Old world know-how

By Edward Hill - Goldstream News Gazette

Published: October 14, 2008 1:00 PM

Updated: October 14, 2008 2:11 PM “Eco-sense” house in Highlands on track for five-century-plus lifespanWith trowel in hand, Ben Scott makes lime plastering look easy as he layers ochre coloured mud along a cob wall. In Canada, working with earth plasters is something of a lost art, but done right and the “Eco-sense” house in Highlands could survive well beyond its fifth century.“In the U.K., homes with this exact material have been standing 500 to 700 years,” says Scott, a.k.a. “Scotty.” “Lime plaster and cob go hand-in-hand.”The layer of lime plaster is the last major element for what is now Canada’s most prolific “green” house, built by Ann and Gord Baird. At its core, the two-storey cob building is glorified mud on mud.

The Baird’s project has set precedent for B.C.’s building code, attracted busloads of government officials and sustainability experts, and earned airtime and column inches from media across the country. Royal BC Museum’s B.C. 150th anniversary display has a life-sized poster of the couple and is touring a model of the house with its mobile display. The Bairds “borrowed” Scott from The Land Conservancy, who funded the U.K.-based tradesman to work on a series of heritage buildings in B.C., under a program looking to revive lost or dying trades.The Bairds plan to give two weeks worth of work to the TLC, “ditch digging or whatever they need,” Gord says, for Scott’s plastering time. “I’m not bringing anything new to B.C., but I’m trying to bring awareness back to this material,” Scott says. “ (Lime plaster) is a carbon neutral, completely natural product that protects from moisture rot and gives better air quality.”Layering lime plaster and monitoring as it cures has that feeling of watching paint dry, but it’s a surprisingly detailed process. Properly mixed lime plaster insulates but lets walls breathe, absorbing moisture and carbon dioxide. Minerals in the plaster will flow into small cracks, giving the walls the ability to “self heal.”Modern cement-based stucco is the “fast food” of housing construction, Gord says — it’s cheaper and quick to apply, but doesn’t breathe, doesn’t last as long and isn’t environmentally friendly. “We’re lucky to have met Scotty,” Ann says. “Lime plaster has too many subtleties. It takes an expert to do it properly, but do it properly you’ll protect the building for 500 years.”The project is on year three, a year longer than their estimated construction time, but the pair have done most of the heavy lifting, day after day. Ann says they’ve accomplished what they set out to do: create a house built to code that is “off the grid,” has a vanishing carbon-footprint, while remaining affordable and allowing a high standard of living. The final cost is estimated at $270,000.Solar tubes heat water which in turn is piped through the house for heat. It has solar panels feeding juice to battery packs, uses its grey water for irrigation, among an endless list of “green” designs. With iron-oxide in the plaster, the house tries to fit in with nature, following the colour pallet of surrounding arbutus trees.Dozens of design innovations and building to code has attracted policy-makers and engineers from across North America, and hundreds of people curious about living sustainably.“Key for us was informing the building code and building within the bureaucracy that exists. It’s why the bureaucracy comes and visits,” Ann says. “People see this is a legitimate, comfortable, functional but affordable house. People are going ‘wow this is possible.’”The Bairds are now working on getting the house designated the first “living building,” under the Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s “Living Building Challenge.” A living building needs design appeal, have zero net waste and generate renewable power. The Bairds reckon they are already there. Cascadia first needs to create a category for a single family home. “Getting living building status will help move us into the norm,” Ann says. “Right now we are still outside what is normal.”

For more on the Baird’s house, see www.eco-sense.ca.

Update

Ann and I have wondered why people are so interested in what we are doing. One response came back this month which made it all hit home for us.

“I love the updates. They inspire me to try to do more. The familiar tone and family life anecdotes make your actions seem less abstract and academic and more attainable and real. Keep up the awesome work.” Brenda Henderson. Yes, sustainability and reprogramming our way of being is possible, affordable, fun, and very rewarding. Thanks Brenda.

Wind
We have had some correspondence with a western Canada wind power company about their vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) for roof mounting. This company was prepared to give us a small token break on the price in recognition of the enormous publicity their product would receive, but unfortunately it was still way outside our budget. Wind will have to wait.

