Green building, wattle and daub

[JohnC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ch/8220091.stm


Saw this earlier and found it interesting..

[robin wood]

Nice to see traditional building skills in the news. Paula is clearly a good self publicist;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...rdressers.html

and if you don't fancy the hard work she'll sell you 20l of clay daub for just £50

I agree that local sourcing of natural building materials can be more green but if we are looking at genuine green not green tokenism then we need to look at the whole picture. I see Paula's extension to her large detached home is open to the roof, how do you guess it compares insulation wise to a modern insulated cavity wall? and what do we think the chances are that it is heated with an oil fired aga? Personally I suspect modern building materials, double glazing, serious insulation etc whilst they may be transported further than the wattle and daub will save far more energy in the lifespan of the property.

I am a great fan of and advocate for traditional building skills but we should be careful if selling anything on a green ticket that it is truly more environmentally friendly than the alternatives.