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Straw houses could help to cut carbon emissions – and new research proves that they won't blow down

Building his house of straw didn't do the first little pig any favours, but a modern take on straw-bale construction may well be the grand design of the future if results coming out of the University of Bath are accepted by the construction industry.

Think of a straw-bale house and you might imagine a tumbledown shack that leaks, creaks, slumps and smells somewhat of the farmyard. But step into BaleHaus, a startlingly contemporary looking prototype home that has been built on the Bath campus, and there's nary a wisp of straw to be seen. Instead, you're in the hallway of an upside-down house with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor, and an airy open-plan living area upstairs. It feels like a little piece of Scandinavia has just arrived in Somerset.

The straw bales, it turns out, are all packed tightly inside a series of prefabricated rectangular wooden wall frames, which are then lime-rendered, dried and finally slotted together like giant Lego pieces, called ModCell panels.

The problem with straw houses, it seems, isn't that they don't work, but that people perceive them as being a bit hippy and not particularly durable. Add to that the problems of getting a mortgage – very few lenders will consider straw-bale construction – and it's hardly surprising that most homes in the UK are still built of either brick or stone.

The benefits of straw, points out Professor Peter Walker, director of the University of Bath's BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, are that "it's cheap, widely available and a good insulator. It's been used in building houses for hundreds of years."

As a by-product of an industry that exists all over the world – the stalks that remain after grain has been harvested – straw also helpfully soaks up carbon from the atmosphere and locks it in, so long as it is not allowed to decompose. For the building industry, which currently depends on materials with very high embedded energy costs – concrete and brick are expensive in carbon terms both to make and to transport – straw could therefore offer a welcome solution to housing's greenhouse gas emissions.

However stylishly modern your environmentally friendly straw-bale house may look, however, you still want to know that it won't get sopping wet in a thunderstorm or go up in a whoosh of flames if you knock over a candle. The results now being published by Walker and his research partner, Dr Katharine Beadle, who have spent the last 18 months testing the BaleHaus against an exhaustive list of risk factors that could rot it, burn it or blow it down, so far seem to be reassuring.

"You always want a bit of drama, but we didn't get it!" laughs Beadle of the day the team took a ModCell unit to a test laboratory and tried to reduce it to ashes by strapping it to a fiery furnace and raising the temperature to over 1,000C.

"It's a standard test to replicate a fire in a building," explains Walker.

"You want a minimum of 30 minutes' resistance; that means you know that a house will at least retain its structural integrity for half an hour, which gives people a chance to get out."

It took an hour-and-a-half of being in direct contact with the flames, says Beadle, before the lime render began to drop off, "and then the straw did start to burn back, but because it's so compacted it suffered more charring than actual disintegration."

After waiting another 45 minutes and finding that the panel still hadn't failed, the team gave up and stopped the experiment, secure in the knowledge that the material had performed way beyond the requirements of building regulations.

When it came to blowing the house down – hydraulic jacks were placed against the walls to replicate wind forces pushing against the bales – the ModCell panels moved a few millimetres, but stayed within the tolerances allowed for by the computer modelling carried out prior to its construction.

That, says Walker, could be very good news for the price of the eventual ModCell building system.

"It means the house is stiffer than it needs to be, so we now have the option of taking away some of that stiffness – ie, reduce its internal timber – and that could reduce the cost."

The approximate cost of the current modular building system for this design is £132,000 from above the concrete slab. For a smallish two-bedroomed house with one large open-plan kitchen/diner, that doesn't seem particularly cheap given that straw is supposed to be inexpensive, and you'd still have to buy the plot and dig the foundations.

"Cost is a challenge to the introduction of this technology, but as a prototype house I think it stacks up well," says Walker.

"The aspiration is that it should be cost-competitive, with more savings coming through reduced heating bills."

To replicate the heat given off by humans and appliances, arrays of incandescent lightbulbs on timers blaze in every room at pre-programmed times of day "to see how much heat escapes, and what level of heating would be needed at different times of year," explains Beadle.

