Check out this quick news story I did today with Kevin Lollis of News Channel 10 here in Southern Oregon. It was for their weekly series “Green Wednesday.” We plan to do another follow up later this summer. Click here to watch the video.

Below is a section from my upcoming book. The focus of the section is on planning for and installing partition walls in straw bale homes. I have also included a detailed description of how to properly layout framed walls. This is a pretty simple process, but you might be amazed at how many people make mistakes along the way. The mistakes they typically make can all be fixed, but it’s better to learn how to do it right the first time and avoid the mistakes. I hope you enjoy this chapter on framing partition walls. You may find it a bit technical, since it is just a section from within the book, but it will all make more sense in the overall context of the book.

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We often hear from people all over the world that are looking at straw bale construction as a solution for creating healthy, affordable, safe and beautiful housing.  For many of the people we hear from, this type of housing is not an easy option so we love the sense of excitement people feel once they realize that really CAN build their own cost effective and beautiful home.  Over the years, we have donated hundreds of DVDs to individuals, organizations, charities, and schools around the world to help empower people to create their own housing.  We believe that everyone deserves good, sound housing to raise their families in.   Read the rest or post a comment »

We recently came into contact with the wonderful, dynamic and hilarious Sabine.  Born and raised in Germany, she and her husband both live in Australia now.  We were so taken by her enthusiasm and story that we asked if she would be willing to share her experience with building her dream straw bale house by writing diary entries for us to share with you.  We see her as an inspiration and example of one taking the plunge to live out a huge dream.  As she says, “I think if I can do it, an almost 50 year old woman with no building experience, everyone can”.  We hope you enjoy her first entry…we sure did!

Hi, my name is Sabine. I want to tell you about the straw bale house we want to build. We (my husband Tim, I and our two cats) live in Tamworth, NSW, Australia. We were both born in Germany, (my husband and me, the cats are Australians!), lived 6 1/2 years in New Zealand before we 2 1/2 years ago moved to Tamworth. I’m a trained piano teacher and a little bit of a concert pianist, Tim is a doctor. Next year is my 50th birthday and also, we will build our straw bale home. In fact, we wanted to start this year, but the wheat  caught rain to the wrong time, there was not one dry piece of straw to be found in the whole district. Poor farmers! For us it turned out to be a blessing in disguise- we now have time to plan things more thoroughly  At the moment it is planned that Tim will take time off for the wall raising but will otherwise work . He will do what he can, but his focus needs to be on his patients. I will do as much as I can on the building site. There will be Mark, our friend and builder, and I look very much forward to be the builder’s apprentice. Read the rest or post a comment »

We love what we do.  We love that we get to inspire the inner builder in people and we love that we get to be a part of helping people create their dream straw bale homes.  Being a part of the workshop builds is a very bonding and touching experience…after all, a home is often one’s most personal and sacred space.  So when we come together as a group to help build someone’s dream house, it’s a pretty powerful experience.

We received a slideshow from the hosts of the Lameroo, Australia 2011 workshop of their now completed home and I have to admit that my heart welled with joy and pride that in a way we helped create a wonderful home for this beautiful family.

Gabriella recently connected on Planet Straw Bale with an American man living in Thailand  who had built his own straw bale cottage. She asked him to share his story and he has accepted that request. Below, you can read how his interest in straw bale construction, which started some 20 years ago in Texas, finally came to fruition in Thailand. It’s a cool story. As you can see in the photos, this is a humid area of Thailand, so I’m excited to hear how the building fairs over the years with no special or mechanical dehumidifying additions. This will truly be a test of straw bale homes in humid climates. Here’s his story…

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This unique and ecological house is situated at the end of a quiet, secure and very private street in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge. This is a Canadian municipality situated in the province of Québec, in the MRC of Argenteuil in the area known as the Laurentian’s.

Grenville-sur-la-Rouge is situated north of the Ottawa River and just across the town of Hawkesbury. Its geography is characterized by the setting of the Laurentians Mountains. The Rouge River joins the Ottawa River at the western potion of the municipality. This river is very popular for its nautical activities: Kayaking, Rafting, and Canoeing.

