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Strawbale DesignStraw bales offer excellent insulation. At R 2.7 per inch, and eighteen-inch wide bale equals R48. Construction costs are reduced as strawbales are cheap and easy to build with. Typically a strawbale home is built in a "post & beam" building method, utilizing a wood, steel or concrete framework. The bales are then placed in the walls as insulation.
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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 |
Pakistan Straw Bale & Appropriate Housing
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Darcy Donovan or EcoEngineering in Truckee, CA- One of SiGBA's founding members has been instrumental in bringing straw bale builidng techniques to Pakistan:
Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building (PAKSBAB) is an international group established in 2006 whose mission is to teach and promote straw bale and other appropriate building methods in Pakistan.
Straw bale construction is a natural building method that utilizes straw, compressed and tied into bales, as building blocks. Currently practiced in many countries, it offers numerous benefits for Pakistan. Foremost, it can be designed to be earthquake resistant. Its energy efficiency can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and firewood which, along with its resource efficiency, can reduce deforestation. It is fire and pest resistant. Because the necessary materials are indigenous and affordable, it can create a viable local industry serving the needs of those without homes and empowering those who provide them. To date, straw bale construction has been enthusiastically embraced by the Pakistani community.
Additional appropriate building methods that PAKSBAB is promoting include passive solar, solar hot water, rainwater catchment, alternative waste water, high-efficiency cooking and heating and the use of sustainable and natural materials such as light straw clay and cob.
The goals of PAKSBAB are to:
* Promote straw bale and appropriate building in Pakistan, especially in the earthquake affected region
* Establish collaborative relationships with other organizations and governmental agencies
* Provide education, training and support in straw bale construction and other appropriate building
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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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