[GSBN] HI

[Pete Walker]

Dear All

Thank you to those who supported my nomination. I am very pleased to join
GSBN.

Since 2006 our work on straw bale construction in Bath has focussed around
development of prefabricated systems, working closely with ModCell Limited.
This recently culminated in construction of a two storey house (BaleHaus)
built at the university of bath. Over the next 12+ months we plan to monitor
its environmental performance and condition monitor the straw as well. We
have recently completed fire, thermal transmittance and acoustic tests on
panels, as well as on-going exposure tests to evaluate effectiveness of
different coatings for protecting the straw. We have developed structural
models for the panels and buildings. Some this work has been published in
public domain.

My interest in straw bale also includes load bearing techniques. Having
previously completed vertical load bearing tests, we plan to do racking load
tests between December and April 2010 (as part of a Masters student
project). I would welcome comments on anyone's past experience with racking
load tests (results, pitfalls to look out for, etc). 

As well as straw we are conducting research on hemp-lime construction, earth
building, lime mortars and plasters, green timber and dry stone walls.

Papers from the NOCMAT 2009 conference are now freely available on-line:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/ace/uploads/BRE/NOCMAT2009/index.html. These include 7
papers on straw bale construction, as well as papers on earth building,
bamboo, and timber.

Any GSBN member passing by Bath is very welcome to call in for a chat and a
pre-arranged tour of our research work.

Cheers

Pete



Prof. Pete Walker,
Director BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials,
Dept. Architecture & Civil Engineering,
University of Bath,
Bath BA2 7AY,
UK.
Tel: 01225 386646
Fax: 01225 386691
http://www.bath.ac.uk/bre