Introduction

Much has been written and debated over recent years about the and the
effect of climate change, global warming , worlds diminishing natural
resources and the increased use of energy in our day-to-day lives.
There are many components present in the atmosphere of the earth. 78%
of the atmosphere is Nitrogen gas and 21% of it is Oxygen gas. There are
so many other types of gases present in small quantities such as carbon
dioxide (CO2), methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and water vapour,
which are recently known as greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases
have a vital role in maintaing the average temperature of the earth. But
the increase in the amount of these gases would cause a serious danger
to the earths atmosphere and could bring an end to living beings in the
world.
Global warming is a dramatic increase in temperature of the earth within a short
period of time because of several reasons .Earth receives radiations from sun.
The radiation from the sun that reaches the outer limits of the atmosphere is
mainly in the visible and ultraviolet regions. Part of this energy is absorbed by
the earth and its atmosphere, and part is reflected back into space. The part that
gets absorbed helps to heat the earth, and the earth in turn radiates energy back
into space. A steady state is reached where the earth is radiating energy as fast
as it absorbs it. Under such conditions, the average temperature of the Earth
remains constant. But this regular phenomenon is affected by several facts, and
one of the major fact is greenhouse gases such as Methane, CFCs, Carbon
dioxide. These gases absorb some of the infrared radiation emitted from the
surface of the earth and prevent it being re-radiated into space. The effect of this
makes the earth warmer. 1

Figure-1

The second largest force in terms of greenhouses gases is carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide contributes 9% to 26% of the greenhouse gases which causes
global warming. This carbon dioxide is added to atmosphere by both the natural
process and human activities. Natural processes such and volcano eruption and
respiration releases carbon dioxide. And also the human activities such as
deforestation, land use changes and usage of fossil fuels add much more to t
carbon dioxide he atmosphere. . In the last few decades the amount of carbon
dioxide released to the environment has increased. The Industrial revolution
occurred in 19th century is directly or indirectly a factor which affects human life
through environmental pollution. This had become a serious issue because
carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which increases the average temperature of
earth. Climate change model predict that such a doubling would result in
temperature rises of between 2C and 4.5C (with a estimate of about
3C)2.Although 3C may not sound much, it will be enough to have a dramatic
effect on the global climate. While there is uncertainty about how these changes
will affect the climate change, the 2007 IPCC report concluded that serious
changes to the global climate are very likely and issued stern warnings of
reduction in snow cover and thawing of permafrost regions in northern latitudes,
melting of ice in polar region, with a consequent rise in sea levels, increase in
extreme weather such as heat waves and heavy rain falls in northern latitude but
less rain in tropical region.
These issues now have many scientists calling for immediate actions to reduce
the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. In response to these calls Britain has
committed to become a low carbon country and is one of the first countries to
introduce legislation to cut its carbon footprint and has set targets aiming to cut
UK emissions by 34% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050 3

Figure-2
1-THE CHANGING WORLD OF WEATHER (Clive Carpenter)
2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
3- http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/ccs/occs/occs.aspx
accessed 2/12/2010
Figure-1-http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/global-warming2.htm
Figure-2- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

GLOBAL WARMING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING

The government has also identified that 27% of the nations output is emitted
from UK households and as such aiming to ensure that all new homes are
constructed to run carbon zero by 2016. To encourage this change on 27
February 2008, the Government confirmed a mandatory rating system for homes
The Code for Sustainable Homes3 to assess and score the sustainability
performance of new home and of the site. In addition to these goals the
government has projected that a total of three million new homes are needed by
2020, two million of them by 2016 to meet the growing demand and address
affordability issues, setting the UK housing industry a production target of
240000 new homes a year. As a result the UK house building sector is facing
increasing demands to understand sustainable and innovative construction
practices in order to achieve these goals. 4
The production of cement is a highly energy intensive production process
dominated by burning of carbon intensive fuels such as coal, as a consequence
the cement industry is a major emitter of carbon dioxide emissions. The
production of a typical house brick involves firing clay in kilns in temperature
generally in the range 900-1200 degrees centigrade. Heat of this magnitude is
again generated through the burning of carbon intensive fuels. Within the UK the
cement factory accounts for around 2% of the nations carbon footprint MPA
2011 and as traditional house blocks are cement based, the production of these

blocks make a significant contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions 5.

