As an Engineer, a Senior Lecturer and someone who gets very nerdy about topics I’ve found a lot of references. Here are the key tools and references I use.
Regenerative Design
Resources related to regenerative design and architecture.
- Regenerative Development and Design A Framework for Evolving Sustainability (Pamela Mang, Ben Haggard, Regenesis)
- Regenerative design and development case studies (Regenesis Group)
Companies and Contacts
Urban Adaptation
Resources related to cities adapting to climate change.
- A Catalogue of Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Resilience
- Website to analyze any site around the world Climate Resilient City Toolbox (thanks Nanco Dolman)
StRAW
Resources related to straw building
- Straw building technical details by Straw Works
- Straw building technical guides by Straw Works
Companies and contacts
- Straw Works resources founded by the Barbara Jones
- The School of Natural Building founded by the Barbara Jones
Earth Building
Resources related to building with Earth.
- Earth Construction: A Comprehensive Guide by Hubert Guillaud and Hugo Houben
- Types of Earth Floors from an England based builder The Earth Floor Company
- Drawings of earth wall build-ups on the Ulenberg website
Case Studies and Significant Projects
- The Village Nursery, Bellingdon by Gernot Minke is a UK example of Compressed Earth Bricks
- Llama Croft by Janna & Seb Laan Lomas
- The Rammed Earth Lecture Hall
- The Continuum of Earth by Becky Little shows a range of earth building methods
- Earth Floor in the Goodbye Horses by Jeffrey The Natural Builder
- The Compacted Earth Arch floors in 543 Hortus
- The Pines Calyx uses rammed chalk
Companies and contacts:
- Earth Building UK and Ireland (EBUKI)
- Rammed Earth Consulting
- Jeffrey The Natural Builder
- Will Stanwix, the Hempcrete Guy (but he does a lot of work with Earth)
- Unearthed Natural Plasters
Stuctures
Resources related to structural design
- Until I write a book Structure Systems (Heino Engel) is the best book out there.
Companies and contacts
- IStructE
Regenerative Agriculture
Resources related to Regenerative Agriculture (which is different to regenerative design).
- Data and information on biodiversity in Europe.
Companies and contacts
- reNature [I haven’t had the chance to work with them]
Humanitarian Shelter
Resources related to Humanitarian Shelter.
- Sphere Standards, standards for emergencies (The Sphere Project)
- An overview of Shelter After Disaster (Shelter Centre)
Companies and contacts
Carbon
Resources related to carbon emissions.
Databases with carbon data.
- Life Cycle Databases from around the world.
- The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) Database for typical values for buildings
- The UK Government Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for company reporting
- 2050 Materials has a range of values for the UK
- Construction Material Pyramid has well presented values for Denmark
Companies and Contacts
Material Selection
Resources related to selecting low impact, healthy materials.
- Natural material details, suppliers and sources on the ACAN Natural Materials Detail Library
- Information and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) on materials (2050 Materials)
- Guides on using healthy, low impact materials (Healthy Materials Lab)
Fire
Resources related to fire design.
- Dataholz.eu details for timber construction and fire
Companies and contacts
Ecology
Resources related to Ecology.
- Information on Urban/City Ecology and Design (Rewild My Street)
- Data and information on biodiversity in the UK DEFRA MAGIC Map
- Data and information on biodiversity in Europe (The Biodiversity information system for Europe)
- BirdNet phone app to identify birds from recordings.
Historic
Resources related to historic buildings
- Structural Renovation of Traditional Buildings Report 111 (CIRIA) for structures in the UK
Timber
Resources related to using Timber generally.
- Case Studies on Timber Projects (TDUK)
- Span to depth tables for joists, rafters and purlins (Timber Beam Calculator)
- Timber Product Life Cycle Information (Wood for Good)
- Reuse of Timber (InFutURe Wood)
- Information on Timber Fire Safety
Resources related to using CLT.
- The CLT Handbook on using CLT (Swedish Wood)
- CLT case studies by Waugh Thistleton
Resources related to timber connections.
Companies and Contacts
- The Grain Architecture Llamacroft has some drawings detailing good suspended floors, larsen truss walls and eaves
- Timber Development UK
- Think Wood
Climate Emergency
Resources related to the climate emergency.
Companies and contacts
Water
Resources related to water management.
- Introductory presentation on Water Sensitive Urban Design (Nanco Dolman)
- Case studies focused on Nature-based solutions in Cities (Nanco Dolman)
- Presentation on Flood Design (Nanco Dolman)
- The SuDS Manual C753 by CIRIA is the most comprehensive guide to water design.
- Website for different sites and climate issues using the Climate Adaptation App (thanks Nanco Dolman)
- A website showing coastal areas to be below flood levels in 2050 in different scenarios.
- The Climate Resilient City Toolbox to explore adaptation measures
- Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond Volume 1 & 2 (Brad Lancaster)
- UK Flood Risk Maps
- UK DEFRA MAGIC Map
DETAILING BUILDING LAYERS
Resources related to detailing the layers in your project
- The Sustainable Renovation (SEDA) guide provides a good explanation of the history of poorly layering materials
- Natural material details, suppliers and sources on the ACAN Natural Materials Detail Library
Case Studies and Significant Projects
- Llama Croft by Janna & Seb Laan Lomas is possibly the best detailed building in the UK, possibly the world. Check the the Llama Croft Instagram and Grain Architecture Instagram for their details of their Suspended Floor, Larsen Truss Wall and Extended Eaves.
HEMP
Resources related to the use of Hemp.
- The Hempcrete Book by William Stanwix and Alex Sparrow
- Alia Benjelloun’s research into bioremediation and construction with Hemp
Companies and Contacts
- UK Hempcrete
- Unyte Hemp
- CobBauge Project (Hemp clay)
Masonry
Resources related to masonry.
Companies and contacts
Stone
Resources related to using Stone.
- The Stone Collective Book Volume 1 and The Stone Collective Book Volume 2 with modern ways of building in stone.
- Stone Ideas shows news in the use of Stone
Case Studies and Significant Projects
- The Stone Demonstrator by Groupwork, Webb Yates, Arup and The Stonemasonry Company
Companies and Contacts
- The Stone Collective
- The Stonemasonry Company Limited
- RocBloc (for stone bricks and blocks)
RETROFIT
Resources related to retrofit and performance improvement.
- Temperate climate retrofit Sustainable Renovation (SEDA)
- Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide (LETI)
- Climate Emergency Conservation Area Toolkit (ACAN)
- Design Action for Climate Action Training
Some tips:
- Model the current wall layers and try making improvements in UBAKUS
Acoustics
Resources related to acoustics.
- Site noise levels using Extrium England Noise and Air Quality Viewer
Bridges
Resources related to bridge design
- Check out the design entries for the Tintagel Castle footbridge
Some tips:
- If you’ve ever worked on a bridge it is 10% concept and then 25% structure, 25% construction sequence, 20% inclusive access then 10% drainage, 10% lighting and 10% inspection (hopefully that adds up to 100%)
Cíaran Malik 