Down to Earth Design - online articles on natural building & sustainable design Straw has been used in various ways as a construction material for as long as there has been agriculture. Early structures implement straw-clay combinations. The straw provided tensile strength and some insulation value, and gave clay building materials additional structural integrity. Europeans used straw lightly coated with clay slip to infill heavy timber construction. Many examples of both of these techniques survive today. Straw is the stalk of any grain plant (oat, wheat, rice, barley, etc.). There are 2 basic types of strawbale construction: loadbearing (or Nebraska style) and non-loadbearing (or infill). Strawbale infill construction does not rely on bales to carry any of the building loads (other than the weight of the bales themselves).
The real way to add straw bales to containers Strawbale vs. Cob...Not the Typical "King Kong vs. Godzilla" Story King Kong and Godzilla fought to the death. One victor. One “good guy”. Not so for strawbale and cob. STRAWBALES insulate. STRAWBALES work best... ...as exterior walls anywhere you are trying to keep the inside temperature different from the exterior temperature. I RECOMMEND: Build exterior walls with STRAWBALES if you live in a climate where a well-insulated home is more comfortable and cheaper to heat/cool. COB provides thermal mass. COB works best... ...as thermal mass built around a masonry heater or rocket stove (or near a wood burning stove), where the cob can absorb heat from the fire, and store the heat energy even after the fire is out. ...for trombe walls in passive solar design, with the cob thermal mass inside, where it is warmed by sun coming through South-facing glass. ...for any interior element when you are trying to keep the inside cool.
Build A Gorgeous Straw Bale Home for Around $20,000 | StrawBale.com I work with people from all over the world who are looking to build their own dream straw bale home. One thing is always a concern: the cost. I know that times are tough for a lot of people these days when it comes to finances and building a home is a large undertaking to be sure. It doesn’t matter if you live in Australia, the United States, Canada, Europe, or anywhere else on the planet, housing is still a major part of the cost of being human. How to build a house for yourself that fits within a budget is always a challenge and one thing that ends up being lost very often in that process, is the architecture. After all, it’s cheap and easy to build a box. Many of us don’t want to live in a box though. Many of you have already seen this structure as I recently put out a blog post in hopes of finding someone to build the home during a workshop. The house above is roughly 770 sf. Build Smart. About the Author Andrew Morison is a specialist in straw bale and green construction.
Yes you can! Build with strawbales in wet climates... small habits that make a big difference... Cut down on cleaning products...make your own fast & effective cleaners in your kitchen! Ok, I'll admit it...when I someone first suggested this to me, I thought "that's nuts!" Do it because it's cheaper Well...needless to say, I tried it anyway. Do it for your health But the biggest reason to ditch the cleaners is health! Admittedly I don't make all of my cleaning products, but my supply of what I buy is pretty limited...down to dish liquid, laundry soap, and Murphy's oil soap. Below is my favorite book with recipes for every application you can think of. If you buy one book on homemade cleaners, this is the one I would get: If you are looking for additional information on the health and safety of various household products, I love the Health & Human Services database at:
Build Your Own Eco House Cheap: 10 DIY Inspirations Free yourself from the binds of an expensive mortgage by building your very own low-cost, eco-friendly home. Whether you’d like a small, simple earthen house, an off-grid cabin, a renovated Airstream or a house made of reclaimed shipping containers, you can come up with a plan that fits your lifestyle. Here are 10 inspiring examples, ranging in cost from an astounding $300 up to $40,000. $300 Earthbag House You can build a tiny earthbag house for as little as $300. $2,000 Off-Grid Cabin LaMar Alexander built a simple off-grid solar cabin on a half-acre of land that has now been reproduced all over the United States and Canada by people who also seek a down-to-earth lifestyle and lowered cost of living. $3,000 Dancing Rabbit Cob House Ziggy of the Dancing Rabbit community built his adorable cob house for just $3,000. $5,700 Renovated Airstream Snag an old Airstream on Craigslist or your local classifieds and transform it into a private retreat for very little money. $20,000 Straw Bale Home
Green, cheap and efficient straw bale dome homes :) - Energetic Forum Hi easyrider. The dome structure is very solid, it now supports around 3-4 tons of weight with all the clay and straw bales. The work is rather hard and weather dependent, if it is raining, you need to cover the dome with something to prevent water damage, if it is sunny, you need to remove the rain protecting plastic or whatever so that clay can dry better. You need to do all the inside and outside clay works before you can proceed to waterproofing the inner and outer surface. There is also always a possibility of strawbales beginning to rot and other difficulties, that is why you would need to build everything as fast as you can so that straw bales have no chance to get wet. A little wetness is nothing bad, it dries fast, but prolonged wetness can cause problems. This is a 3/8 V3 dome 1m in diameter. If you have more questions, just ask! __________________ It's better to wear off by working than to rust by doing nothing.
