Tag Archives: The Waste House

DUNCAN BAKER-BROWN ON BBC RADIO 5

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Full interview from the 5th of December 2018 available below

Earlier this month Duncan was interviewed live on BBC Radio 5. He discussed the progress of his current research project taking part at the University of Brighton’s Waste House.  The investigation into re-use of bio and textile materials  as a part of Sustainable Bio & Waste Resources for Construction (SB&WRC) and INTERREG VA France (Channel) England The Waste House has incorporated new recycled and reused materials into the building fabric.

‘The Waste House is almost entirely made from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill or incineration. Materials used in the construction include toothbrushes, denim jeans, dvd cases, floppy discs, carpet tiles and construction waste. These materials have now been joined by used duvets from The University of Brighton’s halls of residence which are being used as insulation. Whilst oyster shells from the critically acclaimed English’s oyster bar have been mixed with waste aggregates from a neighbouring building site (Preston Barracks) to form wall tiles.”

 

The full interview can be listened to by clicking the link below:

BBC NEWS ARTICLE

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Climate change: Prince launches ‘Waste to Wealth’ summit

The ‘Waste to Wealth’ summit was held in London today, bringing together over 200 leaders including the Prince of Wales and the Environment Secretary Michael Gove along with members of government, businesses, volunteers and university groups from all over the country. The summit targeted reducing avoidable waste by 2030 and to double the nation’s resource productivity.

According to BBC News One of the most remarkable events of the summit was a speech given by Prince Charles in which he stated:”Making goods (like polyester duvets) uses energy and releases greenhouses gases – and the Prince and the politician both say we can’t tackle climate change unless we use materials more intelligently.”

The University of Brighton’s Waste House, built from waste material and using innovative waste materials as insulation has been further acknowledged in the article.

“The Waste House is almost entirely made from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill or incineration. Materials used in the construction include toothbrushes, denim jeans, dvd cases, floppy discs, carpet tiles and construction waste. These materials have now been joined by used duvets from The University of Brighton’s halls of residence which are being used as insulation. Whilst oyster shells from the critically acclaimed English’s oyster bar have been mixed with waste aggregates from a neighbouring building site (Preston Barracks) to form wall tiles.”

On the subject of managing resources and reducing avoidable waste, Duncan Baker-Brown – Director of BBM and the project architect of the Waste House, told BBC News: “You pay 20% VAT to refurbish a building, but zero VAT to demolish and rebuild. There is a tax incentive to knock buildings down, which is frankly insane.”

The full article can be found here.

Architect Duncan Baker-Brown with wall tiles made from crushed waste oyster shells

 

AN AUTUMN MAKEOVER FOR THE BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE

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A revamp for The University of Brighton’s Waste House

The Brighton Waste House project page

Supported by: INTERREG VA France (Channel) England

The award winning University of Brighton’s Waste House is currently undergoing an innovative makeover.

AN AUTUMN MAKEOVER FOR THE BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSEIn line with Duncan’s ongoing research project with Sustainable Bio & Waste Resources for Construction (SB&WRC) and INTERREG VA France (Channel) England The Waste House has incorporated new recycled and reused materials into the building fabric.

Since the recent success and publicity of David Attenborough’s BBC series Blue Planet II The Waste House has gained further recognition.

The Waste House is almost entirely made from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill or incineration. Materials used in the construction include toothbrushes, denim jeans, dvd cases, floppy discs, carpet tiles and construction waste. These materials have now been joined by used duvets from The University of Brighton’s halls of residence which are being used as insulation. Whilst oyster shells from the critically acclaimed English’s oyster bar have been mixed with waste aggregates from a neighbouring building site (Preston Barracks) to form wall tiles.

AN AUTUMN MAKEOVER FOR THE BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE

Duncan recently spoke about the buildings modifications:

“It is great to see the Waste House continuing to break new ground four years after it was first completed. Duvets and oyster shells are not currently widely recycled yet, like so many of the other materials we have used, are perfectly suited to alternative uses. We will now be testing how they perform so that we can demonstrate to others the huge potential.”

Further reading: The University of Brighton’s Architecture and Interior Architecture blog.

AN AUTUMN MAKEOVER FOR THE BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

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Brighton’s Waste House among the world’s most eco-friendly homes

The University of Brighton’s Waste House has been ranked one of the world’s most eco-friendly homes by a leading design company.