During the production process approximately 1 ton of carbon dioxide is released
to the atmosphere for every ton of production of bricks made of cement 6.
Civil engineers have power over key sectors such as construction, transport,
water supply, drainage and flood defences. These are the sectors which cause
effects on global warming and also these are being affected by global warming.
Initial concepts of sustainable housing, often labelled as Eco Friendly and Green
were once seen as a fad more than necessity. The term green means that the
material is produced by a sustainable source and made by renewable materials.
Recently attitudes towards these types of home have changed and this type of
construction is thought to be increasing in popularity, as members of the
population have become more conscious and engaged around environmental
issues, encouraged by the governments and environmental organisations now
actively promoting the needs and benefits of these types of home. As a result
sustainability has now become the key consideration now when building a new
house. 7

3- http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/code_for_sustainable_homes_techguide.pdf
4- http://www.greenbeams.com/state.pdf
5- http://www.greenbeams.com/state.pdf
6- http://www.celsias.com/article/carbon-negative-encos-bricks/
7- http://www.pu-europe.eu/site/fileadmin/Reports_public/sustainability_a_guide.pdf

SUSTAINABLE MODERN METHODS OF COSTRUCTION

The modern method of construction (MMC) is the term used to describe a

number of construction methods that are alternative to the traditional brick and
block method of construction. Attributes contained with MMC should be
sustainability, efficiency and quality. The consensus amongst industry
professionals is that MMC falls into the categories such as industrial construction,
Innovative systems that can be constructed on-site, Off-site assembly, Off-site
construction, Off-site manufacture, Modular construction, Pre-fabricated
construction, System building
TIMBER FRAMES
Figures from UKTFA annual market report suggests that the building sectors,
timber frame market share now stands at 24.4% of all new housing in the UK.
Timber frame has its obvious environmental credentials being an organic, nonorganic and naturally renewable building material backed by many sources that
a typical tree used in construction absorbs tons of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. For these reasons timber frame housing is typically seen as an
obvious green construction material and this bodes true provided the timber is
sourced from a certified suppliers.8
Advantages of using timber frames:

Timber frames are renewable resources and in Europe there is an excess

production of softwood, and therefore the stock of timber frame is
increasing each year.
As timber frames absorb carbon from the atmosphere they are said to be
carbon-neutral. At the end of its use they can also be used to get energy
by burning it.
Using timber frames makes the construction process to be fast. It can be
reduced by 20 per cent of working days.
Because of the high insulation property and as it is a low embodied energy
source timber frames helps to reduce carbon emission though out the life
of the constructed building. And each building stores about 4 tonnes of
carbon dioxide.9

According to UKTFA If all new houses built in the UK since 1945 had been timber
frame, more than 300 million tonnes of CO2 would have been saved. At the
current building rates, it will take us another 200 years to achieve carbon savings
of this magnitude. 9

8- http://www.timberframesweb.com/environment.html
9- http://uktfa.com/the-environment/

LIME BASED TECHNOLOGIES

Lime products are made from the sedimentary rock limestone commonly found
in the UK. Lime is already regularly used in the construction industry however it
is more versatile than its predominant use as a mortar, render or putty. . Lime
technologies have advanced in recent years and when used in conjunction with a
combination of cementitious binders, and other crop based bulking materials,
building product comparable to the traditional brick and block have begun to
emerge, with many companies manufacturing and marketing a version of crop
based building block. Lime technology is one company using such technologies.
Taking hemp hurds ( a by-product of the UKs agriculture and industrial process )
its Hempcrete building products are now well recognised proprietary items.

Tradical Hempcrete 10 state that their products are unique, highly sustainable
construction products for creation of insulating walls as well as insulation layers
for floors and roofs. Hempcrete is a blend of specially prepared hemp shiv and a
special lime based binder. Together these products form a bio-composite building
material that can be used both for creation of buildings that have excellent
thermal and acoustic properties as well as creating a healthy living and working
environment. These type of building technologies are considered by many to be
a fundamentally renewable and if claims that these produts are carbon negative,
(due to the CO2 embodied in the growing and harvesting being greater than
emitted during in the firing processes) then it would have considerable
sustainability advantages over traditional building materials.
Although lime/crop based building materials generally have low load bearing
capacities when used conjunction with other sustainable construction methods
(such as timber), structural building envelopes can be created that are highly
thermally efficient as well as structural. These products can be delivered as
propriety units or mixed on site for fast track construction and can be easily be
made waterproof, fireproof and air-tight. In addition these products, do not rot,
are not susceptible to pest attack and are completely recyclable with many the
suppliers claiming fertilizer can be created from demolition processes.

