall of the original bungalow and out around the bathroom window opening. This will get sealed up when I build the glass block wall here (the window now opens onto a corridor).<br />
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So: an eye-opening day, some frustration, we're not where we need to be yet - but by 'standard' construction standards we got a very good result, and now know how to improve it further.<br />
<br />
In other news: all
being well we should finish the clay-plaster finish-coat tomorrow
(tentative HOORAY!). Blogs on that, some limey plaster, and other bits
coming soon...<br />
<br />
For more info on what we've already done to try and keep the building airtight, there's a few posts here, under the 'airtightness' label: <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/airtightness">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/airtightness</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7k9PcUi7Hs/Uyd1-G9tzbI/AAAAAAAACFk/-siLwn18gsg/s1600/IMG_5325.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7k9PcUi7Hs/Uyd1-G9tzbI/AAAAAAAACFk/-siLwn18gsg/s1600/IMG_5325.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished clay plaster, and a selection of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)</td></tr>
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John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-75136984532212445502014-01-05T19:43:00.000+00:002014-01-05T19:43:09.578+00:00Greenroof, stove, pipes, and stove-pipe.I have too much for one blog post again. After exhaustive public consultation (three people on twitter) the consensus is to have geeky photos of pipes, green roof and stove first, with geeky photos of clay and wall to follow soon.<br />
<br />
We still haven't finished. Schedules are apparently a thing to laugh at or weep over, not to be upheld (despite my best efforts). Starting to clay-plaster just as the weather got cold and damp - and before the stove was functional and able to heat the building up - wasn't the best timing. There's an awful lots of water held in a thick layer of clay-plaster and it takes a while to dry. This isn't helped by the near-airtight building, with the ventilation system not yet commissioned; when moisture does evaporate from the plaster it has nowhere to go, so condensation has been a major issue. Thankfully the stove is now fully functional, we have a big dehumidifier and a fan - things are finally drying out.<br />
<br />
We couldn't use the stove firstly because it didn't have a chimney (quite crucial really), and then because the hot water system in it was filled with water and sealed, pending connection to pump/controls and water tank. To fire the stove in that state risked damaging the heat absorbers or producing explosive steam: as the trapped water heated up and expanded it would have nowhere to expand into.<br />
<br />
Disclaimer: I try to explain some plumbing bits and pieces below. In order to get a system installed - and specify parts - that would do what we needed, I have had to learn a lot more about plumbing than I ever wanted to. But I'm not a plumber and am not qualified to give plumbing advice! I've tried to explain the plumbing in words that I understand, so hopefully other non-plumbers will too... But feel free to skip to the pretty pictures below, or the brief green-roof blurb 5 paragraphs down.<br />
<br />
Quite why it took so long to start getting the stove connected to a tank is still, frankly, a bit of a mystery to me. In the plumbing contractors defence, the stove system is like no stove system they have worked with before. In the UK, the standard stove is a big chunk of metal, it gets very hot very quickly, and pumps out all it's heat in a short space of time. Any hot water system has to absorb that heat very quickly and safely, and the building regs are quite specific about that meaning an open-vented system. This means there is a small "header" tank in the loft, into which an open pipe from the hot water tank (or from the boiler built into the stove) vents, so the expanding hot water is pushed through the vent pipe into the little tank, from where it flows back into the system. The problems with this are that it relies on gravity to circulate the water, that it's inefficient (in my mind anyway - surely heat is lost as it vents and circulates), and that it allows air into the system which speeds up corrosion in the pipework , shortening its life.<br />
<br />
The physics of heat transfer through a masonry stove mean that the heat
is released through the first layer of bricks to the heat-absorbers more
slowly than in a standard metal stove or range, so that sudden intense release of heat just doesn't happen. To ensure enough heat is collected to heat the water, the absorber plates cover most of the surface of the stove's inner core (see pictures in <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lovely-cosy-heat.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lovely-cosy-heat.html</a>, along with an explanation of how the highly efficient stove works). Gravity alone would struggle to effectively move water through these. The system is designed to be pressurised and pumped, increasing efficiency of the heat transfer and prolonging the life of the pipework (as it is built in between the two layers of brickwork, it's not something you'd want to replace). This also allows the pump to be electronically controlled, ensuring water isn't pumped round until the temperature in the stove reaches a mimimum - this stops the stove being cooled during combustion, which would stop it burning efficiently - and not until the water in the stove is hotter than water in the thermal-store tank (so it doesn't cool down our hot-water supply). <br />
<br />
The system is basically the same as a solar hot water system - the controls and safety systems are identical. There is a sealed expansion vessel (if I've understood correctly, this is basically a very tough, heat-proof balloon housed in a metal container; the balloon fills with water as it heats up and expands, preventing a dangerous increase in water-pressure without letting any air into the system); if all else fails there's a safety valve which opens and releases pressure in a vaguely controlled way before it causes anything to burst. Solar hot-water systems are regularly installed like this, perfectly safely, and approved by building control, without problem. Suggesting connecting an identical system to a stove seems to make plumbers very uneasy. Before we could proceed I had to get the building inspector to confirm that he thought there wouldn't be a problem if the manufacturers were happy and their instructions were followed. The combination of heat-absorbers and solar-style controller was developed by <a href="http://www.toby.at/" target="_blank">Toby Hafner</a> specifically for masonry stoves.<br />
<br />
In order for the stove system to be pressurised, it needs to be connected to a thermal-store (glorified hot-water tank) that is also pressurised. This also allows us to have mains-pressure hot water - the mains water is heated as it passes through a coil of pipe in the tank. Running the hot tap draws heat from the thermal-store but without pouring cold water into the body of the tank to simultaneously dilute the hot water (which is how normal hot water tanks work). No UK manufacturers make suitable tanks for our needs, so in the end we had to get an Akvaterm store imported from Finland via the incredibly helpful <a href="http://www.accumulatortanks.co.uk/">www.accumulatortanks.co.uk</a>. These are extremely good tanks, making for very efficient use of all heat. I'd originally planned to use one but was swayed to try other tanks by the contractor - I should have stuck to my guns as it turned out to be the only tank to do the job.<br />
<br />
The thermal store has it's own sealed expansion vessel and safety valves. These are <i>really</i> important. To see just how important I highly recommend searching on YouTube for "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hot+water+tank+explosion&sm=1" target="_blank">hot water tank explosion</a>" and watching at least the first couple of videos. Yikes.<br />
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<b>Green roof</b><br />
<br />
I'll try and be brief here, to make up for the above plumbing ramble. Maybe I'll go with bullet points. Green or living roofs are a good thing because:<br />
<ul>
<li>they either replace greenery lost to the building footprint, or introduce new greenery where none was lost (eg.: we built where a garage, a sunroom, a shed and a patio were, so only a few metres square of grass was lost to our build)</li>
<li>the greenery makes a small contribution to absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen</li>
<li>they increase biodiversity - as well as the plants themselves many beneficial insects can take up residence in a green roof (our roof is mostly sedum plants, as this roof is the lightest possible - this isn't the best for biodiversity but we'll counter that by making piles of ageing logs and making potential homes for bees and other wee creatures) </li>
<li>they slow down the run-off of rainwater - this helps prevent the overloading of soakaways or sewers during rainstorms</li>
<li>they look nice</li>
</ul>