Dymaxion house The Dymaxion House was developed by inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller to address several perceived shortcomings with existing homebuilding techniques. Fuller designed several versions of the house at different times, but they were all factory manufactured kits, assembled on site, intended to be suitable for any site or environment and to use resources efficiently. One important design consideration was ease of shipment and assembly. The word Dymaxion is a brand name that Fuller used for several of his inventions. History[edit] The Dymaxion was completed in 1930 after two years of development, and redesigned in 1945. The Siberian grain-silo house was the first system in which Fuller noted the "dome effect." The final design of the Dymaxion house used a central vertical stainless-steel strut on a single foundation. It was a prototype proposed to use a packaging toilet, water storage and a convection-driven ventilator built into the roof. Description[edit] Criticism[edit]
How new straw-bale homes could help solve the housing crisis -Low impact living info, training, products & services In an ordinary street in Bristol, UK, something extraordinary is happening. All of the seven houses are made with straw. Built from carbon-capturing, renewable materials of timber and straw, the homes bank more carbon than is emitted in making them. In addition, the negative-carbon homes have received crucial industry certification. Having the BM Trada’s Q mark makes them the first commercially-available straw bale homes in the UK because they are mortgageable and insurable. This means that straw – a home-grown and low-impact building material – is now a viable way to tackle the UK’s housing crisis. Making sustainable housing accessible to the public was important to the developer, Martin Connolly. Building materials on the way from farm to factory. Concern for homeless and climate change “We got into straw bale housing out of concerns for homelessness and the environment,” he says.. “Our vision was natural, non-toxic house building which stores carbon. The actual construction is fast.
Glasshouse with detachable frame Straw bale Straw has been used as a building material for centuries for thatch roofing and also mixed with earth in cob and wattle and daub walls. Straw bales were first used for building over a century ago by settlers in Nebraska, USA, shortly after the invention of baling machines. Straw is derived from grasses and is regarded as a renewable building material since its primary energy input is solar and it can be grown and harvested. Straw bales were first used for building over a century ago. Straw is the springy tubular stalk of grasses like wheat and rice that are high in tensile strength. Strawbale walls are surprisingly resistant to fire, vermin and decay. Photo: Paul Downton A ‘truth window’ is a common feature in strawbale homes, providing a glimpse of the material that is otherwise completely rendered over and hidden in the finished building Performance summary Appearance Finished strawbale walls are invariably rendered with cement or earth so that the straw is not visible. Thermal mass Footings
Building with Straw: Busting the biggest Strawbale myths posted Categories: Construction Methods Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw(commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation, or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "brown" construction projects. Advantages of straw-bale construction over conventional building systems include the renewable nature of straw, cost, easy availability, naturally fire-retardant and high insulation value. Problem pleśni w ścianach z kostek słomy i gliny | Akademia Bosej Stopy Moje zainteresowanie budownictwem naturalnym zaczęło się w roku 2012 od obejrzenia filmu ekipy Cohabitat o domu z kostek słomy i gliny. Biorąc pod uwagę kierunek rodzącej się we mnie ideologii oraz możliwości finansowe postanowiłem przyjrzeć się tej technologii bliżej. Szukałem i gromadziłem coraz więcej informacji na ten temat. Poznałem życzliwych ludzi z Polski, USA oraz Australii którzy zajmują się naturalnym budownictwem. Zachłyśnięty tą konkretną technologią postanowiłem zamówić projekt architektoniczny o minimalnym szkielecie nośnym (aby nie tworzyć problemów w urzędach z konstrukcją samonośną) i ścianami zbudowanymi z ”jumbo-bale”. Projekt został przygotowany, złożony w urzędzie, zatwierdzony. Jakiś czas później natknąłem się na dwuczęściowy wywiad z państwem Krystyną i Wojciechem Brzeskimi odnośnie budownictwa naturalnego, zrealizowany przez „Porozmawiajmy TV”. Postanowiłem zgłębić temat dokładniej. Moim zdaniem Polska zdecydowanie nie nadaje się do tej technologii.
Building A Straw Bale Home Take a look at the picture on the right. It looks like a cozy, Spanish-inspired home that you’d enjoy spending time in right? Photo courtesy of StrawBale.com Sure it does. And you’d probably never guess that it’s made out of straw. Straw Bale Homes Many people have never even heard of straw bale homes, but building with straw is actually one of the oldest ways to construct a house. The Benefits of Living In A Straw Bale House There are tons of benefits to living in a straw bale house. 1. Andrew Morrison is a straw bale home builder; he also runs StrawBale.com, a comprehensive resource on how to build straw bale homes. 2. Think about it: in a straw bale home, your walls are not filled with fluffy insulation; they’re filled with hard packed straw bales. Straw bale homes are very, very quiet. 3. Ok, this might be met with skepticism by some of you. The answer is: no. Case in point: one of his client’s homes was exposed to a wildfire outside of Los Angeles. 4. 5. 6. Types of Straw Bale Homes