Straw bale construction can greatly enhance your credit scoring within the Code Assessment as it attracts an excellent rating in the Green Guide – by the BRE.

The concept of Codewizard was based on two fundamentals. To Facilitate and Educate on the Code for Sustainable Homes process.

The system was designed by Architects and Code Assessors and was developed in conjunction with Liverpool John Moores University and the North West Development Agency over a 2 year period. It uses the very latest database technology on a dedicated and encrypted server.

It is our intention to make the process of achieving Code compliance as straightforward as possible. The system gives the Client a simple snapshot of where they are in the CSH process for every project and also gives the Assessor a way of tracking the evidence in one secure place.

By cutting down the amount of time spent educating and chasing the client, we hope we have created a system that makes it easier for all concerned.

If you would like to see further features incorporated or have general feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Over the years, many people have looked long and hard at how straw bale structures perform in earthquakes. From the early pioneers such as Bruce King (who identified the seismic resistance qualities of straw bale construction) to the recent work done by Darcey Donovan (who spearheaded the shake table study at the University of  Nevada, Reno) these engineers and many others like them have long touted straw bale construction as a smart choice in earthquake prone areas. Let’s take a look at why.

• Shear Design. When building post and beam structures, the most commonly utilized straw bale design, the frame itself is braced to resist lateral shear. Lateral shear is the force that is applied to a building in the same plane as the wall it is being applied to. In other words, if you stand at the corner of a building and push, you are applying lateral shear force to the wall you are pushing. The frame itself will be engineered to resits this shear force as the primary defense.
• Redundant Design. The bales, attached to and notched around the framing, act as secondary shear resistance. This “backup system” adds significant strength to the overall wall assembly.
• Natural Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). The bales and the plaster are joined as one during the construction process. The combination of the two materials makes a natural SIPs panel which is amazingly strong. It is the combination of the rigid plaster skins with the soft bale interior that makes this structural assembly extremely strong.
• Wide Footprint. The bales are wide, much wider than a conventionally framed wall, and as such, they have a wider footprint onto which they can spread any load applied during an earthquake.
• Soft and Supple. The bales respond to seismic forces differently than conventional construction materials. In most of the conventional construction systems used here in the United States, the materials are designed to resist external forces (wind, earthquakes, etc…). Bales, on the other hand, are very good at simply absorbing those forces. Their ability to move, even in the most subtle ways, allows them to deflect much of the energy that would otherwise cause failure in rigid building materials.
• Stronger Sills. I always use 4×4 sill plates/toe ups. These thicker, stronger boards are able to resist more force than a single or even doubled up 2x board. This is often the difference between a structure holding firm and breaking away from its foundation. (Another potential cause of such a failure is too small of a washer on the anchor blot itself, but that’s another story).

It’s important to remember in construction that a building acts as a unit. In other words, you cannot think only about the shear strength of the walls or the ability of the roof to resist winds. When wind pushes up on the roof, the roof wants to lift off of the walls and the walls want to either go with the roof or collapse into the home. The connections at every point through the house have to be considered and built to withstand the forces that can and will act upon them.

I’ve heard from many people who live in straw bale homes that their properties have done well in earthquakes. There are a lot of engineering numbers out there to support this idea too. Like I said earlier, a lot has been done to understand just how safe a straw bale building can be. I, for one, would like to hear more as we see the level and intensity of earthquakes increase.   If you know of any other studies of value, please let me know. I plan to undertake a comparison study in the near future testing the strengths and differences of post and beam bale walls, load bearing bale walls, and conventionally framed walls.  If you are interested in helping out with this, please let me know. I already have an engineer on board, Nabil Taha of Precision Structural Engineering, Inc. He is very excited and passionate about this project and straw bale construction in general. We are looking for help finding funding, most likely by means of writing  a grant request. In addition, we would love to have some people who are excited about this idea on board to help with all the many details that will arise from the project. Exactly what that means, I don’t yet know! Please leave a comment here if you are interested in helping in any way or if you know of other folks currently working on a similar project/study. Thanks.