And now for some pictures of pipes, roof, and some other bits. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBYwq1lfG8Y/Usl7_cEN7SI/AAAAAAAACBw/-NKD3bpz05k/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBYwq1lfG8Y/Usl7_cEN7SI/AAAAAAAACBw/-NKD3bpz05k/s400/1.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cody (<a href="http://www.stovecraft.co.uk/">http://www.stovecraft.co.uk/</a>) tests the strength of of the firebox roof while fitting the twinwall, insulated, stainless-steel chimney</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJLYVftDPvg/Usl8D_k2LAI/AAAAAAAACC4/bHQ_KgXYix8/s1600/2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJLYVftDPvg/Usl8D_k2LAI/AAAAAAAACC4/bHQ_KgXYix8/s400/2.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely and shiny. The ceiling plate with EPDM rubber seal seams to be the only airtight one currently available and approved by HETAS. Made by Poujoulat, whose whole system was a dream to work with. Amazing service too.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MFSOIsnyw2E/Usl8GDh8LMI/AAAAAAAACDo/5V8jYGJBqZ8/s1600/3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MFSOIsnyw2E/Usl8GDh8LMI/AAAAAAAACDo/5V8jYGJBqZ8/s400/3.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cody fits the rain cap to complete the chimney</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--JnyppSOLNw/Usl8Gm2Zc_I/AAAAAAAACDw/JOASErQTaWo/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--JnyppSOLNw/Usl8Gm2Zc_I/AAAAAAAACDw/JOASErQTaWo/s400/4.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We finally finished the stove and fitted the stone capping to the top, at the same time as fitting the chimney</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T6zAyv6rbPs/Usl8JS8wbDI/AAAAAAAACEg/PllGHpg8tHY/s1600/5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T6zAyv6rbPs/Usl8JS8wbDI/AAAAAAAACEg/PllGHpg8tHY/s400/5.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shame no-one will see this lovely bit of reclaimed London paving slab (York sandstone)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMupZCe5uzU/Usl8HV6bMCI/AAAAAAAACEA/mRfEd5vM19g/s1600/6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMupZCe5uzU/Usl8HV6bMCI/AAAAAAAACEA/mRfEd5vM19g/s400/6.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beastie - 150kg, 300litre Akva SolarPlus accumulator tank, manoeuvred into place by me and my trusty sack barrow. Getting it through that doorway was interesting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uXTObkDUQcA/Usl8HxzaAvI/AAAAAAAACEI/8Nbdg9Xy9dQ/s1600/7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uXTObkDUQcA/Usl8HxzaAvI/AAAAAAAACEI/8Nbdg9Xy9dQ/s400/7.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The solar coil glimpsed through an opening in the tank. The coil is finned - the greater surface area means greater and faster heat-transfer from the solar system into the tank.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebhndN-gOVQ/Usl8IcPur3I/AAAAAAAACEQ/OvPKb7MpO0Q/s1600/8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebhndN-gOVQ/Usl8IcPur3I/AAAAAAAACEQ/OvPKb7MpO0Q/s400/8.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar PV inverter and the first bits of plumbing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5eKEGRrXvic/Usl8I5RjD1I/AAAAAAAACEY/bZBF-Hq4cS8/s1600/9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5eKEGRrXvic/Usl8I5RjD1I/AAAAAAAACEY/bZBF-Hq4cS8/s400/9.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar pump and controller top left, stove pump and controller bottom right (grey boxes). Note their similarity...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eH6voYG7P2I/Usl7_DqRJ3I/AAAAAAAACBs/5eCBF6OBhUg/s1600/10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eH6voYG7P2I/Usl7_DqRJ3I/AAAAAAAACBs/5eCBF6OBhUg/s400/10.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pipes linking it all at last! There are two solar coils in the tank: a thermostatic valve diverts water below 60 C into the bottom coil to preheat the bottom of the tank - when the water from the solar panels reaches 60 C it goes first through the top coil before going on to the bottom coil, making sure the most efficient use possible is made of any heat. More info here: <a href="http://www.akvaterm.fi/eng/Accumulators/AKVA_SOLAR.41.html">http://www.akvaterm.fi/eng/Accumulators/AKVA_SOLAR.41.html</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0zVStNRN9Q/Usl7_l4kZaI/AAAAAAAACB0/nDIouHDejlA/s1600/11.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0zVStNRN9Q/Usl7_l4kZaI/AAAAAAAACB0/nDIouHDejlA/s400/11.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearly finished. Water from the stove circulates through the main body of the tank, across the mid-section, not via a coil (tank and stove system are pressurised to the same level)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXUXtJvrO7w/Usl8CQEbh9I/AAAAAAAACCo/DJaCiM0grsE/s1600/12.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bXUXtJvrO7w/Usl8CQEbh9I/AAAAAAAACCo/DJaCiM0grsE/s400/12.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished and functional. Hurrah! I'm so glad I left this bit to the pros. Working with the plumbers on site was good - they know plumbing and heating really well, I now know the stove system and the Akva tank really well, so together we could make sure everything was done properly and would work well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XJKSwQVxpY/Usl8APOhjKI/AAAAAAAACCE/pteboG9idDc/s1600/13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XJKSwQVxpY/Usl8APOhjKI/AAAAAAAACCE/pteboG9idDc/s400/13.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some impressive pipe work and some beautiful brass brackets. Sadly these will all be hidden once the pipes are insulated.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZpivJbIj18/Usl8AkUVFQI/AAAAAAAACCI/FRM6npQj9ZE/s1600/14.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZpivJbIj18/Usl8AkUVFQI/AAAAAAAACCI/FRM6npQj9ZE/s400/14.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stainless steel solar pipe, or spare parts of a Cyberman?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IUVqZOJ91EM/Usl8BHMLIGI/AAAAAAAACCQ/HDOimRbshc0/s1600/15.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IUVqZOJ91EM/Usl8BHMLIGI/AAAAAAAACCQ/HDOimRbshc0/s400/15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green-roof substrate ready to spread.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PhCWtkAX_k0/Usl8BuWPxwI/AAAAAAAACCY/IekHkOIUMNI/s1600/16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PhCWtkAX_k0/Usl8BuWPxwI/AAAAAAAACCY/IekHkOIUMNI/s400/16.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green fleecy layer protects the roof membrane, and helps filter sediment out of water before it runs off the roof. The substrate (recycled crushed brick and other materials) holds on to rain water and provides a growing medium for the plants</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SuyOYIDZkJk/Usl8CDy-ZNI/AAAAAAAACCs/lHmtzLz0WcA/s1600/17.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SuyOYIDZkJk/Usl8CDy-ZNI/AAAAAAAACCs/lHmtzLz0WcA/s400/17.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sedum blanket going on</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vdr7N4x53ig/Usl8Cec7zwI/AAAAAAAACCk/DFqYL7h__EM/s1600/18.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vdr7N4x53ig/Usl8Cec7zwI/AAAAAAAACCk/DFqYL7h__EM/s400/18.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta-dah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gicrUtddByg/Usl8Droa0eI/AAAAAAAACDE/PvnTO6CooTY/s1600/19.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gicrUtddByg/Usl8Droa0eI/AAAAAAAACDE/PvnTO6CooTY/s400/19.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete roof with scaffold safety rail removed. We both really happy to see the black monolith of a roof greened at last.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0FkjNOTN28o/Usl8EBrK7fI/AAAAAAAACDA/Oy84LihXy1g/s1600/21.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0FkjNOTN28o/Usl8EBrK7fI/AAAAAAAACDA/Oy84LihXy1g/s400/21.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stove, alight at last!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0XOCiafo5E/Usl8HDcqNvI/AAAAAAAACD4/4XrptH_3-3g/s1600/22.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0XOCiafo5E/Usl8HDcqNvI/AAAAAAAACD4/4XrptH_3-3g/s400/22.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Counter-intuitively, the best way to fire the stove is top-down: build a stack of dry wood, then light kindling at the top. The fire gradually spreads down, with air supplied through holes in the sides of the firebox, channelled in from outdoors. This way there is always the correct ratio of air to burning wood, it's much cleaner, and the release of heat is more constant over a longer period of time without restricting the air-supply, meaning that more heat can be absorbed and stored by the bricks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jw3Inj6YbM/Usl8FCzb_RI/AAAAAAAACDQ/qRZzjNCIPn4/s1600/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jw3Inj6YbM/Usl8FCzb_RI/AAAAAAAACDQ/qRZzjNCIPn4/s400/23.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temperature in the first chamber after the fireboxes is 260 C at this point...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5-t-J8XDyU/Usl8FTcV2HI/AAAAAAAACDY/veWygvB68tg/s1600/24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e5-t-J8XDyU/Usl8FTcV2HI/AAAAAAAACDY/veWygvB68tg/s400/24.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...while at the base of the chimney it's just 100 C - the rest of heat has been absorbed by the bricks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D6pD2zDqbCs/Usl8F0TVSEI/AAAAAAAACDg/RzdKEFNAYnU/s1600/25.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D6pD2zDqbCs/Usl8F0TVSEI/AAAAAAAACDg/RzdKEFNAYnU/s400/25.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quick view at the end of the firing, looking down at the firebox from the oven. Flames seem to be bypassing the oven via the "cold-slot" which is supposed to allow cooler air out of the firebox. I'm not sure whether or not this is meant to happen - I will be checking (Martin, if you're reading this: is it?)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-90087556373250419032013-10-20T17:49:00.004+01:002013-11-01T09:03:31.642+00:00Clay plastering opportunityI'm now clay plastering the inside of the bale walls and the internal dividing walls. It's great stuff, clay plaster. Highly beneficial to the bale walls and the living space (regulates humidity, stores heat), and lovely to use.<br />
<br />
I'm looking for volunteers to help over the next few weeks. So, if you think you might enjoy turning this...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1SY9pSp1gpY/UmQEB8LDU6I/AAAAAAAAB9k/FfRLCxUxfqo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1SY9pSp1gpY/UmQEB8LDU6I/AAAAAAAAB9k/FfRLCxUxfqo/s400/1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
...and this...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-uLL2xBbtI/UmQEBvqVNXI/AAAAAAAAB9s/o7fvGosSlBE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1-uLL2xBbtI/UmQEBvqVNXI/AAAAAAAAB9s/o7fvGosSlBE/s400/2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
...into this...<br />
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...and putting it on these...<br />
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...and also doing a bit of window-reveal shaping...<br />
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then please get in touch using the contact form on the contact page of this blog (<a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/p/contact.html" target="_blank">click here</a>). I'll provide lunch, tea/coffee/herbal-tea and biscuits. No previous experience or skills needed, and there are various tasks to suit different abilities.<br />
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UPDATE. Crucial missing information: it's in Bridport, Dorset, UK...John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-42119258282797995142013-09-21T18:00:00.002+01:002013-09-21T18:00:49.570+01:00Tentacles of Doom and a Giant's bellybutton fluff; the end grows nearer.<div style="text-align: center;">
