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around with
shapes and finishes. The course is run with the
Low Carbon Trust, click the lonk for
details- an independent, not-for-profit organisation formed in 2001 to set
up, manage and promote environmental projects. The Trust's main
objective is tackling climate change through highlighting the
connection between buildings and the carbon emissions their use
produces. They do this by running innovative low-carbon construction
projects and education experiences, including Eco Open Houses,
sustainable construction training courses and Eco Education Days for
local schools.
Working with others and learning by doing show how rapidly you can
build something in earth, the types of forms which work easily and
what sort soil you can use. Its a big subject and there are lots of
soil types, not all of which work. But a workshop starts with the
basic principles, whether you are building in temperate or tropical
climates, with clay or without.
In the
workshop project shown we built the back walls of a greenhouse. This
design meant being able to capture heat in the daytime, preventing the
air temperature from getting too hot. Then at night the heat is
released from the walls keeping the plants warm.
Each
of the two sections built was built in a day and a half, by nine
people, working by hand.
It
isn't always possible to build something 'real', often we build a test
piece and show a detail like an opening, fixing details, an arch or
corner. Whether it is on a 'live' site or a test piece building
requires planning, preparation materials, tools and willing
participation.
In the
case of the project shown the first group of builders were mainly
architects, more familiar with computer screens than shovels. We
spent most of the first day going through the principles and practice
of assembling formwork and mixing soils. There are many ways of
building formwork, in this case we used scaffold planks and threaded
bolts. This allowed us to build up rapidly after the initial setting
out.
Looking at different soils, thinking about clay and sand and stones,
and water are all things which are intuitive and can be shown.
Touching and feeling, using your senses, tell you more than any amount
of theory. Simple tests can show very fast what you could discuss all
day in a classroom.
Once
the formwork and soil were prepared we started building, first with
lime in the footing, up to the damp proof course. There was no
foundation to the structure. After that just the soil that had been
dug up on the site. We started ramming mid afternoon.
By the
end of the day we had put up the second set of boards,
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