photo from www.howthingswork.com

I heard on NPR yesterday that Exxon/Mobil posted the highest second quarter profit of any corporation in history. ANY corporation EVER! Somehow this seems crazy when the cost of fuel keeps rising and the average consumer is struggling in a failing economy. They posted nearly a $12 BILLION profit in the second quarter alone.
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A strawbale.com reader just let me know about a blog post she wrote on her own blog. I found it interesting and I believe the topic is very important. If you are interested in checking it out, please click the link below.
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Yup, believe it or not, that is the first post I have written in a while. What a way to come back huh? I recently read about the use of earthworms in India to remove toxins from soils. I found this to be fascinating and wonder if anyone out there has additional information about this cool idea. The project in India, overseen by Dr. Suneet Dabke, used 300,000 regular earthworms to reduce the heavy metals in the test soils by 60% in one year! That is impressive.
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Photo by Kessler Woods Homes
I received an email this morning about building with bales in urban areas. Here’s what she said (my answer will follow):

Hi Andrew,
I love your website and visit often. My husband and I are planning to build
our next house as a green building some time in the next three years. We
currently live in a rural area but want to move back to town (Boston). Do you
or anyone else out there have any experience building with straw bales in a
high-density area (like on a 0.08 lot)? We’ve been scouting for the perfect
south-facing lot with no sun-blocking neighbors…a challenge in the city!

Thanks, and keep up the good work. You are an inspiration.
Gwen
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There is a good chance you will have a lot of straw left over when you complete your house. Most of it, if you did your estimating right, will be in the form of loose straw. You will be amazed at just how much loose straw is produced on a building site. As I have said earlier, this loose straw is dangerous to the site as it poses the highest fire risk of any building material on site: dry, loose piles of straw! Be sure to move it away from your structure. But what to do with it all?
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image by EverGreensUK
I just posted a comment from a reader to another blog entry that inspired me to write a bit more about the subject: edible landscaping. I first considered this concept about 5 years ago and I love it. The idea is to replace the standard landscaping around a house, which is solely decorative, with a landscape that feeds your family and requires little or no additional maintenance and watering.
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A friend sent this video to me today and I just had to share it. It is short and my smile grew bigger and bigger as I watched. It speaks to the way I look at life: grateful, everyday, for what I have. I try to focus on the positives in life, family, friends, a home, food, love, joy, even struggle. The last one may seem weird, but it is true for me. I find that it is in the struggles that I learn my biggest lessons and receive the biggest gifts. Life is a journey and I enjoy the ride. I hope you do too. Check out this video and…do the dance!
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My family works hard to live a green life. I build and teach others how to build super efficient straw bale homes. We drive a car that runs on biodiesel and gets 40 mpg. We raise our own veggies, chickens (for eggs, fertilizer and meat). We buy beef from a local man who raises about 5 cows a year on his land. My kids are reminded to turn off the lights behind them and keep the door closed when the weather is too hot or cold outside. All the stuff that anyone concerned about the environment and state of affairs might do. But how do we balance living a green life with just living a regular life and enjoying some of the things that are not considered green, but are still fun?
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I just received this email from a friend who is almost finished with his straw bale house. unfortunately, his house is not performing the way he would have hoped. As the email below says, there is still interior plastering, drywall taping, and caulking to complete. In addition, the foundation stem wall is not insulated which likely has a big impact on the performance. If any of you have personal experience with a situation similar to this, please comment here. Thanks.
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Picture Source:http://www.crviewer.com/Targets/061108/061108.htm
With the year drawing to a close, I find myself reflecting on the year as a whole and thinking about the year to come. This last year was very hard for me as a builder and has been extremely difficult for many of us professionals. I built five houses in 2007 and found myself up against similar walls in each one. My clients loved the concept of green construction and they loved the benefits, but they often did not want to pay for the things that make the home green. I found myself in the position of salesman and builder more often than I would have liked. That said, I am grateful for having been busy in a year when many builders went out of business due to the slump in the housing market and the general economy woes. So, what am I looking for in 2008?
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I am amazed that more people are not jumping onto the Straw Bale Construction band wagon as I continue to watch the price of energy rise, month after month. I heard yesterday that the average cost of energy in the United States increased over 18% in 2007 alone. That is the cost of fuel, as we have all seen and felt, and electricity. Heating and cooling our homes makes up a huge part of the energy consumption in the United States, up to 40% by some counts.
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I was saddened yesterday when I heard that the temporary trailers given to victims of Hurricane Katrina by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) have very high levels of formaldehyde. The toxic chemical is off gassing from the construction materials used to build the structures. This seems so typical for government: build with cheap, toxic materials to make the job easier. The results, however, are hundreds if not thousands of sick people.
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We have all seen images of the massive fires in Southern California. I would first like to send out my sympathy to anyone affected by the flames. I would also like to send out my respect and gratitude for the firefighters who risk their lives and give their all to defend the homes and lives of others. I have considered how to write about this topic over the last few days and I want to be clear that my intention is to support home owners in the affected areas, not judge them or tell them they have “done something wrong.” I want them to know about the incredible fire resistance of straw bale construction and how they can rebuild their homes with security built in. I have included a video at the end of this post which speaks to the fire wall testing data for straw bale walls.
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I recently received a comment from a gentleman in Missouri who told me “…recently our area of Missouri approved a grant for the construction of straw bale homes offering a $15,000 construction reimbursement for the building of straw bale homes…” Wow! That is a great deal and something I would like to learn more about.
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Weather cycles in many parts of the country are affecting the number of available straw bales. For example, drought in the Southeast has had a significant impact on the grain markets. As a result, more farmers are baling hay than producing grain crops. This means there is simply less straw available to builders and other end users and the price of those bales is higher than last year. A more global impact on straw bale availability and price is seen in the agricultural commodities markets. Prices for grain is rising in most countries and as a result, governments are actually buying less for international aid and long term stock pile reserves. This means that although the value of the grain is higher, finding a buyer may be more difficult. Partnered with this trend is the growing demand for corn based fuels like ethanol.
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I want to live in a country that supports Green Construction and healthy living. I want to see more people building green homes and driving efficient vehicles. I want to see the health and strength of my community grow. That is going to take action, not just desire.