India-based design consultancy Minds Eye Design produced a YouTube film of some of the world’s most sustainable home builds and placed the University’s in third spot: https://youtu.be/bQnJpf0ge00

The award-winning Waste House, designed by architect and University of Brighton lecturer Duncan Baker-Brown, was made almost entirely from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill sites.

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE PRESS RELEASEBaker-Brown said: “We are delighted the Waste House has been recognised in this way, and it is marvellous that the House is continuing to receive accolades four years after it was completed.”

“This is a reflection of the tremendous hard work and commitment invested in the project by many people including 350 students from the University and Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, volunteers, FREEGLE, the online reuse network which sourced much of the Waste House materials, The Mears Group and many contributing companies and organisations.”

Materials used in the project included 20,000 toothbrushes, two tonnes of denim jeans, 4,000 DVD cases, 2,000 floppy discs, 2,000 used carpet tiles, and construction waste.

Situated in the grounds of the University’s City Campus in Grand Parade, the Waste House is a live, ongoing research project and permanent new design workshop focused on enabling open discussion and understanding of sustainable development.

For more information about the House go to: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/wastehouse or visit our project page here. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON WASTE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

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Research project development

Project background

Construction 21

University of Brighton Waste House

“For every five houses built one house worth of material goes to landfill or incineration”

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The project intends to manufacture insulation prototypes made solely from bio-based and recycled materials. Supported by the INTERREG VA France (Channel) England programme the project receives financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The University of Brighton is one of the English partners of the SB&WRC project. Their deep involvement in alternative building technologies has led to impressive experiments and results that continue to inspire researchers and practitioners. Duncan, Dr. Ryan Woodard, Senior Research Fellow within the School of Environment and Technology, and Ben Bosence, an expert in building conservation are currently working together to create one of the insulation prototypes.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

Last month Duncan met with the partners of the INTERREG SB&WRC at The University of Brighton’s Waste House. The hot topic of conversation was the progress which has been made since the last strategic meeting in January. Full details on the day can be found here.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The Brighton Waste House is the first permanent ‘carbon negative’ public building in Europe to be constructed from approximately 90% waste, surplus material & discarded plastic gathered from the construction and other industries, as well as our homes. It has Full Planning & Building Regulations Approvals. It tries to prove “that there is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place!”.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018

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Cast your votes for The Waste House

Green Solutions Awards

Construction21

This years Green Solutions Awards will showcase exemplary buildings, districts and infrastructures who are contributing to fight against climate change. With your vote the Brighton Waste House could gain further acknowledgment for its green credentials.  The International competition is run by the Construction21 network who provide a dedicated platform to all professionals active in the sustainable building and city sector.

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018You can find The Waste House listed under three out of five of the categories which are as follows:
Energy & Temperature Climates
Energy & Hot Climates
Low Carbon
Health and Comfort
Smart Building
Users’ Choice

To find out more about the awards and cast your vote please click here.

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018​The Brighton Waste House is the first permanent ‘carbon negative’ public building in Europe to be constructed from approximately 90% waste, surplus material & discarded plastic gathered from the construction and other industries, as well as our homes. It has Full Planning & Building Regulations Approvals. It tries to prove “that there is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place!”

About 65% of the waste material utilised in this building is from the notoriously wasteful construction industry (around 20% of construction material ends up in landfill-WRAP). However the idea was developed further with Cat Fletcher founder of FREEGLE UK. Cat suggested the we draw attention to the huge environmental consequences of throwing away everyday consumable domestic objects, as well as including other industrial waste streams in the project. Therefore the Waste House also ‘locks’ other sources of waste material, often utilising it as low to medium grade insulation.

One of the main aims of the project was to prove “that there is no such thing and waste, just stuff in the wrong place”. It is also an exercise in truly open accessible collaborative design and construction. This innovative low energy building was constructed completely by over 360 students & volunteers as young as 15 years old.

The project continues a line of research by BBM considering truly sustainable sources of materials and construction systems, or to be more precise truly ‘circular metabolisms’ that will one day help create a ‘Circular Economy’. Baker-Brown’s experience on this project has enabled him to write a book ‘The Re-Use Atlas: A designers guide towards a Circular Economy’.

THE ARGUS FEATURE THE WASTE HOUSE

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“Architect’s plea to construction firms”

Featured Project: The Waste House at the University of Brighton 

The Argus website

Newspaper Issue: 15th May 2018

Be sure to collect a copy of todays Argus newspaper!

“Architect’s plea to construction firms” the article discusses Duncan’s thoughts on constructing buildings as material stores for the future. The article features the award winning University of Brighton Waste House, for further details on the project and Duncan’s current research project click here.