Ecological Building Network - The Art and Science of Building Well

The First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure
July 5-9, 2001, San Rafael, California

In 2001, Ecological Building Network sponsored the First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure, now known as BuildWell. An historic gathering of leading green building advocates, this conference was attended by researchers, engineers, designers and builders from around the world. Information about the latest developments in ecological design technology was shared in a setting that encouraged discussion and exchange of new ideas and practical applications of ecological building technologies.

The conference resulted in a rich cross-pollination of ideas and a renewed commitment toward promoting the global green building movement. The conference also included a field trip to the Real Goods Solar Living Center, a state-of-the-art straw bale structure and example of sustainable building practice. Conference presentations plus over 20 additional papers submitted for the conference are available and for download and are already being used in the education of building professionals and the design of environmentally-responsible structures.

Here's what some people had to say about their experiences:

“One of the most inspiring events I have attended, substantially advancing international cooperation in the field of sustainable design. Particularly impressive was the standard of professionalism and detailed technical information.”

– Tom Woolley, Queen’s University, Belfast Ireland

“Never has such a knowledgeable and far-reaching group of experts been assembled under one roof. This conference was truly a unique and valuable experience.”

– John Straube, University of Waterloo, Canada

Conference White Papers Available For Purchase

Conference proceedings submitted for The First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure are available for downloading* at a cost of $100 US--simply click on the "Buy Now" button below. An index of conference sessions and additional papers is below.

Conference Presentations

Plenary Talks

• Earthen Construction - History and New Developments Worldwide
  Hugo Houben, CRATerre, Villefontaine, France
• High Volume Fly Ash Concrete and Sustainable Development
  Mohan Malhotra, Educator and former Director of Research, CANMET, Ottawa, Canada
• Green Building Developments
  Sim Van der Ryn, Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Author, Sausalito, California

Fiber-based Construction

• Straw Panels -- State of the Art and Industry
  Wayne Wasylciw, PE, Alberta Research Center, Edmonton, Canada
• Structural Insulated Panels
  David Wright, Archittect, Grass Valley, California
• Ecologically Responsible Wood Use in Building
  Ann Edminster, Architect, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Francisco, California
• Bamboo Construction Rediscovered
  Darrel De Boer, Architect, Alameda, CA
• Straw Bale Construction -- Testing & Lessons Learned to Date
  Bruce King, Structural Engineer, Director and Founder of the Ecological Building Network, Sausalito, California
• Ecocomposites
  Prof. David Bainbridge, International University, La Jolla, California
• Experience of Eco-Renovation: Hemp/Lime Building
  Prof. Tom Woolley, Professor of Architecture, Queens University, Belfast Ireland and
  Rachel Bevan, Architect, Belfast, Ireland

Earthen Construction

• Pisé -- a New System of Earthen Construction
  David Easton, Builder and Author, Napa, California
• Livingscapes: Integration of Buildings and Land into Sustainable Systems
  Graeme North, Architect, Warkworth, New Zealand
• Investigations into Straw-Clay Blocks
  Mikk Suursild, Tartu, Estonia
• Earthen Construction in Scotland -- Past, Present and Future
  Tom Morton, Architect and Becky Little, Builder, Fife Scotland
• Terracrete -- a New System of Earthen Construction
  Tom Hahn, Architect, Educator and Builder, Phoenix, Arizona
• Cast Earth -- Structural Testing of a Proprietary Earth Building System
  Prof. Jerry Stephens (lead author), Engineer, Montana State University

Concrete, Pozzolans and Other Binders

• Lime Construction
  Michael Wingate and Stafford Holmes, Authors, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
• Rice Husk Ash Concrete
  Prof. Mohammed Salam, Structural Entineer, Delta-Barrage, Egypt
• Green Concrete Using Fly Ash and Reclaimed Concrete as Aggregate
  Sue Costibile, Structural Engineer, Ove Arup & Partners, San Francisco, California

Codes, Standards and Cultural/Institutional Acceptance

• Status Report on the Greening of Building Codes and Standards
  David Eisenberg, Director, Development Center for Appropriate Technology, Tucson, Arizona
  
  The Role of the Structural Engineer in Sustainable Design
  Mark Webster, Structural Engineer, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, Arlington, Massachusets
• The Problems of Building an Ingloo in the Sahara Desert!, or a Cautionary Tale of How a Performance-Based Building Code can be Effective
  Claire Benge, Architect, Building Industry Authority, Maungaraki, New Zealand
• Alternative Building Materials and Systems -- Understanding Technical Risk and Uncertainty
  Prof. John Straube, PE, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Additional Conference Papers

Earthen Construction (adobe, rammed earth, cob, earth bags and tubes, cast earth, sprayed earth, etc.)

• "Earth Building in Scotland Past, Present, Future" by Tom Morton and Becky Little
• "Development of Alternate Building Materials for the EpiCenter Pilot Project: Cast Earth and Fly Ash Concrete", by Jerry Stephens, Doug Cross, Michael Frerking, Matt Ander
• "Study for Local Light Clay Material Opportunities" by Mikk Suursild
• "Burlap Reinforcement for Improved Toughness of Low-Cost Adobe Residential Structures" by Nancy Ho, Patrik Meyer, Margaret Myers, Nakul Sathaye, Mark Wan
• "Pisé -- a New Earthen Construction Technology" by David Easton
• "Earthen Architecture: Materials, techniques and knowledge at the service of new architectural applications" by Hubert Guillaud and Hugo Houben
• "Livingscapes: The Integration of Buildings and Land into Sustainable Productive Systems" by Graeme North

Fiber-Based & Agricultural by-products Construction (straw bale, straw panels, cement-fiber blocks and panels, bamboo, hemp)

