Posted on Sunday Dec 7 0:00:00 GMT 2008
After studying nature conservation and eco-building, i became convinced that timber is the important material for C21st building. It is renewable, non polluting, provides oxygen generation, it ameliorates weather extremes, stabilizes soils and creates fertile soil.We have a history of lack of woodland management and low woodland cover since the inception of the forestry commission, it is time to change.My buildings are designed to make use of particularly locally grown timber, grown for commercial crops. By converting commercial woodland to semi-natural constant cover forestry by selective harvesting of individual trees for high value buildings which could be provided for self build eco-housing to provide local energy efficient housing to house indigenous local people at an affordable level using community land trusts to aquire land within local rural parishes. These settlements could be autonomous through reneweable power generation and by processing their own wastes. This strategy could provide thousands of jobs and train people in timber and carpentry skills etc
