Jargon buster

Build terms explained

EMBODIED ENERGY

Embodied energy is the total energy taken to extract, process, transport and install a material. When building an eco-friendly house, embodied energy is used to compare how the immediate environmental impact of different products affect the eco credentials of the build. For instance, cork is an effective natural insulator that offers great benefits when designing an energy-efficient house. However, if it is shipped a vast distance (cork is usually found in southwest Europe and northwest Africa), it might have prohibitive embodied energy compared to locally sourced materials.

BRICK BONDS

The pattern in which bricks are laid.this is a big aesthetic choice, and it also impacts a building structurally, because it determines how load is distributed through brickwork. A horizontal row of bricks is called a course. A course is made up of headers and stretchers; headers are the smaller faces of bricks, while stretchers are the longer sides.the most common brick bond is the stretcher bond, in which no headers are visible.