Tudor is Better
by Bonnie Alter, London on 11. 9.06
Tudor houses, built at the time of Henry VIII, are more energy efficient than homes of today. According to a new study by British Gas, tudor properties with their solid construction and stout oak beams, leaked 10 cubic metres of warm air an hour vs. 15.1 for suburban mock-Tudors built in 1960. The houses were constructed for the rich and were the work of skilled artisans. They used wattle and daub, an early form of plastering, which was inserted wet, but forms an almost airtight barrier when dry. Even the more humble tudor cottages had thick walls, small windows to keep in the heat, and hay and old wool insulation. The Victorians' brick houses, built for the middle-classes during the industrial revolution, were next in energy efficiency. This verifies what some traditionalists, including the Prince of Wales, have been saying: “Wind turbines, solar panels and other hi-tech green devices might get the media attention, but the smartest way to save energy may be to live in a Tudor house and insulate the attic and repair the windows”. Hmmm, just when we thought we were making some progress... :: Financial Times
Unfortunately, this is not a testament to the quality of Tudor building techniques... It's an indication of how execrably modern British housing is built.
This is probably the most eco friendly type of building there is. All the building materials with the exception of glass, wiring and plumbing are natural.
Timber straw and clay. This is the old German leichtlehm method. These houses last hundreds of years. Robert Laporte has some interesting technics on using this as a modern building material.
Modern British homes ("new builds") are absolute rubbish. There is not one thing I can say in their favour. They are little more than massively overpriced matchboxes. They are built to poor standards, marketed as "luxury" and then sold for premium prices. Unfortunately, as long as an undemanding and uncritical public pay ridiculous sums of money for them, property companies will continue to build them!
And before Tudor the English made homes out of cob, and it is even better still in terms of renewable materials and energy insulation. And many 400 year old cob houses are still in use!
submitted for your approval: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cob_(building)
The same in the U.S.
Particle Board Palaces.
5000 sq ft of particle board with synthetic stucco.