The ICC is currently developing a commercial version of the NGBS, titled the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), which is currently set for completion in 2011, and is also intended to be a basis for green materials used in construction. Both of these documents are meant to encourage the use of alternate materials (some of which have been around for a thousand years), and create a basis for code officials to approve the use of these materials by creating some guidelines and/or methods of installation.

[ad#resource_skyscraper]

Recently, Bob wrote a new document related to residential green buildings (and to the ICC Residential Green Certification), that is based on the National Green Building Standard mentioned above. Below is the Press Release announcing this study document.

===========================================

New Study Guide Assists in Green Home Construction

The International Code Council (ICC) has just released 2009 Green Residential Building Study Companion, part of its popular series of Study Companions. It is the first study guide to reference the groundbreaking ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard, developed by the National Association of Home Builders and ICC, and the 2009 International Energy Conservation and Residential Codes.

The comprehensive Study Companion contains 16 study sessions to provide practical learning assignments, expert commentary, helpful illustrations and quizzes with 256 questions to measure information retention. In addition to serving as a reliable resource for those preparing to take the ICC Green Building-Residential Examiner certification exam, the Study Companion is a technical reference that assists with understanding of sustainable building practices. The 2009 Green Residential Building Study Companion is available for purchase by calling 1-800-786-4452.

“The Study Companion approach is a fantastic vehicle for delivering highly illustrative technical information to the building construction community,” Mark Johnson, ICC Senior Vice President of Business and Product Development and President of ICC Evaluation Service said. “Using text directly from ICC 700, this Study Companion includes an illustration or graphic on each page with clear text and commentary to strengthen a deep understanding of green issues.”

The International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety, fire prevention and energy efficiency, develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states choose the International Codes, building safety codes developed by the International Code Council.

===========================================

In 2011, Bob will be teaching some green classes in in the United States to continue to spread the word. He informed me that he is continually trying to learn more about alternative construction methods and is always interested to visit existing job sites where homes are currently under construction. In fact, he is currently trying to find somebody that is building strawbale homes either in Minnesota or Wisconsin that he can visit during construction to learn more about the practice, and for an opportunity to photograph the same (so he can incorporate more detail on strawbale into his training programs).  If you are in the middle of a project, are about to start one, or know someone in that position who would be willing to open their project to his visitation, please let us know. Whatever we, as straw bale enthusiasts, can do to help promote this great technology is worth while. So please consider contacting me about your project and helping a code developer learn first hand from your work!

One of the things I thought was really cool about the standards is that straw is mentioned and equally weighted with other natural materials like wood, bamboo, and cork on a “point scale” for green value. This is a good thing in my eyes because those materials (wood, bamboo and cork) are often accepted as main stream materials. Placing straw in the same category may move to take some of the mystery away from it and place it in the “normal” column instead of the fairy tale column.

The IGCC was created by a group of experts from advocacy organizations, government agencies, and industry representatives. The full IGCC will help smaller communities enforce green standards on their local commercial projects. The code is designed to work in tandem with such programs as LEED certification and other green building programs.

The IGCC also will create the most comprehensive code for implementing green water systems like rainwater catchment, reclaimed water, and grey water systems. This is huge because water, being such a precious resource, is very poorly managed in the United States and such green systems are often refused before any consideration.

The IGCC encourages the use of alternative power such as wind, geothermal, solar and more as well as the implementation of recovery and use reduction systems. It creates a platform to enforce strict green building codes while still remaining flexible for local situations on the ground.

I just received an email from a man whose home was recently appraised by the county tax office for the first time after final completion. The property tax assessment turned out to be really high and he asked if there was any history of successful contesting of such assessments in my history. I didn’t have anything to offer him other than support and advice. Here’s the deal:

[ad#post-skyscraper]
Property taxes are assessed from the outside of a home. As such, the overall square footage on which you are taxed as a straw bale home owner is considerably higher than it is for a conventional home owner. In the example of the man who contacted me this morning, he is being taxed on a square footage of 3100 SF even though his actual floor space is only 2400 SF. That’s a lot of extra money they are assessing within the actual wall of the house.