Figure-3

Figure-4

10- http://www.limetechnology.co.uk/pdfs/CPD_Introduction_to_Hemcrete.pdf
Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxpbX45EYDs

STRAW BASED TECHNOLOGIES

Straw is another UK agriculture by-product (mainly wheat). The methods of
disposing of straw has long been debated, with many tonnes of straw burnt
causing obvious air pollution issues. Homes constructed from straw have been
around for decades and their use in American houses dates as far back as the
nineteenth century. The UKs first straw building was constructed in 1994
however this menthod is now slowly gaining popularity as a legimate sustainable
structural product. Recently Kesteven District Council have been commissioned
the use of straw technologies in construction development to create a number
for social housing scheme and claim that they are much cheaper to build than
traditional brick-built properties of similar size and design, and are also more
sustainable.11 The most basic construction process involved in creating a straw
home is to use tightly- packed straw bale tied together structurally with hazel
stakes to form the external load bearing walls. The bales walls are then covered
with a natural plaster render to form a water tight structure. Amazonails leading
UK straw bale building company claim that sutainable very thermally efficient
housing that can easily reach CSH rating 5 can be built for on average 20,000
less than any like for like traditionally constructed home. In addition to this basic
form of straw construction, more sophisticated forms of straw technologies have
been developed.12 . Prefabricated softwood frames with compressed straw infill
are being pioneered in the UK by companies such as Ecofab and
Mod-cell.
These innovations and technologies are being continued further by a flying
factory concept which involves sourcing locally farmed close to a site and
setting up workshops to fabricate standardised structural panels. This innovative
approach vastly decreases transportation and construction times as well being
inherently a low carbon solution.

Figure-5

11- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7948843.stm
12-http://www.eminnovation.org.uk/Page.aspx?SP=4389
Figure-5-http://www.strawbalenet.eu/attachments/063_1300268831Carol_Atkinson_edited_report3.pdf

BLOCKS MADE FROM SEWAGE

The combination of ash from burned sewage with vegetable oil to make blocks
are classified as carbon-negative because the oil comes from plants which have
drawn out C02 from the atmosphere.
Standard oils turn as a solid binding mixture from a viscous liquid during the
original process of making the block.
Jon Brigg, a spokesman for Yorkshire Water, said the bricks and blocks were
classed as carbon negative because the plants used to make the vegetable oil
have absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere. He said: We are always looking for
ways in which we can make the best use of our waste to have a positive impact
on our environment, and this project is a great way to reuse incinerated sludge
ash which has traditionally been sent to landfill. With new building regulations
coming into force in the next few years home builders will need to reduce the
embedded carbon cost of all new homes these bricks and blocks will provide a
perfect alternative to traditional house bricks.
During the production process no water is consumed at any stage, which helps
the company to use water resources effectively and efficiently. And this
production process produces no waste or any emissions such as carbon dioxide.
Encos is a company which is producing and supplying blocks made sewage

successfully to the market. These bricks have also passed the tests in fire,
freeze, thaw and compressive strength13. And the report of Best food forward Ltd
states that these bricks made of sewage results reduction of 160% and 120%
respectively in greenhouse gas emmisions.

13- http://www.celsias.com/article/carbon-negative-encos-bricks/
http://encosltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ecobuild2012.pdf

DISUSED SHIPPING CONTAINERS

Following on from the techniques previously discussed, disused shipping
containers are being looked at as an alternative type of modular construction.
Shipping containers are integral components in enabling the worlds trading
industry to import and export produces to every developed country and many
under developed countries all over the world. These shipping containers,
currently estimates put surplus shipping container numbers at around 20+
million worldwide. Shipping containers are steel storage boxes generally
constructed from Corton steel designed not to rust or corrode in addition to being
able to withstand the wind, rain, salt extreme loadings and direct impacts and
multiple layers of sacking that the shipping container are subjected whilst being
transported and store thousands of miles around the globe. These attributes are
attractive qualities that would suitably fit the criteria required for new home and
as such shipping containers are now being looked at as practical alternative
method of construction. In the short term a direct comparison with traditional
building method would suggest that shipping containers are a more
environmentally friendly option as the concept of using disused shipping
containers is fundamentally the recycling of an unwanted waste product. As with
all modular construction assembly is sample, fast and can be constructed in safe
off site factory conditions. These conditions ensure that quality is maintained
through; accurate designs can be met allowing rapid erection to take place once
the units arrive on site and with shipping containers already conform to standard
shipping sizes making the transporting the converted shipping container house is

