ABSTRACT
Traditional wall construction is divided between mass construction and frame construction. Traditional building construction is characterised regionally in terms of its walling material, although roof claddings do play a part. Most mass walling construction depends on joints between the building blocks, for both stability and weather protection, and these can be a point of weakness. Irregular stonework was much more the province of the poor or building provided by mean landlords. The different forms of irregular stonework construction are: Random uncoursed, Random coursed, Random squared uncoursed, and Random squared and coursed. Methodologies of upgrading panels in existing traditional timber framed buildings for energy conservation is challenging, be they wattle and daub or brick. Weatherboarding is by far the most effective means of giving an existing vernacular/traditional building an external insulated jacket. One of the less sustainable aspects of such constructions is the necessity of concrete walls structures, using cement fired to a high temperature, and membranes derived from petroleum fractions.