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The whole bungalow and extension now has ceilings and insulation (video above shows the insulation being sprayed into the main loft space) . I'm very excited by this, especially as the insulation nearly didn't happen, causing a day of mind-bending stress when the already stretched final works schedule looked like disappearing into the wind (see <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/enthusiastic-visitors.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/enthusiastic-visitors.html</a>). That would have made moving in this year impossible. As it is, with the ceilings up we've entered the next phase of building, and I hope things will come together quite quickly now.<br />
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I'm waiting for quotes and potential dates from plasterers to get the ceilings skimmed (which should start soon); the stove will have a chimney and all-being-well a test firing in a couple of weeks; the thermal store (hot-water) tank should be going in shortly, along with pumps for the stove's hot-water-heating system and solar-thermal. That will leave clay plastering the bales, lime-plastering a couple of exposed brick walls of the old bungalow, insulating and laying the floors, fitting kitchen, and general second fix plumbing and electrics. Then move in!<br />
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Still really quite a lot to do, but it feels like the end is, if not quite in sight, then at least should come into sight soon. For the inside at least. Landscaping is a whole other ball game, but crucially can happen once we're living in the place.<br />
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A lot of little jobs have happened since I last did a general update, so the photos below are an attempt to cover it all. I've also made a small start on clay plastering but will save those photos for a more specific post on clay-plaster when more of it is underway. I hope that will be soon, so once again: if you or anyone you know might be interested in playing with clay and straw, learning a bit about clay-plaster, and helping me plaster the walls at the same time - please let me know (email johnbeebutler @ gmail . com - without the spaces).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4buk-npITjs/Uj3GbFcLovI/AAAAAAAAB5c/mbI66Rlb1UY/s1600/IMG_3437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4buk-npITjs/Uj3GbFcLovI/AAAAAAAAB5c/mbI66Rlb1UY/s400/IMG_3437.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bath full of lovely clay slop. This time for the first clay coat on the straw.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lRtlyFfzdBo/Uj3Ga_cJ1LI/AAAAAAAAB5U/FM26cuYJ1ng/s1600/IMG_3459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lRtlyFfzdBo/Uj3Ga_cJ1LI/AAAAAAAAB5U/FM26cuYJ1ng/s400/IMG_3459.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And there it is. The "reveal" coat on the walls (so called because it reveals all the uneven bits and hollows, which will be filled-out soon). Also called key-coat, as it provides an excellent key for the body-coat of plaster to stick to.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gsA4ZIbxSbs/Uj3GbAryZtI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/EVcqoZdRw4M/s1600/IMG_3507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gsA4ZIbxSbs/Uj3GbAryZtI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/EVcqoZdRw4M/s400/IMG_3507.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MVHR - Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery - in kit form. Bends, T's, reducers and connectors. All numbered, with matching numbers on the ducting plans. One big 3-D jigsaw, to be assembled in a variety of awkward, confined and spidery spaces. I didn't especially enjoy this bit. A friend called it the Tube Monster, and the name stuck. I found thinking of it as The Tube Monster and the Tentacles of Doom somehow helped.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VXtkUBzKgDw/Uj3GbqZcIVI/AAAAAAAAB50/j95jjaQUetM/s1600/IMG_3508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VXtkUBzKgDw/Uj3GbqZcIVI/AAAAAAAAB50/j95jjaQUetM/s400/IMG_3508.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The straight ducts for the MVHR</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mWh-Zy4e0V0/Uj3GcDJX4KI/AAAAAAAAB5s/sxAHJ6u6fjw/s1600/IMG_3509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mWh-Zy4e0V0/Uj3GcDJX4KI/AAAAAAAAB5s/sxAHJ6u6fjw/s400/IMG_3509.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the silencers, to cut-out any fan noise and prevent "cross-talk" - sound transmission between rooms. The product code for the silencers begins SHUSH which I found pleasing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMbrDPziAis/Uj3GcKfqcKI/AAAAAAAAB5w/tONo1TK8kHs/s1600/IMG_3543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMbrDPziAis/Uj3GcKfqcKI/AAAAAAAAB5w/tONo1TK8kHs/s400/IMG_3543.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An MVHR supply duct in place. I've since taped it to the plasterboard, to ensure airtightness where it goes through the ceiling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f_GmIFpqGg8/Uj3Gc2D9dYI/AAAAAAAAB6I/hbzF_TjBlU0/s1600/IMG_3565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f_GmIFpqGg8/Uj3Gc2D9dYI/AAAAAAAAB6I/hbzF_TjBlU0/s400/IMG_3565.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tube Monster extends it's Tentacles of Doom through from the loft, into the bale extension</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NGRTgjoz3NQ/Uj3GdKamh6I/AAAAAAAAB6E/12UeOEURaHM/s1600/IMG_3570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NGRTgjoz3NQ/Uj3GdKamh6I/AAAAAAAAB6E/12UeOEURaHM/s400/IMG_3570.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cables and pipes, waiting for a dividing wall. Thankfully I only need to know what the pipes are for. The cables are for the electrician to worry about.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ANLRq1875zA/Uj3GdT0jBQI/AAAAAAAAB6M/NcKUpM3q_tU/s1600/IMG_3587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ANLRq1875zA/Uj3GdT0jBQI/AAAAAAAAB6M/NcKUpM3q_tU/s400/IMG_3587.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Tentacles of Doom</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2qCxRMuXUEU/Uj3Gd2gCBYI/AAAAAAAAB6c/WNQjydimpqw/s1600/IMG_3624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2qCxRMuXUEU/Uj3Gd2gCBYI/AAAAAAAAB6c/WNQjydimpqw/s400/IMG_3624.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Through-the-wall silencer, taking the air exhaust duct to the great outdoors.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0pCFhqvOR8/Uj3Geb-_msI/AAAAAAAAB6g/OZYNfQBAt9E/s1600/IMG_3626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z0pCFhqvOR8/Uj3Geb-_msI/AAAAAAAAB6g/OZYNfQBAt9E/s400/IMG_3626.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intake and exhaust duct grilles. The bungalow has eyes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hpofWlAzRsg/Uj3Gee0qNOI/AAAAAAAAB6k/ENKtwI90SY8/s1600/IMG_3641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hpofWlAzRsg/Uj3Gee0qNOI/AAAAAAAAB6k/ENKtwI90SY8/s400/IMG_3641.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The heat-recovery unit (heat exchanger and low-wattage fans), with (from left to right) extract air from wet rooms, supply air to rooms, exhaust to outside, and intake from outside (doubling back over the top of the unit). These will all need insulating.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUoz6ssS9Yg/Uj3GfdIa9FI/AAAAAAAAB60/Y-e2hAnt9qQ/s1600/IMG_3894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUoz6ssS9Yg/Uj3GfdIa9FI/AAAAAAAAB60/Y-e2hAnt9qQ/s400/IMG_3894.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These poppies really were this bright. In the area previously known as the front lawn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jYbKSGvZ5Hw/Uj3Gf3sBxgI/AAAAAAAAB7A/W_J_HLDAS4Y/s1600/IMG_3896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jYbKSGvZ5Hw/Uj3Gf3sBxgI/AAAAAAAAB7A/W_J_HLDAS4Y/s400/IMG_3896.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also out front - this is what our home is built from! Wheat straw.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fh51qlIsTF8/Uj3Gfvp3VZI/AAAAAAAAB64/E1AJC_ln0Vg/s1600/IMG_3897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fh51qlIsTF8/Uj3Gfvp3VZI/AAAAAAAAB64/E1AJC_ln0Vg/s400/IMG_3897.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cable/pipe mess from back up the page, contained in a freshly-plastered wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ao8_-BiDZs8/Uj3GgUzCDQI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/C9J_cDtQH0A/s1600/IMG_3926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ao8_-BiDZs8/Uj3GgUzCDQI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/C9J_cDtQH0A/s400/IMG_3926.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chamomile drive.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vnthomom_Z0/Uj3GgaKo3_I/AAAAAAAAB7I/Qc8JC36galQ/s1600/IMG_3962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="122" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vnthomom_Z0/Uj3GgaKo3_I/AAAAAAAAB7I/Qc8JC36galQ/s400/IMG_3962.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Utility room, plastered and painted, ready to receive thermal-store tank, pipework and pumps. I think I did okay on the walls but the ceiling's a mess. Very satisfying to have a finished room though, complete with window sill.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BgMYUbpvHlk/Uj3Gg6u3HFI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/DdWi4R3vDUk/s1600/IMG_4057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BgMYUbpvHlk/Uj3Gg6u3HFI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/DdWi4R3vDUk/s400/IMG_4057.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reed mat on timber-frame wall (sound insulated with thermafleece sheepswool), meets strawclay wall. Whole lot will be covered with clay-plaster before too long.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j051mO0_qs8/Uj3Ghaw6wYI/AAAAAAAAB7s/utn78r--nMw/s1600/IMG_4061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j051mO0_qs8/Uj3Ghaw6wYI/AAAAAAAAB7s/utn78r--nMw/s400/IMG_4061.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The toilet to be. Awaiting plaster. And toilet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx7xgqfLvnM/Uj3GhkXjb3I/AAAAAAAAB7k/vDWITOXHpkM/s1600/IMG_4091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx7xgqfLvnM/Uj3GhkXjb3I/AAAAAAAAB7k/vDWITOXHpkM/s400/IMG_4091.