a relatively easy process. Additional benefits are the units arrive at site
completely weatherproof so that interiors work can commence immediately and
remain protected through the assembly process. In some instances factory
production has advanced to an extent that units can actually be complete fully
fitted out before arrival on site.
The main advantage of using shipping containers is energy management. As this
is being reused these shipping containers, they doesnt have to be melted in to
its raw material which requires an enormous amount of energy. Because
according to UK government energy management plays a vital role in reduction
of carbon emission , hence the reduction of global warming. 14

14- http://moderngov.sthelens.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10251 (page 7)

INSULATING CONCRETE FORMWORK (ICF)

Insulating concrete formwork (ICF) is an insulated in- situ concrete system of
using polystyrene building blocks that lock together in a similar fashion to Lego
without the need for intermediate bedding materials to create a formwork to
which concrete can be poured. This method has become an established
mainstream practice for building houses in countries such as Canada , Germany,
France and the USA, however a number companies like AMVIC, CREO group and
Polarwall are now promoting the use of this method of offering their services to
UK house builders. The structural shell of a basic house can be erected by
positioning polystyrene blocks in a manner comparable to that of traditional
blocks before pumping concrete to form the walls. The system is said 15 to
contain greater strength and offer earlier build times than traditional approaches
saving on overall construction costs. The construction itself is a very simple
process that is fast and precise and leaves minimal construction waste, requiring
less equipment than alternative methods and can be carried out using small
numbers of semi- skilled site staff. In terms of sustainability the polystyrene
building blocks used in ICF can be recycled and concrete mixes can be tailored to
meet environmental standards. The construction materials are readily available

and in most case locally sourced, with the necessary additional measures to
meet the requirement to reach higher levels of the sustainable code for homes
easily incorporated without adding huge cost beyond that of brick and block.
These advantages are leading manufactures to see ICF as direct competition for
brick and block construction.
There are many more advantages in using Insulating concrete formwork such as
saving energy, fire safety, thermal efficiency and acoustic performance. And due
to its high performance in thermal insulation and air in filtration the carbon
emission from the building becomes significantly low. Because of materials such
as polystyrene which and unique cavity closures ICF has a greater insulation
property. This can reduce the energy consumption by 30%. 16

15-A.Tovey, J.Roberts, M.kilcommons - Design and Construction Using Insulated Concrete

Formwork. (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22565259/Design-and-Construction-using-InsulatingConcrete-Formwork )
16- http://energyefficientbuilders.co.uk/how-green-is-icfhttp://www.icf-tech.com/

OFF SITE MANUFACTURING

Many see the method of using offsite factory construction to create housing as
essence of what MMC actually is. The NHBCs document A Guide to Modern
Construction Methods 17highlights the various forms the offsite housing
manufacturing can take these being such as offsite manufactured Panelised,
offsite manufactured Volumetric, offsite manufactured Hybrid, offsite
manufactured Sub-assemblies and components. However panelised and
volumetric manufacturing are the two main forms of Modern Methods of
Construction and these methods are areas currently being used to supersede
traditional methods of construction. Volumetric construction is more generally
referred to as modular construction and is the process of manufacturing the
individual rooms to a home under strict control factory conditions after which
they can be delivered directly to site as a completed unit reducing site working
time considerably. These individual units are often referred to pods and can be
made from most construction materials including light guage steel frame, timber
frame and material composites. At present the most frequent use of this method

is for bathroom or kitchen areas (this way of working enables many of the reqired
fixtures and fittings to be assembled in the factory) although more instances are
occurring where modules making up the entire home are being fabricated. Off
site construction is the best suited and becomes more efficient when large
numbers of identical houses are required. The other main type of manufacturing
is panelised method 18 .This construction type involves prefabricating
components of the home such as the walls, floors and roofs again in specialised
factories before transporting the completed units to be assembled on site. As
previously mentioned timber frame walls are regularly constructed in this
manner although numerous other walling materials such as lightweight steels
and components concretes are now constructed in this manner. In terms of
walling panels the forms usually comprise either a structural insulated panels
(SIPS) these generally comprise a sandwiching an insulating material core
between two layers of a sheet material or open or closed panels: Open panels
are constructed and delivered to site where insulation, windows , services and
lining are fitted. Whereas closed panels are completed units with the required
wiring, doors and windows already fitted. I t is suggested that this type of house
building is future of house building due to the obvious economical and speed
benefits it offers and there are currently many companies involved in this type
production.
Total carbon dioxide emission of building a new house is about 56 tones. The offsite manufactured house has 17% lower emission than the houses which are
built on site.19