"That environmental modelling will give us all the numbers about the energy the house is predicted to use. And if we are predicting how it will operate given climate change, we can then put in those variables."

Sensors embedded within each wall panel constantly monitor the degree of moisture absorbed and then released back through the breathable lime render into the air outside by the panels. And on the airtightness test that was carried out, BaleHaus came in way under the building regulations threshold, and did considerably better than the far lower "best practice" standard.

Next up is going to be the flood test. Disappointingly, the researchers aren't simply going to leave the bath taps running: instead, they'll stand a panel in a metre of water, measure how long it takes to dry out and assess whether using industrial dryers causes damage to the straw.

"Longer term, we'd like to maybe get some people to live in it, a family of three or four perhaps, and see how it performs in a real-life situation," says Walker.

Student accommodation, I wonder? Walker suddenly looks a bit concerned for his straw-bale baby, so probably only mature, well-behaved responsible students who will promise no rampaging house parties should apply. But who knows when the first straw-bale halls of residence will be built for students desperate for some decent, earth-friendly and thermally efficient digs?bre

Salford University staff to simulate life in terraced two-up, two-down in effort to make UK's housing stock greener

Energy-efficiency scientists are to study how people live by rebuilding an entire, redbrick Manchester terraced house inside a university laboratory's sealed testing chamber.

The two-up, two-down dwelling is identical to those portrayed in Coronation Street, television's oldest surviving soap, and to more than two million real-life homes.

It will be used for power-saving experiments in simulated climates featuring high winds, snow and Manchester's notorious rain.

The pre-first world war house is to be salvaged from a nearby demolition scheme. It will be dismantled within the next fortnight and rebuilt in the Energy Hub at Salford University.

Gas, water and electricity will be piped in and furniture installed, with staff from 13 academic departments taking turns to play the part of residents.

Life in this "Energy House" will be as busy as in any of the terraces which sprang up across the North of England to house those working in mines and mills, but focused on entirely modern concepts such as carbon-reduction equipment and smart-meter tests.

Psychologists will join engineers in a series of experiments to see if particular wall or carpet colours make people feel warmer and reduce the demand for heat. Home energy use accounts for 30% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's a house from the past, working for the future," said Dr Nigel Mellors, associate dean of science, engineering and technology at Salford and one of the team running a project aimed to last 20 years or more.

"But this one is only the beginning'" he said. "We reckon we'll know everything we need to about how to improve a terrace like this after about three years. Then we'll knock it down and build something different. Perhaps a typical 1960s house, to see how that can be improved."

The project is designed to parallel work on new-build energy-saving homes, recognising that many housebuyers prefer older properties for other reasons.

Dave Ritter, sustainability director at BDP architects, who are also involved with the scheme, said the sheer number of surviving terraces was proof of their appeal.

"They are in many ways an extremely successful design, with a particularly good sense of community and neighbourly links," he said.

"They are on a nice scale and sensibly laid-out inside. But energy-saving was not an issue at the time they were built, and this project is an imaginative and very practical way of putting that right."

Remodelled terraces have already proved a success in the Lancashire Pennine towns of Nelson and Colne and also in Salford, notably at Chimney Pot Park where the developers Urban Splash have "upended" the old model, giving 19th century terraces sleeping quarters downstairs and living rooms on the first floor.

Leeds has found a huge market as starter homes for its 40,000-plus back-to-back terraces, once condemned as slums for having inadequate ventilation but now, with three of their four walls comfortably sandwiched by other homes, praised for saving heat and economical use of space.

Green variations also include some Northern towns' policy of "alternate demolition", where the clearing of every other row of barrack-like terraces has doubled the gardens and open space of those left.

Larger scale demolition of traditional terraces by government housing renewal projects has caused anger in Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire's former milltowns.

Professor Steve Donnelly from Salford's faculty of science said terraced houses had won their case for reprieve but now needed "ways of being more efficient, as they are going to house people for generations to come. That requires detailed and robust research, which the Energy House will provide".

Tony Juniper, former director of Friends of the Earth, said: "Domestic energy use accounts for a huge proportion of emissions which we have to reduce. The millions of real-life terrace houses like this one are going to play an important part."