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.raindirector.co.uk/" target="_blank">Rain Director</a> and pipes supplying rainwater to the header tank in the loft and on to the loos. Also mains backup. The unit runs the pump in the underground tank when the header tank is nearly empty, and turns it off when full.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T01vTCaJxi4/Uj3Gh59-RXI/AAAAAAAAB7o/3XTZEydvLP8/s1600/IMG_4165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T01vTCaJxi4/Uj3Gh59-RXI/AAAAAAAAB7o/3XTZEydvLP8/s400/IMG_4165.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fitting VCL (vapour control layer)/airtightness-membrane (recycled paper) to the big-room ceiling. To keep moisture-vapour out of the insulation, and stop heat-loss through air-movement.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LYfp2Yv9sJY/Uj3GievyURI/AAAAAAAAB78/7CNBBcKFJMQ/s1600/IMG_4180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LYfp2Yv9sJY/Uj3GievyURI/AAAAAAAAB78/7CNBBcKFJMQ/s400/IMG_4180.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Counter-battens hold the membrane in place, holding back the insulation when it's pumped in, and allowing for it to bulge a bit without stopping us fitting plasterboard later.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3tLKzo1Kpg/Uj3Giw-5VdI/AAAAAAAAB8A/S5RRHjJ3mPA/s1600/IMG_4188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3tLKzo1Kpg/Uj3Giw-5VdI/AAAAAAAAB8A/S5RRHjJ3mPA/s400/IMG_4188.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first bit of <a href="http://www.warmcel.co.uk/" target="_blank">Warmcel (recycled newspaper) insulation</a> is pumped in.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-611-qtikARY/Uj3GjLYHLAI/AAAAAAAAB8E/VT82uav25Qk/s1600/IMG_4189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-611-qtikARY/Uj3GjLYHLAI/AAAAAAAAB8E/VT82uav25Qk/s400/IMG_4189.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-wrapped bales of insulation, and the pumping machine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bellybutton fluff of a giant (aka: Warmcel)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim and Mike chasing the insulation installers out of the building, boarding the ceilings up behind them (we got Tim and Mike back to speed things along. I'd forgotten how nice it is having them around).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bedroom ceiling! (with clay plaster tests on reed mat)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f1IOnr7eDOQ/Uj3GkdQZ4cI/AAAAAAAAB8g/TjN6naRdNgc/s1600/IMG_4216b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f1IOnr7eDOQ/Uj3GkdQZ4cI/AAAAAAAAB8g/TjN6naRdNgc/s400/IMG_4216b.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We have ceilings throughout the bungalow. This is amazing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks like the contents of a billion hooverbags, but that there is 400mm of quality insulation in the loft. The MVHR ducts still need to insulated.</td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-85699096125698787682013-09-18T21:16:00.000+01:002013-09-19T10:09:52.253+01:00Enthusiastic visitors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Hx2kOSL0l4/Ujn_QeQqu-I/AAAAAAAAB5E/mazemu-RjXU/s1600/OPENDAY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Hx2kOSL0l4/Ujn_QeQqu-I/AAAAAAAAB5E/mazemu-RjXU/s400/OPENDAY.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This Saturday just gone we opened up the bungalow to anyone interested, as part of a local open eco-homes event (see here:<a href="http://www.transitiontownbridport.co.uk/Content/open.asp" target="_blank"> http://www.transitiontownbridport.co.uk/Content/open.asp</a>). It was an intense but lovely day. The photo above of me gesticulating wildly is from then (thanks very much to Sam Wilberforce for the photo, especially for managing to take one I'm not grimacing with "photo-face" and am actually happy to post online).<br />
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We had 91 people through I'm told, in 5 groups. In the days before I was regretting having agreed to take part. It was a particularly hectic and stressful week, that started off with the cellulose fibre (recycled newspaper) contractor trying to refuse to do the job - the day before they were due to start - because they'd completely misunderstood some boring details about vapour-control/airtight-membrane fitting with cross battens. I refused to take "no" for an answer, especially at such a ridiculously late stage, and eventually convinced them I did know what I was doing, it would all work fine, and I was following the manufacturers specification for injection of blown insulation in any case. I felt pleased with my seemingly improved assertiveness skills, but the work was delayed by a couple of days, which meant that at 4:30pm the day before the open day the insulation contractors were just winding up for the day and Tim and Mike (friends/builders who I asked to plasterboard the ceilings in an attempt to get back towards schedule) were still putting up plasterboard on the ceilings that had just been insulated, and the site was a mess!<br />
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I'm really glad I did do the open day though. Before anybody even came it was nice just wondering around the (now) unsually clear and clean site. I was expecting maybe a trickle of people throughout the day, and was fairly terrified by the large group that assembled. I started talking about the project, and explaining things, trying to remember important details and think what would be interesting to other people, but without any real idea of whether it was interesting. I was immensely relieved when people started asking questions that helped me shape what I said, and made me think anew about things. Different questions came up throughout the day, which was great.<br />
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By the end of the day I was exhausted, had a sore throat (I probably haven't spoken that much in the last few months combined), but was really enlivened by the day and by people's responses to the build and baley/clayey goodness. I've been flagging a bit lately - we've been working on site for nearly a year and a half now - and have been re-motivated by the enthusiasm of the visitors. If you're reading this and were one of them: thankyou!<br />
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A huge thankyou also, to John and Sam who marshalled visitors, made coffee, and generally made sure everything went well.<br />
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Meanwhile, I've put the photos together for a progress update and will be posting that here in the next few days.<br />
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I have another call for volunteers too: the much delayed clay plastering should be happening soon and will be greatly aided by extra enthusiastic hands. No particular skills are needed, there's lots of different bits to it so I can find tasks to suit. If you might be interested in playing with clay and straw, either late Septmber, early October, or both, please let me know (email me at johnbeebutler @ gmail . com - without the spaces).John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-50581116767421238692013-07-28T14:31:00.000+01:002013-07-28T22:13:59.158+01:00Strawclay - combining my two favourite materialsI'm still way behind with this blog. I'll try and make a concerted effort to catch up in the next few weeks. Life on and off site is as full as ever, but I have had a few days off to go to a friends wedding in Spain. That was lovely! As has been the fact that we've actually been having a summer. After seemingly constant rain last year and working in a world of mud, that is particularly welcome. I did spend the first week of sunny weather stuck in the dark, hot, sweaty loft running ventilation ducting, but I'm now back in the daylight and enjoying it.<br />
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Around the same time as the masonry stove was being built (see last blog: <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lovely-cosy-heat.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lovely-cosy-heat.html</a>) we were building the thick strawclay wall. The hope is that this wall will provide reasonably good sound separation between Anna's studio, my office, and the corridor, so that we can both make noise (listening to music, playing music, running sewing machines, swearing at computers) without annoying each other. I'm particularly hoping it allows me to play my small selection of musical instruments in the evening without keeping Anna awake (she tends to go to bed early, and that would often be the best time for me to play). My mandolin, trumpet, whistles and vocal chords have been neglected and I look forward to rectifying that (some results of when they <i>have</i> been used are here: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/bicipital-groove">https://soundcloud.com/bicipital-groove</a>). I also hope that the thick strawbale walls, triple glaze windows and well-insulated roof will prevent anyone outside the building hearing us.<br />
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As you might expect, strawclay is a mix of straw and clay. Clay slip is poured over a pile of loose straw, and this is mixed together with pitch-forks (I tried using the cement mixer but it wasn't much help). When there is just enough clay in the mix to lightly coat the straw it's ready to use. This is then pushed between boards fixed to the timber studwork of the wall, and lightly tamped down with a bit of 4x2" timber. When the boards are full they are moved up and the process repeats. The tricky bit is just below the ceiling, where it is impossible to fill from above. Here the board on one side is fixed right at the top, and on the other side about 150mm below the ceiling. Strawclay is pushed into the space as well as possible, then the board is raised and fixed at the top to compress the mix into the wall.<br />
