Where we started
EBUKI started with a meeting, in 2007, of people and organisations
interested in increasing and normalising earth in construction. To make
earth building normal requires more research, more teaching and training,
more standards, more assessment, more information, more networking, more
built examples, more experienced professionals, in other words more of lots
of different activities! So, we agreed that an organisation, which fostered
the use of earth as a building material in all its forms was essential. We
have had a great deal of success and continue to grow our organisation from
strength to strength.
What we do
- increase awareness about earth building
- keep
our website and social media resources updated on a range of earth building
topics
- provide expert speakers and workshop leaders at our National
events
- arrange information gathering and dissemination
- work with
National and International partners to write, publish and set new standards
for earth building techniques
- develop accredited standards in training
for earth builders
- send earth builders, trainers and assessors for
accredited training
- work to develop a library of information about
materials and techniques
- work to develop a mapping facility of UK and
Irish earth buildings
- act as an umbrella for research, development and
practice funding applications
- participate actively in a European earth
building network
- pursue a range of agendas, which make the use of
earth much easier
- encourage similar earth building organisations in
Africa
- coordinate with joint research (Currently exploring
opportunities in India)
Our achievements so far
Since our first meeting we have:
- held
annual earth building conferences with a broad range of themes (9yrs)
- run an
annual earth building festival 'Clayfest' (2yrs)
- joined a network of European earth building organisations and
co-written training standards with them for Clay Plasters and all the major
Structural Earth techniques
- written a UK National Occupational Standard
(NOS) For Level 3 Learners
- written a UK National Vocational
Qualification (NVQ) For Level 3 Learners
- pursued agendas on training
and assessment to ensure the NOS and NVQ are available to employers and
training organisations
- ensured that the same practice can be taken up
in the Republic of Ireland
- published regularly in social media and on
our website, advertising upcoming events, workshops and projects, plus
educational information
- published an informative newsletter
- become a partner organisation of the UNESCO Chair on Earth Architecture,
linking us to other organisations around the world
Who we are
The Trustees and Executives of our charity are all volunteers who have
been involved in sustainable building. We are a group of academics,
builders, researchers, trainers, architects and engineers. Trustees play a
key role in the oversight and strategy of the organisation, but cannot be
paid for their time or efforts. Executives, likewise, do a lot of unpaid
meeting and working, only being paid as Project Officers when funded work is
being done.
Trustees
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Daniel Maskell
Treasurer Daniel is is a Research Associate at the
University of Bath working on the ECO-SEE project. His passion for earth
construction is mainly within the new build sector; which is fostered by
his PhD work. It is his belief that mainstream adoption of earthen
construction can utilise the environmental benefits on a wider scale and
have a significant and measurable impact. This approach has become the
rationale for his current research and will become key to his planned
future work in academia. |
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Mike Lawrence
Company
Secretary Mike Lawrence is a Lecturer in
Low Carbon Design within the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction
Materials in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering. He
specialises in Natural Building Materials and in the optimisation of the
fabric of buildings to minimise in-use energy consumption. Mike is
currently company secretary. |
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Louise Cooke
Chair of Board
of Trustees Louise studied at the Institute of Archaeology,
University College London, undertaking an MA in Managing Archaeological
Sites. Her PhD researching is in the conservation of earth structures.
Her fieldwork was undertaken in Central Asia and the Middle East with
particular focus on the multi-period earthen cities of Ancient Merv
(Turkmenistan). |
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Peter Walker
Trustee Pete is a chartered civil engineer and a member of
both the Institution of Engineers Australia and The Institution of Civil
Engineers (UK). Having previously worked in Zimbabwe (University
of Zimbabwe) and Australia (University of New England), Pete joined the
University of Bath in 1998. He was promoted to Professor in 2006 on
becoming Director of the newly formed BRE Centre for Innovative
Construction Materials. |
Executives
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Tom Morton
Project Officer
Tom has considerable expertise in ecological construction, conservation
and the reuse of old buildings. He has managed a wide variety of
projects for private and community clients and leads Arc's research
activities. Tom is RIAS accredited in both conservation and sustainable
design.
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Rowland Keable
CEO
Rowland works with rammed earth as a material in a wide range of
situations. This includes consulting, bringing the technical knowledge
of the material to a design team in a new build context. Rowland also
provides technical liaison, working with commercial and academic testing
facilities in the context of live projects and research work. Teaching
mainly to academic students and small workshops. Training particularly
on-site in a commercial setting. Regulatory work, writing, developing
and harmonising national standards.
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Féile Butler
Executive
Féile Butler is an architect based in the NW of Ireland. Having designed
and built her own cob and straw-bale home with her husband, Colin
Ritchie, they founded Mud and Wood in 2011. The business offers
practical training, architectural services, building services and
consultancy for natural building projects. Féile is also accredited in
conservation architecture. Mud and Wood is listed on the Irish Georgian
Society's Traditional Building Skills Register and she has advised on
the repair of centuries old mud-walled buildings. She is passionate
about getting earth recognised as a valid and viable contemporary
building material.
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Robin Britain
Executive Robin is an
architectural and building consultant based in the East Midlands. He is interested in cementitious and conglomerate building
materials and pursued this
during an architectural degrees and how they relate to environmental, ecological and heritage
building with research at post-graduate level; looking at
plant fibres specifically hemp and lime.
He has continued to research the use of plant
fibres with low-impact binders focusing on earth and other natural
materials. He is interested in vernacular use of natural resources
in construction and impacts including
toxicity, health and well-being. He was a
volunteer director for the Heritage
Skills HUB for the Midlands, promoting and supporting heritage building,
crafts and skills. |
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Becky Little
ECVET Project
Officer Becky is a craftsperson and has worked with earth
since the early 90s. With a background in conservation of earth, stone
and lime buildings she has wide experience of mudwalling (cob), earth
mortars, wattle and daub, light earth, turf building and clay/lime
finishes in both repairs and new build.
Her company Rebearth specialises in these earth techniques as well as
materials research, training and education. She is currently developing
a range of decorative earth finishes using local natural materials.
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Sally Mareike
Executive Sally's
interest in earth building stems from her undergraduate studies, her
career as a potter, and an MSc from the Centre for Alternative
Technology (CAT), Machynlleth, Wales. Her thesis experimented with
creating a low-impact, insulating, healthy, breathable clay plaster,
containing clay, hemp and cow dung.
In 2014 Sally set up and has
since worked with Building Naturally Ltd to promote the use of natural
materials in construction.
Working with EBUKI, Sally's intentions
are to help increase the knowledge and provision of healthier buildings,
to re-skill society for a future without fossil fuel and to reduce CO2
emissions through low-impact construction techniques. Earth can do it
all! |
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Rebecca Reid
Executive Rebecca's first earth building experience
was in the Midlands working with wattle and daub and thatch. She
developed her practical craft skills working with different specialists
repairing traditional solid wall buildings. Rebecca has worked up and
down the UK on a range of projects - from cob walls in Cornwall to lime harl in Orkney.
Rebecca continues to work on conservation and new build projects,
current projects are earth/lime renders in Somerset and clay-fibre
composites for buildings in the Himalayas.
Rebecca has recently
begun working with Earth Building UK and Ireland to help implement
training and assessment for the new Earth Building NVQ. |
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