John Alker, policy director at the UK Green Building Council, said: "This looks like a great piece of research and it will be particularly interesting to see the results on behaviour, where less has been done to date.

"But let's not forget that there is a hell of lot that we know already – the biggest barrier to low carbon home refurbishment going mainstream has tended to be the upfront cost to consumers, and that is set to be tackled by the Energy Bill in the form of 'Pay As You Save schemes'."

Fifth of RIBA's annual architecture plaudits go to education projects – but now cuts will bite

In what may be the last hurrah for public buildings before government spending cuts bite, prizes for architectural quality were awarded to 17 new school and university buildings by the Royal Institute of British Architects today.

From a £27m art and design academy at Liverpool John Moores University to a multicoloured glass extension at Clapham Manor primary school, education buildings won almost a fifth of the RIBA's 93 awards in a feat that may not be repeated for a generation after the government ordered a moratorium on new plans for school buildings.

The new education secretary, Michael Gove, recently clashed with architects when he accused them of "creaming off cash" that should have been going to the frontline.

The RIBA roll of honour also reveals the damaging effect of recession on architectural opportunity: instead of the stadium, airport and museum projects of previous years, the 2010 list features more modest projects, including a bus drivers' toilet in Dagenham and a black-clad electricity sub-station on a 2012 Olympic site in east London. And, with house building falling to an 87-year low, just three housing schemes were granted awards.

Many of the country's leading designers, including Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield and Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, won accolades for buildings elsewhere in the EU rather than at home. Hadid's expressionist angles and curves were reserved for Rome's museum of 21st-century art, MAXXI, while Lord Rogers, widely regarded as one of the world's leading modernists, designed a new headquarters campus for a Spanish technology company in Seville.

"The RIBA awards reflect not only the state of British architecture but also that of its economy," said Ruth Reed, the institute's president. "In the midst of the deepest recession in the awards' 45-year history, this year demonstrates that, although times might be hard for architects, there are still great buildings being built throughout the country and overseas. The RIBA awards always give an opportunity for gem-like small projects and less established practices to shine through, and this year is no exception. Far from being a size prize, the RIBA awards are for buildings that offer value to people's lives."

The memorial in Hyde Park to the victims of the 7 July 2005 bomb attacks on the London transport network, by Carmody Groarke, also won and is considered by some as a possible contender for the shortlist for the £20,000 Stirling prize for building of the year, which is drawn from the RIBA award winners.

Ellis Woodman, architecture critic at the newspaper Building Design, said that other strong Stirling prize contenders included the Nottingham contemporary arts centre, the new British embassy in Warsaw, the Neues Museum in Berlin, Christ's College school in Guildford and Hadid's MAXXI museum.

The Oregon-born architect Rick Mather won most awards, gaining four. Other winning buildings included a new home in Bristol for Wallace and Gromit's creators, Aardman Animations, and a cluster of foil-clad small-business units, which look like cybermen helmets, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, in Wales.

Schools triumph in the architecture industry's annual awards – as does a bus drivers' toilet in Dagenham

It takes seven years to become fully qualified, so no surprise most graduates go on to careers in architecture

Whether we live in them, work in them or simply stroll around them for pleasure, buildings are arguably the most public of art forms, a fusion of design and functionality that can be influenced by politics, economics, fashions and social trends, not to mention the villages, towns and cities in which they are built.

Seven long years of combined study and internships are required to achieve qualified status, so, as our data shows, it's hardly surprising that most graduates go on to work as architects or in architectural services. For some though, such as former Elastica singer turned abstract painter Justine Frischmann (pictured), an artistic streak coupled with unique controlling instincts can open doors to some unusual lifestyles and careers.

What skills have I gained?

Over the course of the five years of study (and two years of work placements) it takes to qualify, you'll have covered a wide range of subjects, including history, law, IT, technology and management, as well as a substantial design element. Combine that with numeracy, drawing, computer-aided design and project management skills, which you will pick up on all architecture degree courses.

What jobs can I do?