17- National House Building Council NHBC A Guide to modern Construction Methods.
18- Parlimentary Office of Science and Technology POST guidance (2003)
(http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn209.pdf)
19- http://www.censa.org.uk/docs/ISA-UK_Report_07-04_OSM_House.pdf

DRIVING THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE INNOVATIVE BUILDING MATERILAS

POLITICAL:
The implementation of legally binding international commitments such as the
Kyoto Protocol and EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive aimed at
reducing harmful emissions have given rise to a number of UK national and
regional level drivers and incentives that significantly show the governments

intent to address sustainability issues over recent years. The code for sustainable
housing is the Governments key for driving sustainability in the domestic
construction sector and although the CSH is at presents still a voluntary
document, there are signs that the government is progressing towards a
mandatory enforcement. With all new housing funded by Homes and
Communities Agency (HCA) homes supported by the Welsh Assembly and all selfcontained social housing in Northern Ireland already setting a required minimum
CSH level 3 rating to be met, with some local authorities pressing further by
setting CSH level 4 as a minimum standard to be achieved as a condition of
planning approval.
Whilst the CSH is predominantly aimed at improving the overall energy efficiency
and performance of a home, house builders that commit to using the CSH will
undoubtedly increase their overall understanding of the benefits of using other
sustainable construction products. This broader knowledge could lead to
alternative products being implemented that are than just measures to satisfy
the requirements set out in code but potentially more environmentally and
economically viable and in time could become a more financially beneficial to the
way in which homes are constructed. The prospect of the CSH as legislation
alongside Energy Performance Certificates could influence the way house
builders select and utilise their building materials.
Commissioned by government a review of the UKs housing supply was carried
out by barker in 2004 20 . The report found that there was an affordable housing
shortage which was creating a
widening social and economic divide
with in UK The government is now attempting to address this housing supply
shortage by setting the house building industry high targets to supply
approximately 3 million new UK homes by 2016 and has published the
sustainable Communities- Building for the Future 21report which outlines a major
new house building programme to help this meet growth. Contained within this
report are details advocating the use of MMC to get homes built more quickly,
more safely, and to a higher standard. It also specifies that a proportion of
dwellings procured using public funds will have to constructed using innovative
methods to create new affordable housing as well
20 -Barker K Review of Housing supply Delivering Stability: Securing our Future Housing Needs
(2004) (http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2004/03/17/Barker.pdf)
21- Office of the deputy Prime minister (ODPM)- Sustainable communities: Building for the future .
(http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/146289.pdf)

ISSUES IN USING ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS.

The one main problem of using lime and hemp materials for construction of
houses is weather, which takes twice as long expected. The construction should
be done when the temperature of the environment is above 5 degree Celsius,
because lime is sensitive to frost damage applied and it takes. It takes longer
time to dry during wet and cold conditions. There is more possibility for the
formation of mould in the wall during dry climate condition due to the wetness of
wall. But as lime has high ph value it can prevent the formation of mould. 22

