Q: I've been really interested in ecological housing for many years but never encountered anyone in the UK who was doing workshops etc. except for adobe houses recently. I'm particularly attracted to the cordwood method and wondered if you could put me in touch with someone over here? The whole process seems a bit daunting on your own and particularly here with the price of land high and getting planning permission.- it's a bit of a minefield! People are very 'stuck in the mud' over here (excuse the pun) but there is a glimmer - the government has recently said it will fund 50% of any solar technology used in a building - YES!!

A: Thank you for your kind words and optimism. With regard to sustainable building in the , I wish I could be as optimistic. I lived seven years in Scotland, back in the 70's, and things like getting planning permission and building anything out of the ordinary were not easy then. Jaki and I have maintained close contact with Britain since then, but things have not gotten any better. The only home that I know of in Britain which made use of cordwood (combined with cob), was built about five years ago by Tony Wrench and Jane Faith at the Brithdir Mawr Community near Newport in Wales. The house was a cause celebre in Britain, and still is. It is an earth covered round house with the cordwood and cob on the portions above grade. Beautiful. I have visited it and Tony has written a fine book about it called Building A Low-Impact Round House, published in Britain. Ask at bookstores. The problem is that the house was built without planning permission and, after years of battling, it seems that the home will have to come down in February or March of 2003. To learn more about the long history of this house, search "Brithdir Mawr" on Google, www.google.com, for a whole list of pertinent articles and contact information for Brithdir Mawr. I'm sorry that I cannot be more encouraging. I truly hope that you will be the first to build a permanent structure in Britain using cordwood. If anyone else knows of a cordwood home anywhere in Britain, please let us know.

Q: My wife & I have purchased 65 acres in Missouri, 12 miles from lake of the Ozarks, and would like to build a cordwood home there. We have both been very interested in building a home from sustainable material. First we were going to build a rammed earth home, and my brother just bought one in Cuero, TX but since we have a virtual forest of hardwoods, and a little cedar we've decided to build cordwood. I've worked in construction all my life, and would like to know if you have any advice you could offer us on any and every aspect of this project, and what are some of the obstacles we'll be facing.

A: You ask about obstacles you might face. One possible obstacle is having to convince your local building inspector that cordwood masonry is structurally sound. I can tell you that it is, but my word may not cut the mustard with your local building department.
You also mention that you have hardwoods and red cedar to work with. This might be considered an "obstacle" with free-standing cordwood walls, as there is always the danger of such woods expanding if you build with them too dry. For this reason, lighter and airier softwoods are preferred. Happily, there is a solution that might take care of both of these obstacles. I strongly recommend that you consider building your cordwood walls within the confines of a strong timber frame (post and beam). This will make the code enforcement officer happy because he or she will be familiar with the load-bearing characteristics of the heavy timber frame. And you'll be doing yourself a favor, because you will be able to do the cordwood masonry under the umbrella-like protection of the roof, which will already be in place before you begin the cordwood masonry infilling. This greatly diminishes the likelihood of wood expansion problems, because the work is protected from all but the worst frog-strangling rains. As an added protection, do not dry your hardwoods too long, a month or two is plenty. You know that they are going to shrink, anyway, but that is only a cosmetic problem which can be addressed later on by one of several different methods. Finally, use the cedar down low, the first course or two, and use the hardwoods further up the wall.

Q: After nearly 20 years of dreaming about it, I have decided to take the long, hard road to trying to build a cordwood home for my wife and me. I recently bought an 8.5 acre parcel in the country in what used to be an unorganized township, but what has now been consolidated into the city of Greater Sudbury in Ontario Canada. I had no idea just how difficult it would be to convince building inspectors that cordwood is every bit as reliable and structurally sound as stick construction. My fear now is that I have purchased the land in vain, and that our dream home will never get built. I wonder if you could share your opinion, offer advice or shed any light on what we might do to meet the National Building Code Requirements. Is it unlikely I can meet the requirements or are there ways to make a strong enough case for cordwood that inspectors will grant a building permit?

A: (Kelly) From my own experience with the world of cordwood and building codes, I know that a lovely cordwood house was built (based on one of Rob Roy's designs) in Washington state under strict code supervision, by making a post and beam structure that passes all code requirements, and then simply using the cordwood as infill. I know that this is not necessary structurally, but at least it was an approach that enabled the builder to create his dream house.