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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
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General: Unfired Bricks, are they as good as they sound?!?

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorBen
    • CommentTimeNov 3rd 2007
     
    I have seen an article about using unfired bricks for internal walls, see www.buildforafuture.co.uk/autumn05Unfired_earth_bricks.pdf

    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
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeNov 3rd 2007
     
    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?
  3.  
    What about compressed earth blocks? Load bearing, so can be used for internal or external walls, and you get the benefit of the clay internally.
    • CommentAuthorBen
    • CommentTimeNov 4th 2007
     
    Sorry fostertom, yes i mean the inner skin of the cavity wall.
    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?
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeNov 4th 2007
     
    Traditional cob (in-situ mud) survives well, left exposed, erodes only very slowly - as long as the top surface of the wall is protected.
  6.  
    I don't see why a CEB wall would not be durable with a lime render on it. You would build the first course with concrete blocks and incorporate a decent overhang at roof level in any case. As Tom says, Cob buildings have lasted for 100s of years with lime render and a regular coat of lime wash.

    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/
    • CommentAuthorBen
    • CommentTimeNov 4th 2007
     
    Love the idea of building my own bricks but where the hell do you hire a machine like that from? Errol bricks do unfired bricks but i cannot find out about prices. If anyone knows of such a brick making machine let me know. Could be a real money maker!?!
    • CommentAuthorchuckey
    • CommentTimeNov 4th 2007
     
    Looking at the pictures, it is a timber framed house with block infill - look at the wooden beam going right across the window opening from wall to wall. How does one make a fixing into such a soft block? How do you get any air voids out of the soil before you compress it?
    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
  9.  
    They aren't timber framed Frank - have a look through the rest of the site. I believe they do tend to use timber lintels over the windows and they also cast a concrete bond beam on a rubble trench foundation to build off and then again at first floor level which I guess you can hang your joists off to create the first floor.

    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.
    • CommentAuthorPingy
    • CommentTimeNov 4th 2007
     
    Could the CEBs be used to create a 4" inner skin of an external cavity wall? In my case the outer skin would be an existing 9" brick wall.
  11.  
    I guess these people could tell you Pingy:-

    http://www.limetechnology.co.uk/pages/sumatec.php
    • CommentAuthorStuartB
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2007
     
    Ben,

    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
    • CommentAuthorBen
    • CommentTimeNov 6th 2007
     
    Thanks Stuart,

    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

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