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Some people mix Boric acid in some form into the mix to prevent mould and insect attack. I didn't do this, but I can see that it could be a good plan. Boric acid is fairly innocuous to humans, but is very effective preservative treatment (this site has more info on boron and it's safety: <a href="http://www.woodworm-info.co.uk/tech_info.htm">http://www.woodworm-info.co.uk/tech_info.htm</a>. Disclaimer: it is a site connected to a boron preservative shop, so maybe not a neutral source of info). A week or so after finishing the wall a few patches of Ink Cap mushrooms developed. The mushrooms themselves aren't such a problem, but like icebergs it's the bit you can't see that is a potential problem. The mycelium fibres that the mushrooms spring from will rot the wall (basically they'll digest it from the inside out) if given a chance. They may have died off (or at least gone dormant) once the wall was dry, but given it's thickness (around 200mm) the wall has taken a long time to dry. I was concerned that the mycelium could spread during the drying time and either cause a lot of damage, or re-activate one moisture from the clay-plaster reached them after plastering. Ink Caps have been known to lift concrete so clearly clay plaster would be no match for them! In the end I caved in and injected the wall with a boron paste, and sprayed the surface with liquid boron preservative. I'm not wildly comfortable at having had to do this, but it does seem to have saved the wall.<br />
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For good sound separation I'm told a mix of dense and less dense materials are needed. Apparently the less dense materials absorb higher frequencies of sound, and the more dense ones absorb the lower frequencies. Straw is low density and clay high density so in a way the strawclay is already a bit of both, but in reality it makes a relatively lightweight structure, as it is only loosely compacted. Listening to the radio through the walls it does sound bassier as the higher frequencies are effectively absorbed by the strawclay. To absorb those bassy frequencies we'll plaster both sides of the wall with a thick layer (about 30 - 40 mm) of dense clay plaster. Together with the strawclay, and the fact that the studs are acoustically separated from surrounding structure by rubber foam (see <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/emerging-from-dark-winter.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/emerging-from-dark-winter.html</a>), this should contain sound pretty well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1jckdxib7Ow/UfUJ-bRTWYI/AAAAAAAAB2E/M6r0mV-HQLQ/s1600/IMG_3131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1jckdxib7Ow/UfUJ-bRTWYI/AAAAAAAAB2E/M6r0mV-HQLQ/s400/IMG_3131.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bath full of clay. No strawbale building site should be without one.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NDpNslT9wFM/UfUJ-IKiM8I/AAAAAAAAB18/AV-HRnrM8yQ/s1600/IMG_3134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NDpNslT9wFM/UfUJ-IKiM8I/AAAAAAAAB18/AV-HRnrM8yQ/s400/IMG_3134.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clay is soaked with water (the clay is from the site - it was dug out to install the rainwater harvesting tank and soakaway)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mixing clay slip in the mixer. I later found it more effective to mix the slip in a gorilla tub with a drill mixer. When mixed with sand the clay breaks down readily in a mixer, but on it's own like this there are always lumps remaining in the cement mixer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John forking a mix. Looks ready to use. (photo Sam Wilberforce - thanks Sam!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawclay tamped down between shuttering</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shuttering can be removed immediately. The strawclay holds it's shape well and be built up straight-away.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EWSjd834kpw/UfUKAMpHldI/AAAAAAAAB2o/ghVfMWlmjA0/s1600/IMG_3183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EWSjd834kpw/UfUKAMpHldI/AAAAAAAAB2o/ghVfMWlmjA0/s400/IMG_3183.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The alternating position of the studs on each side, with the mix woven between them, prevents the strawclay from falling out of the wall. It also aids sound separation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jxlhFZAjc2c/UfUKAhQ_2kI/AAAAAAAAB20/ksP1j7nW53Y/s1600/IMG_3195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jxlhFZAjc2c/UfUKAhQ_2kI/AAAAAAAAB20/ksP1j7nW53Y/s400/IMG_3195.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam and John filling a section of wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's messy. But lovely.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debs, Sam and John prepare another mix.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to Sam for this photo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The awkward top bit. Board on the far side is at full height.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uh oh... Ink Cap mushroom. I tried to make sure any mouldy straw didn't make it into the mix but some got through, clearly. Given the near-impossibilty of keeping spare straw dry through all the rain last year, we not surprisingly had quite a lot of mouldy straw.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wheat-grass has died-off now the wall is dry.</td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-79502525920013329272013-06-20T22:30:00.005+01:002013-06-21T01:22:04.963+01:00Lovely Cosy HeatThis blog continues to be several weeks behind the onsite reality, but the onsite reality is several months behind the very unreal schedule so I suppose that's only fitting.<br />
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We've now built the big masonry stove (pictures below) that I'm so looking forward to cosying up to during any properly cold snaps. The main idea is to not need to heat the building very much, thanks to thick insulation and airtight construction. But sometimes in winter some extra heat will be needed.<br />
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The standard way of heating with wood in Britain is a metal stove or an open fire. Even the good ones get dangerously hot while lit, create a stifling atmosphere, are starved of oxygen to make them burn slowly (in order to provide constant heat, but also ensuring a very inefficient, smoky and polluting burn) and don't store much heat. Once the fire's out there is some residual heat but most of it is gone fairly swiftly.<br />
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Masonry stoves solve all of this. There are various versions from different countries (Germany and anywhere East and North of it, really) and they've been around for a long time. The designs have been tweaked over time, especially with improved means of testing the efficiency of combustion and the level of emissions produced. All are very clean-burning, producing the maximum amount of heat per amount of wood burned, with very low emissions (testing has shown them to have combustion efficiency of around 95% - on a par with modern and complicated log gasification boilers). The wood in a masonry stove is burned relatively quickly over 1 to 2 hours), with enough oxygen to ensure a clean burn. A secondary combustion chamber burns off the gases that burning wood releases, generating more heat and reducing harmful smoke emissions (it also doubles after firing as a bake or pizza oven, and looks amazing through the glass door during firing). There should be no visible smoke from a masonry stove. The flue-gases are taken for a wander around the stove, to make sure as much heat as possible is extracted from them before they exit via the chimney. The bricks store that heat, slowly and evenly releasing it over the next 12-24 hours, depending on the type and size of stove, and how well insulated your home is.<br />
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These lovely brick stoves never get too hot to touch so are great for cosying up to, much more pleasant to be around than the searing heat of a metal wood-burner. Ours will also heat water, toppping up temperature in the tank during the times when the hot-water solar-panels won't be so productive.<br />
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There's much more info at <a href="http://www.stovemason.com/">www.stovemason.com</a>, or on the specific type of stove we now have, at <a href="http://www.stovemason.com/double-bell-heater/">www.stovemason.com/double-bell-heater/.</a> The stove was built by a team of four headed by Martin Ruzicka, reduced to two later in the week, at which point I joined in with the brick-laying. I also cleaned up and cut the reclaimed York sandstone (previously part of some London pavements) which forms the shelves and oven top. I discovered that ancient chewing gum somehow still releases a minty smell when you sand it - I don't know what that stuff is made of but it's indestructible.<br />
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The bricks the stove is faced with are a slight indulgence in some ways - they are new, so represent a fairly high embodied energy from the fuel used to fire them - but they are local. The bricks are from Swanage brickworks, which is about 40 miles away. They're lovely and the same price as - or cheaper than - similar bricks from factories many many miles away; so of course none of the local suppliers stock them, stocking instead the ones from many many miles away. This is just one example of a messed up retail supply chain, so I'll try and avoid that particular rant here.<br />
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The stove builders and me were besotted with the bricks, despite their slight awkwardness to use (being handmade there are a fair few banana bricks). It was lovely hanging out with a bunch of friendly people who shared my enthusiasm for nice bricks and fire, and my obsession with finding more efficient ways of burning wood. We had geeky conversations comparing technical specifications of different bricks. It was great!<br />
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At some point I want to write about how wood fuel isn't necessarily so great after-all (a lot depends on where the wood comes from, and what you do with it, for example), but for now lets pretend it's a straightforward renewable fuel..<br />
