Keable, Rowland

Maskell, Daniel

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        Citation for published version:Maskell, D & Keable, R 2016, Development of earth occupation standards within the UK. in 7th InternationalConference on Building with Earth. Dachverband Lehm e.V., Weimar, 12/11/16.Publication date:2016Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordLink to publicationPublisher RightsGNU GPLUniversity of BathGeneral rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Download date: 13. May. 2019LEHM 2016 – 1larly the need to train the trainers to maintain high training standards and credibility.This paper presents the outcomes of the PIRATE pro-ject. The European outcomes of the project will be discussed with how they have been used to trans-late to UK’s vocational accreditation system. This will have significant impact across Europe with respect to enabling earth construction to be internationally recognised and certified.European Earth Building ContextThe wider picture of construction in Europe has been wide-scale use of high energy building materials which fit into the general classification of products. The commercial success of products over skills has been a feature of construction which makes it both extremely profitable as a sector and highly vulner-able to wider economic shocks (Duca et al., 2010 and Nistorescu et al., 2010). Products have led to the growth of standards and certification. Within Europe, standards for earth construction are limited to Ger-many via the DIN Standards (DIN 18945, 18946 and 18947) which were developed by German National association for earth construction, the Dachverband Lehm e. V.Earth building in the UK has as long a history (Mor-ton, 2007) as most other areas of the world (Hou-ben & Guillaud, 1994). The use of earth as a building material was largely vernacular, with whole towns in the UK constructed of locally sourced clay with regional variations of cob, clay mortared clay and stone blocks, wattle and daub and rammed earth. This practice continued until the industrial revolution from the 18th to the 20th century. Industrialisation and mass transport had a massive impact on earth building with a dwindling number of people with the skills to use it. This was in stark contrast to the idea While Europe has a rich heritage of earth construc-tion and growing number of contemporary buildings, it remains minimal. Earthen construction is increas-ingly being academically investigated (Pacheco-Tor-gal & Jalali, 2012), as a means of achieving low envi-ronmental impact construction materials (Maskell et al., 2015). While the focus of the research is either on improvement of mechanical properties (Walker et al., 1995, Morel et al., 2007) or moisture buffering prop-erties (McGregor et al., 2015). Increasing academ-ic research helps to address one of the 12 barriers of adoption identified by Sourani and Sohail (2011), however this alone will have minimal impact on the adoption of the earth construction.Sourani and Sohail (2011) include within their twelve barriers to adoption of sustainable forms of construc-tion that could be addressed by standards and certi-fication: – insufficient / inconsistent policies, regulations, in-centives and commitment by leadership; – insufficient / confusing guidance, tools, demon-strations and best practice; – vagueness of definitions and diversity of interpre-tations;To address these challenges professionals of the con-struction sector, 18 partners from 8 European coun-tries were part of the PIRATE project to establish a complete European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) for earth building. ECVET is the European approach to develop voca-tional education and training fostered through mobil-ity of both learners and professionals. ECVET sets a framework for different national educational systems, allowing learners to validate in their own countries the training and certification received abroad. Callen-der, (1992) demonstrated the effectiveness of nation-al vocational qualifications in construction, particu-Development of earth occupation standards within the UKDr Daniel Maskell¹, Rowland Keable²¹ BRE Centre for innovative Construction Materials, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering,  University of Bath, UK, ² Earth Building UK and Ireland, UKLEHM 20162 – DEVELoPMENT of EARTH oCCUPATIoN STANDARDS WITHIN THE UKDevelopment of the earth building ECVETThe project allows for standardised certification that is recognised across Europe, for the vocational train-ing in earth building. Consortium partners from eight European countries met regularly to learn about and compare typical building technologies, norms and standards, and trades and crafts of different coun-tries. The results were the development of a matrix of units of learning outcomes for construction, renova-tion and decoration with earth materials.The EQf is a common European reference framework which links countries’ qualifications systems together, acting as a translation device to make qualifications applicable across different countries and systems in Europe. The EQf framework (EQf, 2008) uses eight levels of competency ranging from basic Level 1 to advanced Level 8. Within construction levels 3 and 4 apply to workers taking responsibility for completion of tasks and exercising self-management