''Finally a user friendly guide to lime and earth in building, well illustrated for training purposes and detailed enough to cope with a wide range of situations. Bee and Stafford have been working with these materials for a long time and understand the needs of builders and designers as well as the practical issues which face anyone trying to build with local materials, local field testing and give practical solutions which can be widely applied. This is a book for trainers, practitioners, organisations, regulators and funders to understand the issues in looking to local building materials and skills and move away from environment damaging and expensive industrialised solutions.'' Rowland Keable, CEO Earth Building UK and Ireland ''Architects take note, read and learn, and take these techniques out into your practice. Not just in the developing world - developed economies need this just as much if not more. It is the next big thing in reducing your carbon footprint (or more accurately it was something vernacular builders knew well, but we are only now recognising its importance). What could be more compelling than using the earth and rocks dug out of the construction site to make into architecture - resulting in zero transport miles?'' Charles Parrack, Course Leader Professional Masters in Architectural Design, Oxford Brookes University ''I first encountered Stafford Holmes when I was working on alternative cements in ITDG in the late 1970''s, and I am delighted to see that the approach we advocated at the time has been further developed both for historic buildings and for recent post flood and earthquake projects in Pakistan and Nepal. This book, based on more than 40 years of experience with the material, is bound to become the standard document on how to select, test and use Lime Stabilised Soil. It is comprehensive and well-written and it has been appropriately illustrated'' Robin Spence, Emeritus Professor of Architectural Engineering, Cambridge University; Director, Cambridge Architecural Research Ltd ''This book extends our understanding of conservation; linking traditional building materials and methods from the past, with the creation of modern sustainable homes in response to the acute impacts of climate change. It offers inspiration and empowerment to both the vernacular building owner and international aid organisations.'' Nichola Tasker, Chair of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings ''Building with lime has been used and forgotten in almost every continent around the world. After hundreds of years, many structures are still standing, from Iraq to the UK, notably in surviving Roman architecture and infrastructure. Whilst there is less historical evidence for lime-stabilization of soil, this book gives compelling examples from an equally wide ranging geographical spread. Lime stabilization of soil is a cheaper and more environmentally-friendly alternative to many other construction methods, particularly the use of Portland cement, and can be far easier to integrate or re-integrate sustainably into building cultures. The unique and hydraulic properties of lime-stabilized soil often make it the most appropriate option, including for the strengthening and protection of buildings from slow onset or prolonged flood. Stafford Holmes and Bee Rowan offer a well-illustrated practical book, drawing upon extensive experience and sources. Their efforts build upon work by other natural building experts, including John Norton, Hugo Huben and Hubert Guillaud, celebrating also continuity with Practical Action over this environmentally sensitive approach to construction, an option for consideration in almost every building project.'' Tom Corsellis, Executive Director, Shelter Centre, Geneva, Switzerland ''Sustainable small-scale and easily maintained reconstruction methods that can help rebuild disaster-affected communities are very welcome in the humanitarian context, all the more so within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the drive to greener, more climate-friendly solutions. This useful primer offers tried and tested basic techniques that can empower communities and increase their resilience and recovery capacities.'' Marianne Farrar-Hockley, European Commission, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations ''Building with Lime-Stabilized Soil is the book I have been looking for, and which we now need to consider translating into Nepali and other languages. The subject is presented in a very helpful way and allows for low income countries like Nepal - historically familiar with lime, the knowledge of which is mostly lost and subsumed within cement concrete construction - to re-discover how to make the best use of lime, cost-effectively and with low environmental impact. Nepal has an abundance of lime, currently devoured by an ever-expanding cement industry, whilst the corresponding mass extraction of sand is wholly unsustainable - destroying our rivers and their rich biodiversity. This book is so complete that it introduces lime to its readers in a clear manner, whilst offering amply illustrated technical and procedural knowledge on how sustainable and cost effective construction can be achieved through stabilizing soils with very small amounts of lime, thereby reviving the use of soil - found in abundance, and cheaply - in developing countries. Backed with wider initiatives of practical training programmes, this book will prove to be a milestone in reference material for transforming the current global unsustainable building and infrastructure development approaches, to those greener, more cost effective and culturally rich.'' Shuva Sharma, CEO of Scott Wilson Nepal, Engineering firm dedicated to green infrastructure development ''For over 20 years Bee Rowan and I have been colleagues through our work with natural building in Europe and the U.S. In 2018 Bee diligently began educating myself and local builders in how to use lime-stabilized soil for durable plasters and floors for the first straw bale house in Nepal. This included quality-testing burnt lime (quicklime), slaking quicklime for lime putty, determining the optimal lime proportion for the local soil, and finishing the walls with a stunning lime wash! This book can do the same and more for its readers. In Building With Lime-Stabilized Soil, Stafford Holmes and Bee Rowan fill a void of historical and practical information in the use of lime-stabilized soil in buildings. They revive this proven way of building with both centuries-old empirical knowledge and current scientific understanding. Never has the global need been greater to (re)activate the environmental and economic benefits of building with lime-stabilized soil.'' Martin Hammer, Architect, Co-director of Builders Without Borders ''I can only strongly recommend this important addition to our understanding of the success over millennia, and the future potential as a sustainable and long-lasting building material of lime-stabilized soil, not only in the context of climate-warming, but in that of human health and happiness. The ability of relatively small volumes of pure lime to beneficially transform the workability and performance of an earth, or loam, mortar had long been understood by the crafts, but has been too long forgotten or ignored by the construction and conservation sectors alike. This book - and the inspiring achievements of local people and communities which form the context of its creation - deserves to be widely read and, as importantly, to be acted upon.'' Nigel Copsey, Conservator, Stonemason and author