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Anyway, here's the bit with the pictures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bTidWeSuUrg/Ub9zDBrHslI/AAAAAAAABxs/PpL9NfKJwhQ/s1600/IMG_3065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bTidWeSuUrg/Ub9zDBrHslI/AAAAAAAABxs/PpL9NfKJwhQ/s400/IMG_3065.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building regs compliant airvent cover, providing the stove with its own dedicated, permanently-open air-supply. Ideally this would be closable, so that cold air doesn't enter the stove once it's fired and closed down. Ah well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8XBzMmkO6E8/Ub9zDMvN-iI/AAAAAAAABxw/ogNF3jLPiKA/s1600/IMG_3082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8XBzMmkO6E8/Ub9zDMvN-iI/AAAAAAAABxw/ogNF3jLPiKA/s400/IMG_3082.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking brick layout. Some clear and accurate measuring at this point would have ensured the near end of the stove was in the right place. Apparently what I actually did was some confused and inaccurate measuring - the stove is now a little closer the outside wall (behind camera viewpoint), causing the planned doorway there to be a bit restricted. Again: ah well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot-water heat-absorber positioning. Stove base built around air-supply, so air is channelled under the ash-pit floor and up around the sides of the firebox.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNJJzLWrxcQ/Ub9zEanTcsI/AAAAAAAAByE/XpUtbx8SotQ/s1600/IMG_3098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNJJzLWrxcQ/Ub9zEanTcsI/AAAAAAAAByE/XpUtbx8SotQ/s400/IMG_3098.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First chamber/bell in the flue section (they call them "bells", I call them chambers because I'm used to kilns), with vertical flue nearest the camera. The exit from the first bell into that flue is at the bottom (diagram at the bottom of this page, will probably make more sense...)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsyptSXp9HQ/Ub9zE9pOyyI/AAAAAAAAByM/4cmzP1yGFdQ/s1600/IMG_3138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AsyptSXp9HQ/Ub9zE9pOyyI/AAAAAAAAByM/4cmzP1yGFdQ/s400/IMG_3138.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed firebox, with primary airholes in sides and back (supplying air from outside the building)</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzpBJ3NQ6Ls/Ub9zFTv_CeI/AAAAAAAAByc/Ec_3_X3uw_I/s1600/IMG_3141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzpBJ3NQ6Ls/Ub9zFTv_CeI/AAAAAAAAByc/Ec_3_X3uw_I/s400/IMG_3141.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oven/secondary combustion chamber roof, made from refractory castable mix.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lbzIgLJ-9uI/Ub9zGIB7s5I/AAAAAAAAByo/REZDQhhczvg/s1600/IMG_3158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lbzIgLJ-9uI/Ub9zGIB7s5I/AAAAAAAAByo/REZDQhhczvg/s400/IMG_3158.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oven roof being lifted into place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FDxFeIieK2c/Ub9zGYKnKxI/AAAAAAAAByw/Y69eXYyN8Qw/s1600/IMG_3160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FDxFeIieK2c/Ub9zGYKnKxI/AAAAAAAAByw/Y69eXYyN8Qw/s400/IMG_3160.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta-da! From bottom up: ashpit, firebox, secondary combustion chamber (a.k.a oven). The opening from firebox to oven is a restricted "throat" - this pressurises the gases released from the burning wood. As the gases enter the oven they expand and mix with oxygen causing a very effective second stage of burning, resulting in a very effiecient overall burn and very low emissions from the stove.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mnM7JO2Prbo/Ub9zHClrmKI/AAAAAAAABzA/8Zi9-4EWCWw/s1600/IMG_3206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mnM7JO2Prbo/Ub9zHClrmKI/AAAAAAAABzA/8Zi9-4EWCWw/s400/IMG_3206.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stove masons with the finished refractory core.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5GFpNNMC5k/Ub9zHdgTm1I/AAAAAAAABy8/Yb6mz-9Yrgg/s1600/IMG_3216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5GFpNNMC5k/Ub9zHdgTm1I/AAAAAAAABy8/Yb6mz-9Yrgg/s400/IMG_3216.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braze-welding the heat-absorber plumbing (braze welding is sort of a higher-temperature form of soldering - it won't melt inside the stove like standard solder would, and can also take higher pressures).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTqXLe6UCzI/Ub9zH6ZzE-I/AAAAAAAABzE/eBwe-0gfRyg/s1600/IMG_3224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTqXLe6UCzI/Ub9zH6ZzE-I/AAAAAAAABzE/eBwe-0gfRyg/s400/IMG_3224.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the hot-water heat-absorbers joined together.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rwpw0Lk5HE/Ub9zIjuaa1I/AAAAAAAABzQ/beKR1w4cBx0/s1600/IMG_3225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rwpw0Lk5HE/Ub9zIjuaa1I/AAAAAAAABzQ/beKR1w4cBx0/s400/IMG_3225.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed heat-absorber circuit is then pressure tested to 8 Bar to ensure there are no leaks, first with air, then with water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G5EyzhnXUuw/Ub9zIyCQQSI/AAAAAAAABzY/CQEt02rVkCw/s1600/IMG_3239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G5EyzhnXUuw/Ub9zIyCQQSI/AAAAAAAABzY/CQEt02rVkCw/s400/IMG_3239.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outer skin begins, using lovely Swanage bricks (local handmade Dorset bricks - same price as other available bricks, nicer, yet local suppliers prefer to stock bricks from many many miles away).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Acf_TYzfv2s/Ub9zJOvd6sI/AAAAAAAABzc/lI3tUHdPJKQ/s1600/IMG_3259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Acf_TYzfv2s/Ub9zJOvd6sI/AAAAAAAABzc/lI3tUHdPJKQ/s400/IMG_3259.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin shrugs, pointing trowel in hand. He actually enjoys pointing-up brickwork. This is a rare and wonderful thing. The outer skin is built using clay mortar - clay from the mountain in the garden mixed 3:1 with sharp sand.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ff-gOKtOLO8/Ub9zJ5LxBOI/AAAAAAAABzs/M15r2OW5bpE/s1600/IMG_3264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ff-gOKtOLO8/Ub9zJ5LxBOI/AAAAAAAABzs/M15r2OW5bpE/s400/IMG_3264.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woodlouse!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3i9d7S5iZE/Ub9zKALR6NI/AAAAAAAABzw/A6AXOa_7qMY/s1600/IMG_3273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3i9d7S5iZE/Ub9zKALR6NI/AAAAAAAABzw/A6AXOa_7qMY/s400/IMG_3273.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cody cuts a brick for the oven door arch. Fowlers tool hire have done quite well out of this build. They are very helpful though.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DyyFZRbNffE/Ub9zKuqQO4I/AAAAAAAABz4/oP2uY9NYZBA/s1600/IMG_3282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DyyFZRbNffE/Ub9zKuqQO4I/AAAAAAAABz4/oP2uY9NYZBA/s400/IMG_3282.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A genuine head-scratching moment. Both arches (flat and curved) in place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhudeSHsgMs/Ub9zLuRWnZI/AAAAAAAAB0E/yZTPWotZyTU/s1600/IMG_3290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhudeSHsgMs/Ub9zLuRWnZI/AAAAAAAAB0E/yZTPWotZyTU/s400/IMG_3290.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost finished, apart from the height issue. The core was too close to the timber stud wall and ceiling above, so we had to reduce it in height.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RjWpkz49lfc/Ub9zLygW_MI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/ndXK0VliXp8/s1600/IMG_3299.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RjWpkz49lfc/Ub9zLygW_MI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/ndXK0VliXp8/s640/IMG_3299.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thermometer, showing temperature in first bell. There's another at the base of chimney. When in use the temperature in the secondary combustion chamber/oven could reach up to 600 degrees Celsius, but the temperature in the chimney shouldn't be more than around 120 degrees, as so much heat will be absorbed by the bricks (and the hot-water system).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgp-q7tuLS0/Ub9zMHgFdUI/AAAAAAAAB0M/h84CtFUDFp0/s1600/IMG_3301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vgp-q7tuLS0/Ub9zMHgFdUI/AAAAAAAAB0M/h84CtFUDFp0/s400/IMG_3301.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At this point we ran out of time and the last-man-standing (Cody) had to go home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9eSMe77JqNc/Ub9zMmh1DtI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/pe4kfXUlW0c/s1600/IMG_3394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9eSMe77JqNc/Ub9zMmh1DtI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/pe4kfXUlW0c/s400/IMG_3394.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I finished the brickwork fitted the insulation to the top of the stove (three layers of calcium silicate insulation board and a thick layer of clay-mortar). Eventually this will be capped with York sandstone (reclaimed street paving stones, like the top of the main stove) and the twin-wall insulated stainless-steel chimney will be fitted above the flue (nearest the camera).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JCb0QL5iS3E/Ub9zNGyInLI/AAAAAAAAB0c/OXltQ__uHcs/s1600/IMG_3454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JCb0QL5iS3E/Ub9zNGyInLI/AAAAAAAAB0c/OXltQ__uHcs/s400/IMG_3454.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished-ish.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uwSQKrcFzA8/Ub9_E5WFWZI/AAAAAAAAB0o/eLNo92P1X9M/s1600/For-Stove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uwSQKrcFzA8/Ub9_E5WFWZI/AAAAAAAAB0o/eLNo92P1X9M/s400/For-Stove.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black arrows show air/flue-gas flow through the stove. The circuitous route ensures as much heat as possible is collected and stored by the bricks.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AQrGshUj78w/Ub9_sOfaugI/AAAAAAAAB0w/-R42YRbnwDI/s1600/Full_front_cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AQrGshUj78w/Ub9_sOfaugI/AAAAAAAAB0w/-R42YRbnwDI/s400/Full_front_cross.jpg" width="347" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cross-section, showing stove and bells/chambers. Image by Martin Ruzicka, <a href="http://www.stovemason.com/">www.stovemason.com</a></td></tr>
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<br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-30074821257403313012013-06-08T14:38:00.000+01:002013-06-08T21:40:27.679+01:00Details details<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm exhausted! It's been one of those phases where suddenly lots of big things are happening at the build and the space is transformed again. The inside spaces of the bungalow are taking shape and almost all of them now have at least some kind of wall, and are more or less defined as they will be when all is done. Over a fortnight the big thick strawclay wall went up (the main internal structure in the extension, acting as thermal mass/heat-store and soundproofing between Anna's and my workspaces), as did the also-big masonry stove that will provide us with a highly efficient and lovely source of heat. Each of those is probably a blog by itself, so this one is about the less exciting but still crucial bits that happened before.</div>