respec-tively. Levels 5 and 6 apply to supervisors managing technical activities, responsible for decision-making in unpredictable contexts. Level 7 is suitable for the design team including architects and engineers with level 8 reserved for academics.The Earth building ECVET consists of a matrix of nine  units for  EQf  levels 3 to 6 (Table 1). The units consider a range learning outcomes required for earth building, including practical elements, such as material preparation and construction through to de-veloping a business for constructing with Earth. In of ‘modern’ construction materials and a ‘modern’ architecture. However the existence of thousands of earth buildings ensured it remained current for a range of different people. These included those liv-ing and maintaining the buildings, local authorities, NGo’s and government concerned with the protec-tion of UK heritage. While new build in the UK and Ireland has largely been with cob and earthen plas-ters other skills in wattle and daub and clay mortared masonry are also gaining use and interest. Rammed earth has attracted interest in highly contemporary designs such as the CAT centre at Wise as in fig. 1. Maskell et al., (2015) has demonstrated the potential for earth to be used as a structural material poten-tially meeting certification requirements whilst de-livering significant environmental benefits. However there remains no standard approach to specifying or designing with this material that has its historical routes as a craft.The modern approach to products and standard im-pacts the socio-economic landscape (Turk 2009 and Nistorescu & Ploscaru, 2010) including the dilution of skills-based construction sector. Prior to the ECVET PIRATE project training standards for earth plasters was initially developed across Europe (D / 02 / B / f / PP-112 695) which expanded to further projects considering plasters (2012-1-fI1-LEo05-09362) and other natu-ral building materials (CZ / 08 / LLP-LdV / ToI / 134015). Recognizing that Earth plasters are a subset of Earth construction, the PIRATE project (528117-LLP-1-2012-1-fR-LEoNARDo-LMP) was developed.Unit Subunit EQF Level L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 DescriptionM from raw material to earth mixP Production of prefabricated elementsB B1 earth masonryBuilding with earthB2 cobB3 rammed earthC Application of clay plasterF formwork for earth buildingR R1 buildingRepair and conservation in earth buildingR2 clay plasterD Interior designO Decorative techniquesE Earth building marketTable 1 Earth Building ECVET matrixLEHM 2016 – 3DANIEL MASKELL, RoWLAND KEABLEsionals including EBUKI and working through the existing document to update and fill in the detail of what became CoSVR549 “Prepare and erect or con-serve and restore earthen structures”. A key part of this was to shift the emphasis from being purely for conservation and repair of earth buildings to begin with the phrase Prepare and Erect, meaning build new. once the NoS was published in August 2015 the next phase of the development of the standard was triggered, namely in developing the National Vo-cational Qualification, NVQ.The UK training and assessment model allows for training and assessment either in training centres or on site, but the emphasis is on-site. To achieve this qualification, regardless of level there has first to be a National occupational Standard, NoS.ConclusionsThe outcomes of the PIRATE project has provided the detailed working material for a training standard to be taken up and used across Europe in a common quali-fications framework. The European vision of Lifelong Learning needs these kinds of outputs to clothe that vision, allowing trained people to move from one country to another taking skills with them or learning new skills to take back to their home nations. This is a vision shared and endorsed by EBUKI and active-ly promoted in the writing and dissemination of the work of Pirate into the UK national regulatory system. The directly certified construction training framework in the UK opens the door to earth structures and training by industry with the newly published NVQ’s. The next step which we hope will continue in the Eu-ropean model will be to implement training programs to take advantage of these changes.ReferencesBIS (2012). Monthly statistics of building materials and com-ponents. Technical report, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.Callender, C. (1992). Will National Vocational Qualifications Work? Evidence from the Construction Industry. BEBC Distribution, 15 Albion Close, Parkstone, Poole BH12 3LL, England, United Kingdom.CZ / 08 / LLP-LdV / TOI / 134015 HLINARCH–Professional Qualification for Working with Natural and Sustainable Building Materials. ADAM–Leonardo da Vinci Projects and Products Portal. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http: / / www.adam-europe.eu / adam / project / view.htm?prj= 4409#.V25Ha1dXnQcrecognition of the variety of earth construction, three units have been developed for the specifics of earth masonry, cob and rammed earth.Each unit considers a set of knowledge, skills and competence needed to be demonstrated appropriate for the level. These are assessed against a list of criteria and indicators via written, practical and oral exams. The framework allows for many different implementations of training, practice and assessments facilitating lifelong learning and flexibility for national implementation.UK’s implementation of ECVETEarth Building UK and Ireland (EBUKI) (Maskell and Ke-able, 2016) approached the UK Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) proposing a change to the UK National occupational Standard (NoS). The UK has a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) used to assess competency within a particular subject. The NVQs are broken down into eight levels and while they have academic equivalence, the focus is dis-tinctly vocational. To achieve this training at any level there has first to be a National occupational Standard (NoS), which specifies the UK standards of perfor-mance including the knowledge and skills required. The NoS are approved by the four UK home nations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. NoS exist for a wide variety of construction skills includ-ing Heritage Skills. Within Heritage Skills there was an existing NoS which discussed earth building having and requiring skills. However, there was no additional detail to express what earth building is, to name even the techniques or materials associated with it.With materials developed within Pirate, EBUKI was uniquely positioned as experts on the Construction Industry Training Board, CITB Technical Committee (TC), as a professional organisation to ‘the industry’ and achieving a nationally recognised training stand-ard. Each European country governs their training standards differently. In the UK the CITB were set up by the 1964 Industrial Training Act by the Minister of Labour. This gave statutory powers to create indus-trial training boards responsible for training in a num-ber of UK industries, setting standards and providing advice to firms. This was amended in 1982 to be-come funded by an industry levy. The change to be-ing industry funded made the Board very responsive to industry requests.Bringing the new detail to an existing training NoS was achieved by convening a TC of industry profes-LEHM 20164 – DEVELoPMENT of EARTH oCCUPATIoN STANDARDS WITHIN THE UKSustainable Building Materials (NCPP). ADAM–Leon-ardo da Vinci Projects and Products Portal. (n.d.). Re-trieved June 25, 2016, from http: / / www.adam-europe.eu / adam / project / view.htm?prj= 10057#.V25ELfdXnQc528117-LLP-1-2012-1-fR-LEoNARDo-LMP PIRATE–ECVET Earthbuilding Europe–Provide Instructions and Re-sources for Assessment and Training in Earth building.. ADAM–Leonardo da Vinci Projects and Products Por-tal. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http: / / www.adam-europe.eu / adam / project / view.htm?prj= 9973#.V25EMldXnQcCoSVR549, Prepare and erect or conserve and re-store earthen structures Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http: / / nos.ukces.org.uk / PublishedNos / CoSVR549.pdfD / 02 / B / f / PP-112 695 Promotion of Modern Earth Build-ing for Regional Development: Developing, Testing, Dissemination and Certification of a Training Course. ADAM–Leonardo da Vinci Projects and Products Por-tal. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http: / / www.adam-europe.eu / adam / project / view.htm?prj=435#.V25GTfdXnQcDuca, J. V., Muellbauer, J., & Murphy, A. (2010). Housing markets and the financial crisis of 2007–2009: lessons for the future. Journal of financial Stability, 6(4), 203-217.EQf (2008). Explaining the European Qualifications frame-work for Lifelong Learning. European Communities.Maskell, D., Heath, A., & Walker, P. (2015). Appropriate struc-tural unfired earth masonry units. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Construction Materi-als, 1-10.Maskell & Keable, 2016., Shifting perceptions: Establish-ing an Earth Building organisation in the UK., In Terra 2016, 12th World Congress on Earthen Architecture. Lyon, franceMcGregor, f., Heath, A., Maskell, D., fabbri, A., & Morel, J. C. (2015). A review on the buffering capacity of earth building materials. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Construction Materials, 1-11.Metz, B. and Davidson, o. (2007). Climate Change 2007: Mitigation: Contribution of Working Group III to the fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Morel, J. C., Pkla, A., & Walker, P. (2007). Compressive strength testing of compressed earth blocks. Construc-tion and Building Materials, 21(2), 303-309.Nistorescu, T., & Ploscaru, C. (2010). Impact of economic and financial crisis in the construction industry. Man-agement & Marketing-Craiova, (1), 25-36.Pacheco-Torgal, f., & Jalali, S. (2012). Earth construction: Lessons from the past for future eco-efficient con-struction. Construction and building materials, 29, 512-519.Sourani, A. and Sohail, M., 2011. Barriers to addressing sus- tainable construction in public procurement strategies. Proceedings of the In- stitution of Civil Engineers: Engi-neering Sustainability, 164 (4), pp. 229–237.Turk, A. M. (2009). The benefits associated with ISo 14001 certification for construction firms: Turkish case. Jour-nal of Cleaner Production, 17(5), 559-569.Walker, P. J. (1995). Strength, durability and shrinkage char-acteristics of cement stabilised soil blocks. Cement and concrete composites, 17(4), 301-310.2012-1-fI1-LEo05-09362 Northern Clay Plaster Project, Professional Qualification for Working with Natural and 

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