"Beyond the obvious careers of architect and architectural technologist, architecture graduates can also aim for roles where their visual awareness and technical abilities, as well as their understanding of buildings and how they work, will be valuable and relevant," says Margaret Holbrough, careers advisor at Graduate Prospects.

"Some jobs will require further qualifications but interior and spatial design or landscape architecture, as well as website design, would each utilise the creative and visual skills of the architecture graduate. On the construction side, building surveying or development and planning surveying might appeal, or perhaps other roles within the community and local environment, like town planning."

There are some specialised areas that could also be of interest to those with a passion for the environment and history – such as historic building inspectors and conservation officers.

"Within the broadcasting industry, production designers in the film and TV industry need people who can visualise and produce sets and realistic locations," adds Holbrough. "Architecture graduates could fulfil that brief too."

Postgraduate study?

Apart from further qualifications in architecture, enabling you to become registered with bodies such as the Royal Institute of British Architects or the Architects Registration Board, some graduates choose postgraduate study in other technical subjects such as engineering, design or computer science.

Data supplied by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit and Graduate Prospects

Cabe has launched a guide for schools undergoing building or refurbishment projects which is designed to help teachers engage pupils in the process.

Andy Hall's 360-degree image takes you right inside SANAA's spectacular new campus building at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, with commentary by Observer architecture critic Rowan Moore

The government will miss its target of making every new school building in England zero carbon from 2016, schools secretary Ed Balls admitted today.

A new think tank called the Centre for School Design has been launched by the British Council for School Environments.

Conservation watchdog says more historic schools should be refurbished, not demolished

Britain's unprecedented rush to build schools is condemned today as a threat to hundreds of sound and thoughtfully designed buildings from an era when materials were high-quality but cheap.

MPs intend to grill the government's Partnership for Schools team about the ratio of rebuilding in the £20bn programme, which is supposed to see half the money go on restoring historic and often locally popular schools.

Instead, a survey by Building Design magazine has found that 70% of completed projects have been new-build, with timescales under the private finance initiative and similar schemes pushing local councils that way. The government's conservation watchdog English Heritage is up in arms and the culture department is expected to list more schools to shore up their protection.

The alarm is based on "quick-fix" bids from town halls to get public money, which overlook the value of pioneering work by councillors' predecessors.

Two new publications by English Heritage describe the progressive thinking and enlightened architecture which went into school building from the late 19th century onwards. The group has taken the unusual step of backing them with an opinion survey, which finds that 83% of people want old school buildings retained for new use. Almost half - 47% - say that historic schools are more inspiring for pupils and teachers than new ones, and 75% value Victorian and early to mid-20th century examples as local landmarks.

The issue is raising the temperature in local government, with Leeds' ruling coalition of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives defending a ward next month where passions are high over the closure and subsequent neglect of Victorian Royal Park school. Nationally, the Conservatives are suggesting links between the new-build bias and overspending and delays in the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Lady Andrews, chair of English Heritage, called the huge school investment programme "unique in scale and vital" but warned: "Local education authorities need to strike the best balance between replacement and refurbishment.

"The latter is often the more environmentally sensitive and effective solution. It uses the assets of the community, minimise requirements for new materials and cut demolition waste. It also helps to reinforce people's sense of belonging and local identity." Tim Byles, the chief executive of Partnership for Schools, the agency responsible for delivering the huge programme, is to be questioned about the new-build imbalance by the Commons' select committee on children, schools and families. He denied that refurbishment was "the poor relation of new-build. We are passionate about making best use of existing buildings and sustainable refurbishment projects." He recommitted the programme to achieving a 50-50 balance on completion. Elain Harwood, English Heritage's architectural historian, said: "We have some wonderful school buildings in this country, many with beautiful architecture and valuable social history. Demolition should be a last resort, and is a loss for us all."

The guidance document highlights successes in the building programme's minority of restoration schemes, such as High Storrs art-deco secondary school in Sheffield. The city council included the original 1930s buildings in the modernised school which has 21st century IT networks and better accessibility for the disabled.