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It's all about the details. Everything. Always.</div>
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Okay, maybe not actually everything, and not quite always - but a lot of times in life it's the details that define something or lift it from barely passable to something wonderful. It's definitely true of the build. Paying attention to the details of finish should make the home lovely to be in. But before that there's a lot of very mundane details to resolve to ensure the building functions well and efficiently, stays warm and dry, or cool and dry and summer; that things are set up well so that later stages of the build go smoothly, with things fitting together as they should; and that the finished house is easy to live in, move around, and equipment is easy to use with switches located in sensible places (for example).</div>
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It's been said that sometimes (often?) this blog is a load of semi-technical waffle followed by a load of photos of holes. I concede that there is some truth in this! The rest of this blog may fall into that category, although instead of holes it'll be photos of taped-up things, air-sealing grommets, hazel pegs, and cables (and maybe one shallow hole, right near the end).</div>
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I spent what felt like far too long wondering around the bungalow sealing things up with a variety of different industrial-grade sticky-tapes. This may well be my least-favourite activity yet, rivalled only by the shovelling and compaction of 33 tonnes of chunky (hard-to-shovel) stone into the <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/cement-free%20foundations" target="_blank">foundations</a> in the rain last year. It was necessary to make the building airtight, or as airtight as possible.</div>
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Airtightness is really really important. The most wonderfully insulating strawbale walls and deep cosy roof insulation are not much good if there's a big gap between them through which the cold wind blows. Around 20-35% of heat loss from homes is typically through ventilation. This includes through open windows, doors and airbricks, but also through less obvious means. Draughts around poorly-fitting window and door frames, around cable and pipe entries into the home or through ceilings, even cracks in plasterboard ceilings or masonry walls (<a href="http://www.greenspec.co.uk/refurb-airtightness.php" target="_blank">Greenspec</a> have a helpful diagram with more info about <a href="http://www.greenspec.co.uk/refurb-airtightness.php" target="_blank">airtightness and heat loss here</a>) all allow warm air out, and cold air in. Attention to detail to seal up these points of leakage is essential to create an energy-efficient building.</div>
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Airtightness does bring it's own problems. Many of the problems of dampness in buildings stem from moisture in the air condensing on cold surfaces. Ventilation is necessary to remove the damp air from the house. The common way to deal with damp areas is basically to make a hole in the wall (or window frame) and cover it with a grille. This <i>is</i> effective at removing the moisture, it's very simple to do, but is also very effective at removing a large amount of heat. The other problem with airtight homes is a lack of fresh-air and oxygen. This is all avoided by use of a ventilation system with heat recovery. This (unsurprisingly) recovers heat from air being removed from the home and puts it back into the air coming into the home. We have opted for a ducted whole-house Mechanical Ventilation system with Heat Recovery (MVHR). This uses a low-power fan to extract air from the dampest rooms (kitchen, bathroom, anywhere with a sink or a loo, entrance room with wet coats) and supply air to all the other rooms (or sometimes the other end of the same room). The supply air and extract air pass through a heat-exchanger which recovers around 90% of the heat which would otherwise be lost. The components of this are now onsite, a worryingly large 3D jigsaw for me to piece together sometime soon.</div>
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Any kind of combustion heating is a problem with an airtight home. Whether it's a gas boiler or a woodburning stove, it needs air to burn cleanly and safely, without running the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Building regs require a permanently open air vent for a stove in an airtight house. Again, normally this would be a hole in a wall, which renders completely pointless all that painstaking work to thoroughly insulate the building and prevent draughts. So the stove will have it's own dedicated air-supply, channelled directly into it and separated from the room. </div>
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The next blog will have more pretty pictures and less explanation. Maybe.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bDcfMzybG64/UbMG7eND6VI/AAAAAAAABuc/8I_j6bxOHXY/s400/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheepswool insulation stuffed into gap between foundation walls and timber baseplate. Also filling notches for compression straps used to compress the bale walls (see <a href="http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/bale-frenzy-part-2-hairy-bungalow.html">http://thewoodlouse.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/bale-frenzy-part-2-hairy-bungalow.html</a>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vz3ZD4pQRDU/UbMG__I3WdI/AAAAAAAABvk/UU_zdob66xs/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vz3ZD4pQRDU/UbMG__I3WdI/AAAAAAAABvk/UU_zdob66xs/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Airtightness detailing: holes around metal wall-ties taped over, membrane strip glued and stapled in place to seal potential air-leakage point between brick and bale walls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JXiQzedTNWA/UbMHC7EnzBI/AAAAAAAABwY/Fb1WECeETaY/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JXiQzedTNWA/UbMHC7EnzBI/AAAAAAAABwY/Fb1WECeETaY/s400/3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No good having a well-sealed window if the frame isn't sealed well to the building. Despite silicone sealant around the frames on the outside I could feel the air blowing through around the frame. The tape eradicated that.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aPYdFxxBW78/UbMHDd6aH9I/AAAAAAAABwg/2wjyIq8issU/s1600/3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aPYdFxxBW78/UbMHDd6aH9I/AAAAAAAABwg/2wjyIq8issU/s400/3b.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MVHR (heat-recovery ventilation) ducting and fittings, looming at me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GsLwvnIof2M/UbMHD8qjDLI/AAAAAAAABws/J-4HNtzFRHU/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GsLwvnIof2M/UbMHD8qjDLI/AAAAAAAABws/J-4HNtzFRHU/s400/4.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once again, ready for vampire attack.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXpYgJ3OQl8/UbMHEnPhYgI/AAAAAAAABw0/jZ3YJk932JA/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXpYgJ3OQl8/UbMHEnPhYgI/AAAAAAAABw0/jZ3YJk932JA/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric fittings stage 1, 2 and 3: trim back the straw where light-switch or electric socket will go, hammer in hazel pins, cover straw with clay-slip</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2EhB9rbuOKU/UbMHFtGyikI/AAAAAAAABxQ/5Oftu4mRd_4/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2EhB9rbuOKU/UbMHFtGyikI/AAAAAAAABxQ/5Oftu4mRd_4/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric fittings stage 4: level (and fireproof) the area with clay-plaster (clay and chopped straw)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lY8RQ5FdGnc/UbMHFYwZWgI/AAAAAAAABw4/TQMxbPyE-Us/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lY8RQ5FdGnc/UbMHFYwZWgI/AAAAAAAABw4/TQMxbPyE-Us/s400/7.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric fittings stage 5: Screw smartply OSB offcut to the hazel pins. This allows a bit of flexibility when fitting the switch/socket boxes, meaning they can positioned exactly where needed. Much easier than trying to place the hazel pins perfectly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bfygp7g9__4/UbMHFiBgAbI/AAAAAAAABxI/wTLSfqzg4Hw/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bfygp7g9__4/UbMHFiBgAbI/AAAAAAAABxI/wTLSfqzg4Hw/s400/8.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LSF (Low Smoke and Fume) PVC-free cable. PVC is a very polluting material, in production and disposal (<a href="http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/ThorntonPVCSummary.html">http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/ThorntonPVCSummary.html</a>), responsible for chlorine and dioxin release. It also releases highly toxic fumes in the unlucky event of a fire. PVC-free cable is also tougher, which is an added bonus.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-viAGxNY-vqM/UbMHFwxaKgI/AAAAAAAABxM/KoK1AC_Gg8c/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-viAGxNY-vqM/UbMHFwxaKgI/AAAAAAAABxM/KoK1AC_Gg8c/s400/9.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justin the electrician hasn't totalled up the distance yet but we think there's around 2 km of cable in the building now, for sockets, lighting and switching, and data. Shocking how quickly it adds up.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7A-j9uORF9A/UbMG7fpJ1kI/AAAAAAAABuU/RUTxxTSjCcw/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7A-j9uORF9A/UbMG7fpJ1kI/AAAAAAAABuU/RUTxxTSjCcw/s400/10.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And finally: socket back box fitted to OSB, pinned into straw</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqifBR3ZBxc/UbMG7aSBy4I/AAAAAAAABuQ/Mu19u2EmnS0/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqifBR3ZBxc/UbMG7aSBy4I/AAAAAAAABuQ/Mu19u2EmnS0/s400/11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home-made airtightness grommet (EPDM rubber-roofing offcut) where cables come through recycled-paper airtightness membrane in the ceiling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0mTfJ3APKCQ/UbMG8SwfxUI/AAAAAAAABuk/V9RyFhV6Bq0/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0mTfJ3APKCQ/UbMG8SwfxUI/AAAAAAAABuk/V9RyFhV6Bq0/s400/12.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabling in the Bat Loft</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6gb-ttLFKk/UbMG857rMGI/AAAAAAAABuw/37MeXfVMBgM/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c6gb-ttLFKk/UbMG857rMGI/AAAAAAAABuw/37MeXfVMBgM/s400/13.