Lime Plaster
WOW! Ben Scott, known as Scotty, from The Land Conservancy (TLC) has been working with us for a week. He is an absolute pleasure and we are all teaching and sharing our knowledge. The TLC had been looking for someone to help with their heritage restorations for five years, and Scotty is their answer.

A work trade has been agreed upon with the TLC and we will do a labour exchange and well as consult and do a tour. Everybody wins.

Scotty was trained in the UK and is working to bring this old world trade back to Canada. There are very few people here with his level of training and skill. Lime plasters can be used inside or out for both lifetime protection of a building and beauty. Cob wall constructions and lime plaster are a perfect match and easily and simply create a beautiful net zero carbon home. Lime as a product is net zero carbon and will basically last many hundreds of years.

Lime is wonderful as it will outlast our western cement stucco plasters. It heals itself when it cracks, it absorbs carbon as it cures, and it sure is beautiful… when Scotty and Ann apply it.

If anyone needs interior or exterior plaster work on virtually any wall surface (lath and plaster included) Scotty can be contacted through the TLC.

Pigment
We have told hundreds of people that you have to be happy with whatever outcomes arise with natural building. Natural pigments vary in colour and effect in there application, and therefore being set on a specific outcome will make the process unpleasant, unlike our experience which is completely wonderful.

As we had completed 1/3 of the exterior of our home and bought another batch of red iron oxide, we experienced what we had been told by many… they are never the same. So we happily redeveloped our pigment mix and will be happy with the new shade on the home on the next 1/3.

Another result of using pigments is the personal effects it has. I have always been a lot like Emily, where I can become a pig pen doing the simplest of tasks. Well, add in yellow, red and black iron oxide pigments, with gusty wind and a little rain, and voila, I turn into Pigment Pen, a pigment of Ann’s worst nightmare. There I stand, in a muddy red oxide puddle, not allowed in the house or even the filthy the trailer. You can image Ann’s face when I put out my arms for a hug.

Also very surprisingly, Ann has provided liberal oversight to my mixing of the colours for the home… a treat for one who is red/green colour blind. Ann simply looks at all the variation in the colours on the wall and exclaims with much pleasure…”Our home looks just like the Arbutus trees which surround it with many variations in beautiful shades of reds and browns”. Scotty, very wisely always leaves the colour choices to the clients.

Tadelakt Plaster
Another experiment in progress. Upon Scotty’s first visit to the house a discussion ensued about our shower stalls. He commented on tadelakt plaster.

Tadelakt is a Morrocan plaster used in bath houses, tubs, and showers. It basically is a lime plaster with fine aggregates consisting of fine sand and marble dust. Once the plaster is applied, it then has to be burnished with a very smooth stone, and then finally rubbed with an olive oil soap.

The internet is amazing… so with reading about the requirement for very well trained installers and special products imported from across the globe we decided to do it our way. One part lime (slaked for almost two years), 2 ½ parts fine mortar sand, and ½ part calcium carbonate. The stone was found in one of the batches of clay and looks like jade. The soap, is Val’s Olive Oil Soap found at Lifestyle’s Market.

How do you clean it you ask? Well with olive oil soap of course. No bleach, no vinegar, noting acidic. But if you venture down this road, best to have thick substrate for the tadelakt plaster, as using it on a conventional framed wall requires a moisture barrier with thick absorptive media… but best of all just build your shower stall out of cob.

Occupancy
We are down to the last four items to complete for occupancy. Mom and Dad’s deck off their front door (actually with it partly complete Boo has already claimed it); our big front step out of our front door. (We have used a really big tire – you will have to come on a tour to see this one); A railing going up the stairs (almost complete…made in a most unique Gord fashion); and finally we need the final electrical inspection. (Mike (our electrician) and Ann are working to get everything all tidied up). There are still many other finishing items left to do but the list is finally getting shorter.

