Advocate • Connect September/October 2019 55
Building and technology
HARNESS
the wind and sun to reduce your power bills for ever.
Combine both wind and solar for the best future results.
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*Tony Pearson is recognised nationally as a leader in this field, with installations all around
the country and this has been proven by him winning the SEANZ Best Installation four times.the builds that he, his students and local
communities are working on.
Born and brought up in Auckland,
Grant calls Northland home, as he lived
there for many years. For 25 years he
worked as an organic market gardener
with Marty Robinson of Kerikeri Organics,
growing greenhouse vegetables such as
tomatoes and beans. He was also a tutor
at Northtec and did numerous workshops
in Northland, building hundreds of mud
ovens as that was his focus then.
He first visited Ruatoria about 10 years
ago when an organic hui was held with Dr
Tim Jenkins (soil scientist and Organic NZ
contributor).
Little, light and local
The buildings Grant works on are mainly
single-roomed structures smaller than
10 square metres, below the threshold of
building consent requirement. They are
typically used as sleepouts, storage or sheds.
“We use light earth bricks and
conventional timber framing,” says Grant.
“The bricks are not so much clay – they
incorporate lots of natural fibres. The mud
content is low.” He uses fine-stemmed
bamboo instead of wooden slats to keep the
earth bricks in.
He doesn’t call it earth building,
preferring to use the term ‘natural building’.
In fact, he says it’s more like ‘grass hut
building’ because of the high content of
natural fibres.
The major Taupo eruption (about
26,500 years ago) and other eruptions
spread volcanic ash over large parts of the
North Island, so it’s quite hard to find good
clay to build with in many areas.
“I used to think it was a disadvantage,
but now I think it’s an advantage,” says
Grant. “All we need the clay for is to hold
together the natural fibres: things likepampas grass, hay, wood shavings, pine
needles, coarse grass, chipped gorse and
miscanthus grass.”0LVFDQWKXVJUDVV²VXSHUÀEUH
He enthuses about miscanthus grass,
which he managed to get a couple of sacks
of, and he’d really like to grow it so he can
use more. Miscanthus giganteus is a sterile
hybrid between two miscanthus species.)RUOLJKWHDUWKEXLOGLQJ*UDQWPL[HVFOD\
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Above: This car window has been
incorporated into a light earth wall, with the
manual handle able to wind it up and down.
Above: Car windows have been incorporated into this light earth sleepout.