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a hole in my wall...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--U2CF-3Q8e4/UbMG9ttjFOI/AAAAAAAABu4/OkghrsBxos4/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--U2CF-3Q8e4/UbMG9ttjFOI/AAAAAAAABu4/OkghrsBxos4/s400/14.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now there's an LED light filling it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk0UgXHLuF0/UbMG9qjwvaI/AAAAAAAABu8/Dvjc7L2Y5Kg/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk0UgXHLuF0/UbMG9qjwvaI/AAAAAAAABu8/Dvjc7L2Y5Kg/s400/15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very discrete external LED light fittings they are too.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dIuZ63YQpE/UbMG-GRfBvI/AAAAAAAABvA/dkuvA5JcFyc/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dIuZ63YQpE/UbMG-GRfBvI/AAAAAAAABvA/dkuvA5JcFyc/s400/16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boxing for an MVHR duct, under sunny windows. I'm really liking the sun this year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3wLmE2YJRs/UbMG-ibkA-I/AAAAAAAABvM/UYlFa8deKq8/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3wLmE2YJRs/UbMG-ibkA-I/AAAAAAAABvM/UYlFa8deKq8/s400/17.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of those "doesn't look much but feels momentous" moments - waterpipe finally persuaded to get around some awkward bends in the service duct linking the outside rainwater harvesting tank with the house.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IaIbyuCjC5g/UbMG_AGjOKI/AAAAAAAABvU/mm-XtXvZguw/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IaIbyuCjC5g/UbMG_AGjOKI/AAAAAAAABvU/mm-XtXvZguw/s400/18.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And at the the other end...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PRfODKUHp3c/UbMG_YUxHVI/AAAAAAAABvc/z6ipKLPYA8U/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PRfODKUHp3c/UbMG_YUxHVI/AAAAAAAABvc/z6ipKLPYA8U/s400/19.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ta-da! One pipe supplies rainwater to the header-tank in the loft, the other will dump it back into the underground tank if we go away (the water will go stagnant in the warmer loft but will stay clear and nice in the cool, dark underground tank).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8lca_hx0hig/UbMHAT4RWUI/AAAAAAAABvo/WLbJmNNDKqo/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8lca_hx0hig/UbMHAT4RWUI/AAAAAAAABvo/WLbJmNNDKqo/s400/20.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBZCsD7geE/UbMHBgNz3JI/AAAAAAAABv8/ucLBVgoTSN8/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yLBZCsD7geE/UbMHBgNz3JI/AAAAAAAABv8/ucLBVgoTSN8/s400/21.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An opened up bale demonstrating the behaviour of water and rot if you get a leak through bales (in this case via rubbish tarpaulin covering spare bales throughout the wettest year on record in England). The water drains straight through the straw, and only the area immediately below the leak rots. If this happens in a wall the rot can be cut out and new straw stuffed in.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--aVQfvllG0w/UbMHBersdMI/AAAAAAAABv4/4uYkNC3mwFo/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--aVQfvllG0w/UbMHBersdMI/AAAAAAAABv4/4uYkNC3mwFo/s400/22.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making more of a mess of the floor, in order to fit air-supply for masonry stove</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc9slrpFDLc/UbMHBqXGa4I/AAAAAAAABwE/ceZPK0iaa44/s1600/23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xc9slrpFDLc/UbMHBqXGa4I/AAAAAAAABwE/ceZPK0iaa44/s400/23.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Air supply pipe to another dimension</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pG7wt5_AUik/UbMHCVPlhxI/AAAAAAAABwI/iA8hCbpV2p0/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pG7wt5_AUik/UbMHCVPlhxI/AAAAAAAABwI/iA8hCbpV2p0/s400/24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-exI6ECPT3bU/UbMHDHPhKkI/AAAAAAAABwk/-vwbOpBRf60/s1600/26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-exI6ECPT3bU/UbMHDHPhKkI/AAAAAAAABwk/-vwbOpBRf60/s400/26.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floor repaired, insulating (and strong, and recycled) foamglas slab fitted, with NHL lime screed on top, air pipe in centre, ready for stove.</td></tr>
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Finally, a footnote about electric cables and strawbale walls. Despite the beliefs of almost any electrician, and even a few green-builders, <i>you do not need to use armoured cable in strawbale walls!</i> This idea seems to have spread via Grand Designs and <a href="http://www.ben-law.co.uk/" target="_blank">Ben Law's otherwise amazing build</a> in Sussex. The idea is that mice or other animals might like to live in the straw, then might nibble through the cable-covering, then an electric spark might trigger an almighty, home-destroying blaze.<br />
<br />
There are a couple false assumptions here. Firstly the mice: they probably would like to make a bed in straw, but are equally - if not more - likely to nest in any loose insulation materials, such as are commonly used in walls and ceilings through which cables often run. If the bale walls are built properly there is nowhere for mice to get into the bales. The bales are dense, compressed and compacted, and completely covered in plaster or render. Secondly the fire risk: strawbale walls have <a href="http://greenbuilder.com/GSBNarchives/msg02242.html" target="_blank">been tested and found to exceed the bulding regs requirements</a> for fire resistance many times, withstanding fire for 2 hours 40 minutes before a fail (smoke penetration from one side to the other - still not a fire). Strawbale construction has been <a href="http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/pubs/fs58.pdf" target="_blank">approved for bushfire areas of Australia</a> (pdf link). In any case, the cables are run on the surface of the straw wall in conduit which is then completely encased in clay-plaster.<br />
<br />
I'm sure I'll return to the subject of strawbale and the perceived fire risk - it's a myth that needs some serious busting!<br />
<span id="goog_1957630045"></span><span id="goog_1957630046"></span><br />John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5815817901050780312.post-47860963397164424402013-05-19T22:36:00.005+01:002013-05-19T22:36:57.506+01:00'Natural' isn't necessarily 'sustainable'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Asbestos_with_muscovite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Asbestos_with_muscovite.jpg" width="338" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">naturally occurring asbestos</td></tr>
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<br />
When choosing materials to use in our build we try to choose the most sustainable. Sustainable living means making best use of available resources, aiming for the smallest negative environmental and social impact possible. This is more complicated than simply using 'natural' materials.<br />
<br />
I think the terms 'natural building' or 'natural materials' are unhelpful. The presumption is that natural is good, artificial is bad. 'Natural' is often used interchangeably with 'sustainable'.<br />
<br />
Even before questioning whether it's accurate to conflate natural with sustainable, there's a whole philosophical debate to be had about what is or isn't natural. For example my preferred building material is strawbale, which is often called natural. It's the dried out stalk of a plant - something that <i>grew</i> - so of course it's natural. Really? But it's also the product of machine-dependant industrial agriculture, a mono-crop that wouldn't occur on the same scale without human intervention. Following that train of thought I ask: at what point does human activity stop being natural? We're products of nature; maybe anything we do is natural. But that would soon render the term fairly all-encompasing and so meaningless in any helpful way. Or is human-made unnatural, and everything else natural?<br />
<br />
Natural materials are often seen to be either those things that grew (plant-based), or other things which occur in a useful form (like stone or slate). In reality, both will usually have had to undergo some form of processing.<br />
<br />
Straw has been compressed and bound up in to a more-or-less regular shape, the machine-made bale. Strawbales might not fit a definition of 'natural', but they do fit my idea of sustainable. It's using a waste product. Despite the oil burned by farm machinery strawbales are generally held to be carbon negative - there is more carbon locked up in their structure than has been released in their manufacture and transport (and if the straw was left to rot, that carbon would be released back into the atmosphere, which it is not whilst the bales remain part of our walls).<br />
<br />
Stone has been quarried, usually by machines,
and transported large distances. On an industrial scale quarrying can
be very harmful to the landscape and there can be issues with polluted
water run-off from the quarries. Seen like that I think it looks a lot less sustainable. It's a scale though: stone is certainly more sustainable than cement, which has a much higher amount of carbon associated with it's manufacture, and more harmful pollutants. <br />
<br />
Slate is a fine 'natural' material. The processing is minimal. If sourced locally and on a small scale it could be sustainable (the same applies to stone). But much roofing slate these days is imported from Brazil, in which case the carbon and pollution caused by its transport stops it being sustainable.<br />
<br />
Is natural necessarily good anyway? There are many examples of highly toxic, natural things. Here are just two: Deadly Nightshade is a naturally occurring plant - which as the name suggests, really is deadly if you eat it; Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral - but the World Health Organisation estimates that <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/" target="_blank">107 000 people die each year</a> from asbestos-related lung cancer,
mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure to asbestos.<br />
<br />
On that cheerful note I'll end this shortish rant. For ease I <i>do</i> sometimes describe materials as natural, but I've been increasingly finding it rankles.<span id="goog_1902623217"></span><span id="goog_1902623218"></span>John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15846600138704672241noreply@blogger.com0