Straw Bales
Building a Straw Bale Home in Southern California | 16 Jul '07 from Donald Rigney
Ultimate Home Design magazine did a wonderful write-up of a project our company, Mountain View Construction, recently completed in Central California. With permission from the author, Paula Aiton, we're republishing it here so it will be accessible online. Enjoy!
Straw Bale Construction in Central California
By Paula Aiton
Reprinted from Ultimate Home Design
For homeowners Ira and Brady Rubin, building an energy-efficient home in Visalia, California had long been a dream for the couple and their family. Now a reality, the 3500 square foot home, built using straw bale wall construction, sits on five acres of land just outside of town with a sweeping view of the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains. In an area of Central California where agriculture is the primary industry, and the idea of hay or straw might be more vividly associated with livestock, this type of construction is becoming more and more popular as a means to achieve many goals, not the least of which is energy efficiency and fire protection.
For many years, the Rubin’s grown daughter, Daryn, had been reminding them, "There is only one issue: the environment!" When she and her husband, John, invited the Rubin’s to create a family home with them and their small children, the entire family embraced the concept of building a sustainable home. They considered a variety of sustainable materials: SIP panels, rammed earth, adobe and even discarded tires. In 2005, they participated in a straw bale workshop with the company, Real Goods, in which they built a small kiosk for a river-rafting company. After that experience they were "sold on straw bale," Mr. Rubin said.
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Ask Kevin: Straw possibilities | 14 May '07 from Kevin Contreras
Kevin,
1. Can you have fireplaces in a straw built home?
2. Straw built homes, do they have an increase affect on people with allergies?
3. What are the resale values/market value pro and cons of a straw built home?
4. Is marble and granite amenities considered green.
Thanks Kevin, Happy Green Day.
Lucky & Mari Taylor
Hi Lucky and Mari,
1. Sure you can have a fireplace, although fireplaces are not environmentally friendly. They burn wood which causes temporary, localized, unhealthy air, when the wood could be decomposing into the earth to supply nutrients for future plant growth.
2. No. The bales are encapsulated in plaster so there is no evidence of any straw, except where one decides to add a “Truth Window” to show off the interior of the wall. Even if the walls were left un-plastered, allergies are caused by pollens and dust and not by the fibrous shafts that once contained grain.
3. Cons: ignorance of potential buyers. Pros: more beautiful homes with much greater insulation, resulting in reduced energy costs.
4. Not really. Though they are organic, those products have high embodied energy, having been blasted with dynamite, sawn into slabs, and shipped around the world. Locally made materials, from natural or recycled ingredients are better.
Good luck!
Kevin
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More than one way to build with straw | 10 Apr '07 from the editors
As new as it may seem, and as non-mainstream as it still is, straw bale building actually dates back to the early 20th century. And, believe it or not, so do compressed-straw panels.
Straw panels are, essentially, engineered wood minus the nasty formaldehyde found in adhesives. When compressed under high temperature, straw fibers bond together without the help of any adhesive, which means: that straw panels won't off-gas formaldehyde into your indoor environment.
Oh, and did we mention that straw panels are more moisture resistant than wood-based particle board? Which means they're highly mold resistant. They're also stronger and lighter than traditional engineered wood; they're made from a totally renewable waste product and they're really easy to build with.
Straw panels provide great sound insulation and--we love this--they're totally recyclable.
Straw panels can be used in the construction of furniture, cabinetry, countertops, roofs, walls, ceilings and substrate.
Have we piqued your curiosity? Read more about straw panels here.
Image Gavin Platt, www.sxc.hu
Where can I find more information on straw bale home construction? | 09 Apr '07 from Kevin Contreras
You may have found these online resources already, but, if not, they are a good place to start:
www.strawbale.com — An informational site that includes video clips.
A.C. Morrison Construction in Jacksonville, Oregon, specializes in straw bale building.
The Last Straw — The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building.
The California Straw Building Association — Includes information on an upcoming conference in Petaluma, CA scheduled for spring 2007.
What's this I hear about straw bale walls and earthen plaster being "breathable?" | 04 Apr '07 from Kevin Contreras
Modern buildings these days have become more and more waterproof, creating, basically, plastic boxes that we live in. And imagine wearing a plastic bag on your body. There's no air circulation, and all the moisture stays in. That's why, in our modern buildings, mold is such a problem. Our straw bale walls, in particular, need to breathe to allow moisture to be absorbed and released naturally. And earthen plasters are perfect for that.
Straw bale walls are breathable.Water vapor can move in and out of the walls, so we really reduce our chances of having mold in the house. Water doesn't condense on interior surfaces, because it has a chance to dry out, and so we don't create a mold breeding ground within these walls.
What is blue jean insulation and does it work as well as traditional insulation? | 04 Apr '07 from Kevin Contreras
Blue jean insulation holds more heat and also absorbs more sound than the insulation commonly used in homes. It eliminates formaldehyde and other harmful components found in other insulations, reducing out-gasing and irritation to the skin, nose, and throat. Blue jean insulation is made with recycled denim trimmings from blue jean manufacturing factories.
Aren't straw bale walls highly flammable? | 04 Apr '07 from Kevin Contreras
A regular wall is 90 perent air, so once fire gets into the wall, it just races up inside the wall. A bale wall, even if you chip away all the plaster and light it, will burn very quickly for a second, but it has nowhere to travel inside. There's not enough air for the fire to travel up the wall.
Why build with straw bales? | 04 Apr '07 from Kevin Contreras
It's a very healthy, renewable, natural product that's typically a waste material. It grows in a single season and is often burned after the grain is removed. Used for walls, straw can replace wood that is becoming more precious and expensive every day. It's also a green alternative for insulations that can have health risks. And, finally, as a finished building material, there won't even be a chance of allergies, because the bales will be totally encapsulated in natural, breathable plasters.
Durable and flexible, the greatest advantage of using straw bales is their insulating values. The state of California calls for a minimum R-13 value in new walls. An R rating is the measure of a material's resistance to thermal change. The higher the R-value of a material, the greater its insulating capability. A bale by itself has an R rating of 45, more than twice as insulating as the minimum R-13 value for California building code.
Straw bales going mainstream | 04 Apr '07 from the editors
Here's a fun little romp through a few non-residential straw bale building projects, proof that straw bale building is catching on all over the country (and all over the world). Your kooky uncle in rural New Hampshire isn't the only one who's buying straw bales and drawing up blueprints:
Religious organizations, like the Presentation Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which was awarded California Construction's "Best of 2006" Green Building Award, are using straw bale building techniques ...
As are cities. Take for instance, the $26-million Transit Administration Building in the City of Santa Clarita, Ca. and Berkeley, Ca.'s Marina Nature Center.
Businesses are catching on, like Dripping Springs, Tx's Sunset Canyon Pottery gallery.
State Parks:Clayton Lake State Park Visitor Center in New Mexico.
And even schools—like the new classrooms at Western Christian Schools in Claremont, Ca.
Still want more? You could spend days peeking around the International Straw Bale Registry. And we reccomend that you do just that ...
Image Swinerton Builders
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