Today, the price of oil went up by more than $2 per barrel at its peak. I remember when oil prices were approaching $60 and I thought that was high. Today the price landed at a new high of $88.20 per barrel before retreating a little. As I watched the financial report about this upward trend, I was saddened by the reporter’s comments about the average American consumer and our impact on the entire planet.
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Below is an email I recently received. I love to hear from different parts of the World and see that natural building is growing all over the World. I have hope when I see emails like this that change really can happen and it will happen from the ground up. Thanks for writing Ion!
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HELLO ANDREW!

I am an architect from Timisoara, Romania and I am interested in building with ecological and traditional materials. I considered straw bales first as a building material that is cheep and fast for the rebuilding of the flooded areas near Timisoara in 2005.

In 2006, together with my family and a group of architecture students, I helped build an experimental cob house, a project of a friend, Ileana Mavrodin, also an architect, who lived 12 years in Canada and came back to Romania with this initiative (www.casa-verde.ro). Among the participants there were two architects from Bucharest which are members of a group, Arhiterra, concerned with traditional and ecological building materials and techniques.

As you can see there are people interested in this way of building, theoretically, but there are not many examples, the movement being at its beginnings, other people are skeptical about it and the building codes don’t mention these materials and techniques.

I would like to thank you for your course and hope that I would soon share my experience in straw bale building with you.

Ion Trif

Welcome to the “Building Green” podcast. This is my monthly Q&A session where I answer your green building and straw bale construction questions.
This month I answer the following questions:
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Question from a reader: Do you know a way to apply extremely fine ground sand mixed with natural lime or some other binder (resin) and color and bond it securely to a plywood floor as artificial stone (pattern to be achieved through removable tapes)?
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I have thought for years about a new name for straw bale construction. In truth, my thoughts have been casual over that time. I am at a turning point where I would like to invest in the depth of this group to ask the question: What is a better name for straw bale construction?
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