Lots of tours and Publicity
September was full of tours, from the Cascadia Green Skyline Tour, and several other private ones, and the monthly public tour. It seems like LEED is beginning to wear thin on people and they are interested in seeing the next step. A funny thing was when three years ago, we first began telling people we were going to build a sustainable home, we were questioned if we knew about LEED. Nope! And as we look back we are glad we didn’t. Again, ignorance and common sense took us in an even more sustainable direction. Check out this link for what one tour participant wrote. http://642blog.ca/2008/09/17/victoria-real-estate-board-green-task-force-tours-eco-sense-sustainable-home/

Next public tour is Sunday Oct 5th at 10am – noon. Tour is almost full so please reserve your spot soon.

September’s Rant

Yes, last month’s update was for August and September but it is 4 am and I have upset myself… once again. I was picking Parker up at school the other day when a young 10 year old boy named… well we should keep him un-named, walked by and yelled “F… you” at me, then proceeded to walk by the two people delivering kids books to the library, where he proceeded to give the man and woman in the van the finger. The fellow poked his head out the window and asked me “Did you see that?” I responded and said, “Yup. That is somebody’s sparkling charm.” I had encountered this child a year earlier on a class field trip where this same young fellow was bragging in the car about how his dad got to kill people, and how cool it was.

This incident is not what is keeping me awake, but the thought of what someone like this means for our future. What would an individual like this look like in politics?

What would it look like if a person were running for the leadership of a party, and in order to gain additional support to win, made a deal, a promise, not to join with another party if they won. It might look like what happened a couple years ago with the Alliance party, where two weeks after the election the winner gave the finger to his supporters and ignored a promise.

What would it look like if this person were made responsible for the environment of Canada. It would look like taking the oil company Encana to Bahli for the climate talks, rather than the well respected scientists that enlightened us on these issues, or the NGO’s that tirelessly work to educate our country with increasing cuts to their funding.

What would it look like if this person where responsible for educating and informing the public. It would look like passing legislation where all science reports had to go through Ottawa to be censored (I mean edited) before release; it would look like releasing reports quietly and hushed, and made hard to get. It would look like cutting funding to research on climate change in the Arctic.

What would it look like if this person was in charge of health and social issues? It would look like telling the world health care specialists their idea of harm reduction was a farce; instead their methods were harm creation, and that the misfortunate and misunderstood in the society should go to jail.

What would it look like if this person was in charge of crime prevention? It would look like more punishment rather than crime reduction. Instead of getting tougher on environmental standards maybe it would just be easier to get tougher on environmentalists!

What would it look like if this person was in charge of nuclear energy? It would look like firing the person who provides bad news that our reactors are not safe, and need repairs, then legislating them to start up again.

What would it look like if this person was in charge of our coastline? They might physically look like a round greasy slimy lump of oil… but that may just be the candidate supporting Tanker traffic on the coast. It would look like ignoring a moratorium and bowing to the energy companies while not listening to the people.

What would it look if this person was in charge of our arts and culture? It would look like cutting funding to programs that are not of monetary value to Canadians; Of all industries arts and culture have probably the biggest payback to the community with a very low carbon footprint. Arts and culture make us happy with out consuming much stuff. Would this mean cutting the CBC?

What would this person look like in Afghanistan? I won’t even go there…

What would it look like in the face of copyright legislation? Oh… you figured out where I am headed. Was I that obvious?

Of course we as citizens (not consumers), would never elect such a person. Social policies and ideologies aside, there is no way we would ever elect a person that has such obvious disregard for our country and it’s people.

What would it say about us, and our future? How would you handle this situation. Would you stand quietly aside and say “That is someone’s sparkling charm?”

When would you stand up and say “go to hell”! When would you act on your strong passionate beliefs and do something… write, rant, protest, inspire, VOTE…anything to ensure that this person doesn’t ruin the country? So, to this un-named adult we say… go to hell.

Get out there and vote for something GOOD!

Vote Swapping and tide changes
On facebook, there is a group called “Anti-Harper vote swap Canada”; an interesting idea. There are also many other groups such as “The Conservation Voters”, and “Vote for Environment” to name a few. If we had a fair voting system such as proportional representation, programs like this wouldn’t exist. They represent one way to make your vote count and still vote with your conscience.

As we end the month with an update that we had never planned on, it affords us one important outcome… sleep.

Cheers,

Gord and Ann