Early next month, the inaugural International Earth Building Conference will take place at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) campus in Albury-Wodonga, NSW.

Presented by Earth Building Association of Australia (EBAA), the five-day program will feature a combination of talks and workshops led by both local and international speakers. These events will explore the concept of earth building, the practice of building using unfired earth material.

One of these events is a two-day, hands-on workshop that will look at core skills and features required for the construction of earth buildings, such as mud-brick, low-density earth, earth render, and rammed earth.

Additionally, the conference will offer a guided tour of the CSU campus designed by Marci Webster-Mannison and CSU. The campus is considered to be the largest complex of rammed earth buildings in Australia.

As an organisation, EBAA advocates for well-designed, high thermal mass buildings that are net-zero carbon and require little or no energy for thermal comfort. This type of building needs to become more prevalent Australia-wide, according to the organisation. Rather than the endless insulation and sealing of buildings to lessen air-conditioning costs, EBAA strives for a method that incorporates building with thick, unfired earth walls.

The Earth Building Conference take place from 2 to 6 November 2017. More information here.

Speakers:

  • Professor Sue Roaf, Heriot-Watt (UK)
  • Professor Pete Walker, University of Bath (UK)
  • Assistant professor Maria Kordjamshidi, University of Mazandaran (Iran)
  • Thierry Joffroy, CRAterre (France)
  • Jean-Marie Le Tiec, CRAterre (France)
  • Jomo Zeil, architect, Martin Rauch (Austria)
  • Graeme North, architect (New Zealand)
  • Verena Maeder, Solid Earth (New Zealand)
  • Paul Jaquin, engineer (New Zealand)
  • Marci Webster-Mannison, Melbourne Design Studios (Australia)
  • Phil Harris, Troppo Architects (Australia)
  • Luigi Rosselli, architect (Australia)
  • Associate professor Dirk Spennemann, Charles Sturt University (Australia)
  • Rick Lindsay, Rammed Earth Contractor (Australia)
  • Doctor Daniela Ciancio, University of Western Australia (Australia)