The Future is Coming At Us

Meror Krayenhoff, SIREWALL and Terra Firma Builders

One can choose to look at the world as though we are stationary and the events and circumstances that surround our lives are changing, or that we are changing along with everything else. For most people, the experience is that the world evolves around them and they are the single stable feature in a constantly changing landscape of people and things.

Recently, I learned of a research field where astronomers are fully engaged to track comets and asteroids that are on a possible collision course with Planet Earth. These scientists are looking incredibly far (distance and time) into space. As an asteroid or comet gets closer, the predictability becomes greater. Whether or not it will hit the earth becomes clearer.

When looking at the future, there are three forces at play. First is inertia; things will keep going on the same course because the familiar has implications of safety. There is an aversion to the uncertainty of change. Second is the force of predictable change. A mundane example is carrying an umbrella on a sunny morning because the weather forecast calls for heavy rain in the afternoon. Last is the "black swan" event. This is defined in Wikipedia as a large-impact, hard-to-predict, and rare event beyond the realm of normal expectations. Black swans are the wild card, unreasonable to prepare for.

In the world of building there is tremendous inertia and resistance to change. There is an attachment to current building technology by the consumers (for whom it is often their biggest investment), by the manufacturers (for whom it is their livelihood), and by the builders and trades people (for whom it is also their livelihood). The reasons for the inertia are so significant that only minimal changes have a good chance of being adopted.

Challenging the force of inertia is the urgency of the predictable events and circumstances. As our global population and its 'needs' increase the impacts of resource extraction and disposal, so does the creation and accumulation of toxic substances. This results in a progressively urgent need for change. It's like a tug of war developing between inertia and the urgent need for change.

There is, however, a great deal of peripheral action taking place that creates good PR but does not really make a major difference. The bigger, more difficult areas to change are not being addressed in any significant way. We have more people riding bicycles (which is great), more people doing corporate cleanup (recycling), but little to no fundamental change in the building sector.

The building sector accounts for more resource extraction (40%), more greenhouse gases (40%), more energy use (40%), and more ozone depleting gases than any other sector - yes, more than cars trucks and airplanes combined, more than industry. When there are government commitments to the environment, they tend to focus on such things as light bulbs and recycling programs. Politicians know that the tug of war still favours inertia.

As the future comes at us we will, at long last, need to critically address the environmental impacts of buildings. When we do finally take environmental building seriously as a city/country/planet, these steps must inevitably follow:

1. Stop deforestation and topsoil depletion/desertification by reducing the amount of wood used in building.
2. Build with non-combustible materials.
3. Require that all materials have a minimum 100-year life span in the Building Code. New Zealand currently requires 50 years, North America: 25 years.
4. Research how the Romans built structures that lasted thousands of years. Durability is paramount. Replacing our buildings every 50 years is highly unsustainable.
5. Design our buildings so they can transform with changing occupancy.
6. Plan our communities so that durable buildings won't need to be torn down prematurely due to lack of foresight/planning.
7. Require netzero energy consumption in all new buildings.
8. Prohibit the use of carcinogens and red-listed materials in construction.
9. Require a Cradle to Cradle plan for all buildings, as a prerequisite to a permit.

As the future continues to come at us, we at SIREWALL are consciously anticipating the construction changes that will be required. We feel certain that, although the tug of war is currently an easy win for Inertia, the inevitable winner will be Predictable Change. If you are ready for the deep satisfaction of creating timeless distinction in place of disposables, we are ready. If it's inspiring for you to build a beautiful, healthy, environmental gift to your descendents, we are ready to make that happen.

Pavilion completed by EarthWall Builders, Inc, coated in snow and decorated for the holiday season.

A Year in Review

Meror Krayenhoff, SIREWALL and Terra Firma Builders

Reflecting on 2009, it has been a year of transformation. With new Licensees Sam Rodell in Washington, Brad Mimlitz in Utah, Sylvia Cook in Ontario and Marten Doppenberg in British Columbia, our reach has extended across North America. From our outreach at conferences, events and courses, our 2009 projects have been in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Utah, Washington, Arizona, California, Portugal, India, and China.

I am always energized when I see so many architects and engineers who make a point of including SIREWALL in their projects. I had the pleasure of visiting teams in India and Portugal who are building big and bold projects that make a positive statement and will be a legacy for their communities.

Our hardworking team has really put SIREWALL on a new track of development and I would like to thank Jerry, Joss, Chris, Diana, Cynthia, Catherine, Tamsin, Jackie, and my wife, Mike. We are fortunate to be based on beautiful Salt Spring Island, BC and I need to acknowledge our community for their ongoing support.

Our SIREWALL Project Managers: Jerry, Joss, Kevin, Rob and Nate have completed countless hours of training, and are global leaders in their field.

We had an exciting year of Intro Courses on Salt Spring and our enthusiastic participants continually remind me why I need to keep doing what I'm doing. Six course weekends are scheduled for 2010 to build on this momentum.

We are actively involved and expanding our outreach with professional organizations. I am thrilled that the NorthWest EcoBuilding Guild has invited me onto their Board. I am inspired to see how both the The Living Building Challenge and Cradle to Cradle are raising the bar and pushing our profession to new levels. I am grateful for the CHBA Gold Award (Best Home $1 million - $3 million), recognizing the stunning lakeside home we completed on Salt Spring.

To all of the people who share our passion for creating the most beautiful, healthy and strong, insulated rammed earth in the world and to your supporters, thank you. We look forward to a prosperous and healthy 2010.

A test wall in Portugal, constructed in Sept. 2009

A Different Category: Understanding SIREWALL Insulated Rammed Earth

With interest in green building at an all time high, the SIREWALL team gets asked a lot of questions on rammed earth. Some of these questions are asked repeatedly, and we notice there is confusion in the market. Understandably, when information comes from various sources, SIREWALL often gets grouped together with other types of rammed earth. Insulated rammed earth is, in effect, another category in the built environment. When constructed with a tested, consistently used, proven system, this takes insulated rammed earth up to an even higher category - SIREWALL is a high performance wall assembly.

Have a question about SIREWALL and insulated rammed earth? Check out the answers to these frequently asked questions and get the straight facts to correct common misconceptions. We'll answer five typical questions with each future newsletter.