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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.

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    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 6th 2014 edited
     
    I see that a national brick shortage is being reported ...

    Traditional kiln-fired clay bricks for construction are in short supply, with delivery waiting times counted in months in some parts of the country. Certain large housebuilders have found the backlog so severe they have resorted to importing supplies from Europe, as have some manufacturers. The Construction Products Association reported earlier this year that manufacturers have raised production and used imports as a temporary buffer as housing starts pick up pace.

    http://www.thenbs.com/topics/ConstructionProducts/articles/brick-shortages.asp
  1.  
    This week I have had one of the Directors of a national housebuilder (thousands a year) tell me that they are on 6-9 month lead times for orders of bricks at present.

    Make of that what you will.

    What we need is boutique brickmakers who can compete :-o .

    What happened to all those self-builders with oversized log burners :-)))) !

    Ferdinand
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 7th 2014
     
    Posted By: ferdinand2000What we need is boutique brickmakers who can compete :-o .
    Wasn't there a Morgan Freeman film about that?
    By the time the big boys get the bricks, interest rates will have risen.
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 7th 2014
     
    One thing is for sure, our local brickwork closed during the downturn and was quickly bulldozed and turned into landfill site. So no chance of a boutique brickworks rising from the ashes.
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeAug 8th 2014 edited
     
    Brick skinning a steel or timber frame is daft anyway. If you must, brick slips, or fake it in render - totally convincing. Equally past sell-by date, IMHO still (despite discussion here), is 'cavity wall' construction where the cavity has become so wide that there's no composite action, just huge footprint bloat and muck-away. Brick shortage? Bring it on!
    • CommentAuthorTriassic
    • CommentTimeAug 8th 2014
     
    Hopefully such a shortage will help short sighted mass market builders innovate New construction methods and materials. But there again maybe not!
    • CommentAuthorskyewright
    • CommentTimeAug 8th 2014 edited
     
    Brick construction isn't the norm around here. A couple of years ago builder told me he knew on a new-build on the Island that had insisted on having bricks brought in (at considerable expense) - but the whole thing was then given a rendered finish anyway so it didn't end up looking any different to the more typical timber frame & rendered blockwork outer construction!
    • CommentAuthorborpin
    • CommentTimeAug 8th 2014
     
    Posted By: TriassicHopefully such a shortage will help short sighted mass market builders innovate New construction methods and materials. But there again maybe not!
    I actually blame the Building Standards and Warranty firms who do not like innovation rather than mass market builders.

    Also, a non brick/block skin is less robust and that is a factor (kids, bikes, balls etc).
  2.  
    Posted By: TriassicHopefully such a shortage will help short sighted mass market builders innovate New construction methods and materials. But there again maybe not!


    Yes, why not use modern materials unashamedly and design for them? I'm sure it could lead to benefits in ease of construction, energy efficiency etc. It's how our house was built with a simple steel frame clad in galvanised steel upstairs and concrete render on steel mesh downstairs, asbestos cement sheeting for the roof etc. In the last 65 years many new sheet materials have become available that weren't around in the 1940s for cladding and insulation that could be used now.

    Ed
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