Wattle and Daub
Delta T is the enemy
"Insulate Britain" is a laudable movement in many respects. The best insulation materials humans have ever devised are manufactured from spun glass and rock fibers (fiberglass and rock wool) and are far superior to Anglo-Saxon wattle & daub.
This is not to criticize wattle & daub. To the contrary. Lacking Roman building materials, metallurgy, and other technology, the Anglo-Saxons nevertheless far surpassed the Romans in their ability to build highly-insulated, energy-efficient buildings.
It is not coincidental that the Roman Empire was most successful and enduring in warm climes. Their building technology focused on masonry. To Northern Europeans, building with masonry was nonsensical. The r-value of wattle & daub, done properly, rivals modern techniques.
BUT, fiberglass and rockwool are nothing like waddle & daub, made from straw, mud, and dung. They are from MINERALS that have to be MINED and PROCESSED using nearly 100% PETROLEUM & GAS energy. This diagram omits the MINING part.
Hard to imagine, but it's impossible to manufacture mineral wool / fiberglass insulation using CHAOTIC energy service provided by wind-solar machines.
Naturally, the Insulate Britain movement "leaders" (using the term as narrowly as possible) occupy a fairytale world where insulation is self-evidently more important than Evil Petroleum. They must be planning to import the insulation.
Using glass manufactured by other cultures has a strong Anglo-Saxon precedent. The Romans excelled in the manufacture of glass, so much so that even today Roman glass shards are being collected and traded.
The Anglo-Saxons lacked the tools and technology to manufacture glass. Yet the Anglo-Saxons who are better-known than the Romans for their artistic re-use glass made by others - Sear-O-Gems (beads) ("searogemmas") and other works. https://wikiwand.com/en/Anglo-Saxon_glass…
So as Europe follows the way of the Roman Empire, it may be most efficient for the Insulate Britain movement to revive the wattle & daub technology of their ancestors
Europe’s descent into deindustrialisation
And just to show it's not all doom & gloom, the only energy they need to make glass beads from old glass is charcoal. https://regia.org/research/life/charcoal.htm…
Lindybeige's production on experimental archaeology is worth considering. Apparently, firewood is all that's really needed to re-work glass. And the Anglo-Saxons perfected glass recycling.
youtube.com
Ancient technology: Saxon glass-working experiment
Many thanks to Victoria Lucas for inviting me along to see her experiments in medieval glass-working. Fire! Craft! Mud! Support me on Patreon: https://www....
Process heat from high temperature gas reactors is the most promising technology innovation for civilization since humans discovered fire. This innovation alone stands to provide more net-net benefits than wind-solar-batteries ever could. https://thechemicalengineer.com/news/dow-goes-nuclear-chemical-firm-will-install-reactors-at-us-chemicals-complex/#:~:text=DOW%20will%20install%20advanced%20nuclear,minority%20stake%20in%20the%20company….
Dow goes nuclear: chemical firm will install reactors at US chemicals complex