Three Little Pigs gives natural construction materials a bad rap?

In the Netherlands, the president of a climate change and inequality action group is huffing and puffing over the stigma associated with biobased building materials because of the children’s fable The Three Little Pigs.  

James Drinkwater, head of Built Environment at the Laudes Foundation, tells dezeen the story suggests straw and wood are inferior materials. “The first [pig] made its house of straw and that natural material was terrible,” he says. “There’s a need to change perceptions to show what’s possible, and to amplify those narratives.” The pig who made his house out of sticks faced a similar fate, with only the brick-house-owning pig left alive after the wolf’s rampage. 

The perception that natural building materials are weaker is hindering a key lever for addressing the climate crisis, Drinkwater adds.  “The built environment represents nearly 40% of all carbon emissions,” Drinkwater says. “So it’s a big part of the opportunity for climate mitigation.”

The Laudes Foundation’s Built by Nature initiative is working to accelerate the replacement of concreate and steel with timber and engineered wood in European construction.