• "Straw Bale Shear Wall Lateral Load Test", by Jason Nichols and Stan Raap
• "The Problems of Building an Igloo in the Sahara Desert! or: A Cautionary Tale of How a Performance-Based Building Code Can Be Effective But Must Be Fully Implemented When Building in a Material Taken From One Eco-Climate to Another" by Claire Benge
• "For the Land of the Camels, A Straw Bale Test Wall: A Load Bearing Wall for Seventeen Foot High Ceiling Structures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" by Chris Stafford
• "Straw-Bale Development on the Eastern Frontier" by Kelly Lerner
• "Oriented Split Straw Board -- A New Era in Building Products" by Wayne Wasylciw
• "Prioritising Ecological Building Actions: Re-Using Existing Buildings and Zero Impact Materials. Experience of Eco-Renovation and Hemp Building." by Tom Woolley and Rachel Bevan
• "A Pilot Study Examining the Strength, Compressibility and Serviceablility of Rendered Straw Bale Walls for Two Storey Load Bearing Construction" by Michael Faine and John Zhang
• "1999 Straw Bale Wall Compression Test" by Jeff Ruppert
• "Full Scale Straw Bale Vault Test" by David Mar
• "A Compression Test of Plastered Straw Bale Walls" by Matt Fitzgerald Grandsaert
• "Preliminary Report on the Out-of-Plane Testing of an 8' x 8' Straw Bale/PISE Wall Panel" by David Arkin and Kevin Donahue
• "Straw-Bale Construction: A Review of Testing and Lessons Learned to Date", by Bruce King
• "Ecologically Responsible Wood Building" by Ann V. Edminster
• "Ecocomposites" by David A. Bainbridge
  
  The following papers were submitted courtesy of Darrel DeBoer on the subject of Bamboo:
  
  • "Prefab Shelters Using Bamboos" by N.S. Adkoli
  • "Bahareque: Seismic Culture of the Columbian Coffee Region" by Jaime Mogollon Seba
  • "Building With Bamboo" by Darrel DeBoer
  • "World's Fair Bamboo -- 20,000 Square Feet" by Darrel DeBoer
  • "The Architecture of Simon Velez" by Darrel DeBoer
  • "Ground-Breaking Joinery Ideas of Simon Velez: Bridge Design" by Jorg Stamm

Lime, Concrete, Pozzolans and Binders

• "Studying the Effect of Using a Considerable Proportion of Rice Husk Ash as a Cement Replacement on Concrete Properties"; by M. Anwar, T. Miyagawa, M. Gaweesh
• "High-Volume Fly Ash System: Concrete Solution for Sustainable Development" by Alain Bilodeau and V. Mohan Malhotra
• "Monolith Foundation: Built to Last a 1000 Years" by P. Kumar Mehta and Wilbert S. Langley
• "Making Concrete ‘Greener’ With Fly Ash" by V. M. Malhotra
• "Development of Alternate Building Materials for the EpiCenter Pilot Project: Cast Earth and Fly Ash Concrete", by Jerry Stephens, Doug Cross, Michael Freking, Matt Ander
• "The Use of Building Limes in Ecological Construction:
  Part I -- "What Lime Is and What It Can Do" by Michael Wingate;
  Part II: Case Studies" by Stafford Holmes
• "Recycled Aggregate Concrete With Fly Ash: A Preliminary Study on the Feasibility of a Sustainable Structural Material" by Sue Costabile
• "Effect of High Temperatures on the Properties of Gypsum-Pumice and Gypsum-Perlite Mortars" by Leyla Tanaçan and Halit Yasa Ersoy

Codes, Standards and Cultural/Institutional Acceptance

• "The Problems of Building an Igloo in the Sahara Desert! or: A Cautionary Tale of How a Performance-Based Building Code Can Be Effective But Must Be Fully Implemented When Building in a Material Taken From One Eco-Climate to Another" by Claire Benge
• "The Role of the Structural Engineer in Sustainable Design" by Mark D. Webster
• "Livingscapes: The Integration of Buildings and Land into Sustainable Productive Systems" by Graeme North
• "Information on "Fostering Sustainability of the Built Environment" The Athena Institute
• "A Status Report on the Greening of Building Codes and Standards" by David Eisenberg
• "Alternative Building Materials and Systems -- Understanding Technical Risk and Uncertainty" by John Straube

Case Studies

• "The Use of Building Limes in Ecological Construction:
  Part I -- "What Lime Is and What It Can Do" by Michael Wingate
  Part II Case Studies" by Stafford Holmes
• "Ecomaterials Create Local Jobs" by Martin Melendez
• "Prioritising Ecological Building Actions: Re-Using Existing Buildings and Zero Impact Materials. Experience of Eco-Renovation and Hemp Building." by Tom Woolley and Rachel Bevan
• "Maximum Kick with Minimum Impact (Building a Sustainable Practice)" by Anni Tilt and David Arkin
• "Worksheet to Study Ecological Characteristics of Polymers for Building Construction" by Tom Good
• "Builders Without Borders: An Overview" by Joseph F. Kennedy
• "An Earth Architecture Project in Nevada City, CA" by Zachi Anderson
• "Straw Bale Shed, Los Medanos College, Pittsburg, CA" by Martin Hammer
• "Vital Systems -- Natural Building and Design, Inc. A Case Study" by Tim Owen-Kennedy

*Disclaimer / about downloadable resources:
This is the compilation of papers submitted for the First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure, held July 5-9, 2001 in San Rafael, California. The Ecological Building Network has reproduced these papers exactly as they were submitted; very few have ever had professional peer review. Use of any of the information contained in these papers for the design of actual structures must only be done by building professionals capable both of understanding the context from which the information came, and how it may or may not be applicable to any particular building project. The Ecological Building Network makes no claim as to the accuracy or veracity of the information included herein.