Grenville-sur-la-Rouge is a quiet, secure, artistic, professional and bilingual community, close to the Ottawa, Montréal, and the Laurentian Ski resorts. The property is situated near the municipal walking path, and just two minutes from the Hawkesbury-Grenville interprovincial bridge. It is well situated and close to shopping malls, provincial’s highways, hospitals, and Laurentian skiing areas.

Some details of this mezzanine style house:

• 30 by 40 feet southern exposure with high efficiency windows for maximum sun entry
• 3 bedrooms with 2 full bathrooms, separate shower and full bath
• 3 distinct heating systems: Brock high efficiency central heating, 2 high efficiency wood stoves, and high efficiency electric heaters.
• The house has a finished basement
• The house is covered with hand made pine sidings, and the roof has commercial steel covering
• The house walls is a wood structure insulated with straw bales (R52 factor)
• Its mezzanine style and open concept permit for easy air circulation and a sense of well being
• The inside of the house is finished using old fashioned cement-sand-limestone, jack pine floors
• The house is supplied by a deep well and a standard approved septic system
• The house resides on a 1.5 acres lot covered at 55% with mature trees
• Detached from the house is a 2 car garage
• High speed internet is available in the area.

The house is presently in the process of getting it’s LEEDS certification.

Call for private viewing (819) 242-5658 or email: cvll@hawk.igs.net for details. Please only serious, environmentally committed, financially sound buyers.

Please be sure to mention you heard about the property on StrawBale.com. Thanks!

The home is offered at $259,000.

A lot of people are excited about the idea of straw bale construction; however, they stumble a bit when it comes to estimating the cost of their potential home. I very often receive emails from people checking out plans on StrawBalePlans.com asking how much a specific plan will cost to actually build. That’s such a hard question to answer and here’s why.

Exactly what a project costs to build will depend so much on where it is built. This is because both labor and material costs vary greatly by region. A yard of concrete may cost $100 here in Oregon and that same yard can run upwards of twice that in other parts of the world. So how is someone supposed to make an informed decision about what plan to buy and what that plan might cost to build?

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1.  Please introduce yourself:  :)

I’m Paul Younger, an architect and associate with Hewitt Studios LLP in the UK. Our practice focuses on high-quality, non-traditional sustainable design – just because its green, doesn’t mean it has to be twee or old-fashioned!

Our practice approached by Herefordshire College of Technology to extend and refurbish the refectory facilities on their Holme Lacy agricultural campus to create a 100 seat student cafe.  In visiting the site and talking to the users, two things struck us: The first was the abundance of natural resources that the campus possessed (it is effectively a training farm, set in acres of fields and woodland), the second was the enthusiasm of the College staff and students to get involved.  It was agreed that, rather than just build an ‘extension’, the new project should be a social ‘hub’ at the heart of the campus. The College would be involved in the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of the building, using as many of their on-site ‘riches’ as possible.
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I recently received a list of questions from someone doing a report on straw bale construction for his college. His questions were good so I thought I would share my answers with you all here. You can read both the questions and answers below.

Q. From your experience, is straw bales as a building material user friendly? Can anyone learn to build with it?

A. Absolutely. I teach people how to build with bales every year at my seven day workshops. Those people range from professional builders, architects and engineers to home owners who are CPAs, teachers, computer programmers and more. Anyone can learn this technology.

Q. What current obstacles in building codes are blocking the use of straw bales in home construction? How can these be overcome? [Example: Here in Greene county MO, I was told I couldn't build a load bearing straw bale structure because their adopted codes have no guidance for it. They did say I could build a post and beam style.]

A. It’s really about lack of education and understanding of the technology. The construction technology itself is fantastic; however, there are still too many people who either have not heard about straw bale construction, or are under educated about it and believe the rumors they hear. I’ve heard of people talking about what a fire risk straw bale structures are when, in fact, they have exceed conventional construction burn ratings in independent ASTM testing. The problem is that not enough positive MAIN STREAM media coverage has been given to this building technology. It is always viewed as “alternative” and as long as it holds that title, it will remain on the outside of “normal” construction radar.

Q. Can bales be used for the attic insulation? Is it cost effective or too heavy? Is there a better attic solution for green building?

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