Strawbale Design
How Straw Bale Houses Work
A straw bale house uses straw bales as insulation or as the structural building block of the home. The walls are finished with plaster. This kind of construction is gaining attention as a natural building method. In 2001, a British firm estimated that about 1,000 new straw bale structures were being built each year around the world
How Straw Bale Houses Work |
Strawbale - A Sourcebook for Green & Sustainable Building
Straw bale construction uses baled straw from wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice and others in walls covered by stucco. Straw bale are traditionally a waste product which farmers do not till under the soil, but do sell as animal bedding or landscape supply due to their durable nature. In many areas of the country, it is also burned, causing severe air quality problems. It is important to recognize that straw is the dry plant material or stalk left in the field after a plant has matured, been harvested for seed, and is no longer alive. Hay bales are made from short species of livestock feed grass that is green/alive and are not suitable for this application. Hay is also typically twice the price of straw.
Strawbale - A Sourcebook for Green & Sustainable Building |
Strawbale Home Construction (El Paso Solar Energy Assn)
Could it be that the house of the future was invented a century ago? In the 1890s, pioneers of the sand hills of Nebraska found themselves building a new life on a treeless prairie, and from necessity began building their homes from bales of straw. Now modern day pioneers are choosing straw bale construction for its many advantages -for people and the planet.
Strawbale Home Construction (El Paso Solar Energy Assn) |
The Last Straw (Intl Quarterly Journal of Straw Bale & Natural Building)
Straw-bale construction is a living, changing, growing thing. The caring, committed heart of it remains unchanged - but significant advances in our understanding of how the material behaves and how best to use it continue to develop rapidly. Many clarifications and changes to strawbale's "best practices" have happened since the early days of the technique's resurgence, contributing to better and often simpler and more earth-friendly ways of doing things.
The Last Straw (Intl Quarterly Journal of Straw Bale & Natural Building) |
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