Mon, 25 May 2026 09:15:14 +0100 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.0.3 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8816#Comment_8816 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8816#Comment_8816 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:45:15 +0000 Ben
Does anyone have any building knowledge of these and what sort of cost per brick etc is involved. The article says they are not load bearing so any beams/joists would become a thermal bridge through the insulation behind the bricks but the breathability and health benifits of the clay sounds worth while!
Any oppinions would be much welcomed]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8818#Comment_8818 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8818#Comment_8818 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 13:26:55 +0000 fostertom Posted By: Benbeams/joists would become a thermal bridge through the insulation behind the bricks'for internal walls' doesn't mean inner skin of external cavity wall - sounds like that's your intention?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8826#Comment_8826 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8826#Comment_8826 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:41:13 +0000 Chris Wardle https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8836#Comment_8836 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8836#Comment_8836 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:46:25 +0000 Ben Compressed earth bricks sound like a possibility but what about longevity externally. They would need very robust render on not to wash away in the rain would they not, and how much do they cost anyway?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8839#Comment_8839 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8839#Comment_8839 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:44:31 +0000 fostertom https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8843#Comment_8843 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8843#Comment_8843 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:14:33 +0000 Chris Wardle
Nobody seems that interested in CEBs in the UK and I can't really understand why. You don't actually buy the blocks, you get a machine towed to site that turns the sub-soil out of your footings and/or an excavation for a pond or a basement. These things can churn out 1000's of block a day which can be dry stacked straight into a wall with just a clay slurry between courses. In a country with relatively little structural timber, earth seems like the obvious sustainable, low embodied energy building material and if you make it into regular shaped blocks then it becomes more accessible for the regular builder (compared to cob or rammed earth).Perhaps someone needs to take the plunge and import a block making machine...

Have a look at this site:-

http://www.midwestearthbuilders.com/]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8845#Comment_8845 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8845#Comment_8845 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:01:43 +0000 Ben https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8846#Comment_8846 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8846#Comment_8846 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:58:29 +0000 chuckey It looks to me like an extreme answer to a problem that need not exist, if builders had used lime mortar. Because then all bricks and blocks used in an old construction could be re-used ad-infinitum, giving an effective imbodied energy of zero if used for the present build.
Frank]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8851#Comment_8851 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8851#Comment_8851 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:44:06 +0000 Chris Wardle
The blocks are stabilised with a bit of lime and go as hard as stone over time, just like rammed earth. The air voids are driven out of the soil by the force applied by the press. I don't see what is extreme about using the materials that we have always used historically, apart from the last century or so, but I agree it is a shame that so many decent bricks get ruined by laying then in hard mortars.

I just like the idea of CEBs because:-
- they use up all your spoil on site
- almost no embodied energy
- cheap for the self-builder (you could make them all with a manual block press if you had the time)
- use idigenous materials i.e. reduce timber imports
- reduce the need for quarrying
- high thermal mass
- benefits of a clay interior i.e. healthy, hygroscopic

The downside being the resistance of the industry and the public to anything different and the need to acquire an automated block press unless you really like hard work... Of course, now would be a good time for getting such a machine shipped over from the USA given the weakness of the dollar against sterling.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8857#Comment_8857 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8857#Comment_8857 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:28:35 +0000 Pingy https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8864#Comment_8864 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8864#Comment_8864 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:40:39 +0000 Chris Wardle
http://www.limetechnology.co.uk/pages/sumatec.php]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8870#Comment_8870 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8870#Comment_8870 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:02:02 +0000 StuartB
This architect is a founding member of the new UK Earth Building Association. Here is a link to one of their projects.

http://www.arc-architects.com/research/Earth-Masonry.htm]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8955#Comment_8955 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=822&Focus=8955#Comment_8955 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:11:58 +0000 Ben
That web site tells you all you need to know and some!!!
I will do some sourcing and costing but it looks like it could be the winning option]]>