Met up with the man who has been subcontracted to produce the pre-fabricated straw cladding panels that will insulate the building. One of the many exciting features of the ecoDepot is the innovative construction of the walls. Contrary to the folk tale, the little pig who built his house of straw wasn't a stupid no-hoper; he was actually way ahead of his time and was simply unfortunate to find himself in the same neighbourhood as a wolf with more puff than the referee blowing the final whistle at the World Cup Final. | "Contrary to the folk tale, the little pig who built his house of straw wasn't a stupid no-hoper; he was actually way ahead of his time" | |
Straw is a fantastic insulator. The ecoDepot will make full use of this by incorporating straw within the walls. The end result will be walls four or five times better insulated than current building regulations. But that's not all. We also have an opportunity to bring to the region the skills needed to make walls this way, to enable us to use the same technique on other buildings, creating employment and transforming the building industry. Peter Homer, director of Agrifibre Technologies, discussed the options with: Stephen Brown from Yorkshire Forward; Kristina Peat, the council's sustainability officer; Simon Town, our funding officer; and yours truly. We have a month to identify a farm and the people who wish to participate in the construction of the straw panels and the development of skills in the region. The panels are due on site in April! It is Agrifibre's ambition that using straw in construction will help farmers diversify their operations. Sounds a great idea to me. After all, there are only so many golf courses and bed and breakfasts the countryside can take. I heard some genius on Question Time a few weeks ago announce, as part of a rant against the EU, that 'only 6% of people in this country [the UK] depend on agriculture'. What are the rest doing for food? I thought to myself. Christian, 10/01/06 | 