However, the maintenance burden associated with hemp is regarded as

comparatively small. As an in-situ material, repairs, minor alterations or remedial
works are likely to be accommodated with comparative ease. Apparently, the
material has been used extensively for plaster mouldings in houses across
France(BRE 2001).
Houses made of shipping containers have to be insulated more than the houses
made of brick, block or wood structures. Because metals conduct heat very well.
Due to the increase in temperature moist will condense in the wall, rust will form
unless the wall is well sealed. Labours should be specialised in welding cutting of
steel.
BARRIERS:
There are number of barriers hindering the implementation of building
sustainable houses as a whole. These barriers are often directly linked to reasons
behind why alternative structural building materials are not chosen. The main
indentified barriers can be grouped as either Technical, Social and Cultural or
Financial issues.
Technical: A key area from Taylor Wimpeys research is highlighted below.
We have experienced design and performances issues with certain low and zero
carbon technologies that are, effectively, immature technologies. High capital
cost and long pay back times are also a major issue, particularly for customers.
We are also deeply concerned about the lack of an effective and skilled supply
chain to deliver, install and maintain the volume of low zero carbon technologies
required by 2016.
There is a need for suppliers to provide better comparative information on their
material, techniques and prices to stimulate demand for such products, in order
to increase supplies and make such technologies more mainstream.
Social and Cultural: The Sponge Sustainability Network study (2006) suggests
that a significant barrier against that demand of sustainable home is the lack of
consumer knowledge resulting from government inefficiently communicating the
benefits to the public, with 70% of homeowners claiming to know little or nothing
at all about sustainable homes. A major barrier that ties in with this lack of
knowledge is a typical preconception amongst home buyer is that traditional
constructed homes are better and that they are well built and is robust homes.
Financial: House builders like all those operating in marketing environments are
mindful of acquiring any new product that carries potential cost risks. This
cautionary attitude towards new building innovations is a barrier that is unlikely
to be removed until suppliers provide greater openness of the associated costs of
their sustainable construction techniques, materials etc. Without such
information, it is unlikely housing developments will take any form of risks to
achieve more sustainable outcomes. To overcome these problems there has been
discussion between house builders about the development and introduction of a

costs database that quantifies the actual cost of using alternative sustainable
product and methods in practice.
Taylor Wimpey report also highlights the financial implications of home buyer:
The cost of different levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes are significantly
higher than those published in the Governments Costs Analysis of Final Report
(July 2008) our experience to date suggests that customers would not be
prepared to pay the amounts required to reach the higher Code levels. 23

22-http://gse.cat.org.uk/public_downloads/research/hemp/building_with_hemp_and_lime.pdf
23- Taylorwimpey Analysing the Code for Sustainable Homes 2008
(http://plc.taylorwimpey.co.uk/Resources/Documents/code_for_sustainable_homes_analysis.pdf)

References
1-THE CHANGING WORLD OF WEATHER (Clive Carpenter)
2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
3- http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/ccs/occs/occs.aspx
accessed 2/12/2010
3- http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/code_for_sustainable_homes_techguide.pdf
4- http://www.greenbeams.com/state.pdf
5- http://www.greenbeams.com/state.pdf
6- http://www.celsias.com/article/carbon-negative-encos-bricks/
7- http://www.pu-europe.eu/site/fileadmin/Reports_public/sustainability_a_guide.pdf
8- http://www.timberframesweb.com/environment.html
9- http://uktfa.com/the-environment/
10- http://www.limetechnology.co.uk/pdfs/CPD_Introduction_to_Hemcrete.pdf
11- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7948843.stm
12-http://www.eminnovation.org.uk/Page.aspx?SP=4389
13- http://www.celsias.com/article/carbon-negative-encos-bricks/
14- http://moderngov.sthelens.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10251 (page 7)
15-A.Tovey, J.Roberts, M.kilcommons - Design and Construction Using Insulated Concrete
Formwork. (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22565259/Design-and-Construction-using-InsulatingConcrete-Formwork )

16- http://energyefficientbuilders.co.uk/how-green-is-icfhttp://www.icf-tech.com/
17- National House Building Council NHBC A Guide to modern Construction Methods.
18- Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POST guidance (2003)
(http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn209.pdf)
19- http://www.censa.org.uk/docs/ISA-UK_Report_07-04_OSM_House.pdf
20 -Barker K Review of Housing supply Delivering Stability: Securing our Future Housing Needs
(2004) (http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2004/03/17/Barker.pdf)
21- Office of the deputy Prime minister (ODPM)- Sustainable communities: Building for the future .

(http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/146289.pdf
22-http://gse.cat.org.uk/public_downloads/research/hemp/building_with_hemp_and_lime.pdf
23- Taylorwimpey Analysing the Code for Sustainable Homes 2008
(http://plc.taylorwimpey.co.uk/Resources/Documents/code_for_sustainable_homes_analysis.pdf)

Challeneges
Straw- http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Straw_Bale_Construction/Print_version

Barriers page 38-More Straw Bale Building: A Complete Guide To Designing And Building With

Straw
By Chris Magwood, Peter MacK, Tina Therrien

House built with straw