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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I hope you can forgive the following marketing! I am close enough to completion on two exciting projects to make an announcement today. In the next few months, we will be releasing a new DVD which will give step by step instruction on how to build a Load Bearing Straw Bale structure!
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This is a response to a comment about bale buildings and their ability to resist fire. The author of the original email challenged the fact that conventional buildings only have a twenty minute burn time and that they do not actually have a chimney affect like I describe. I disagree and you can see my response below.
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Did you know that in the United States construction accounts for 36% of total energy use? That is a huge number when you stop and think about it. Perhaps if the products we used were biproducts of another industry (like, hmmmm……STRAW) we could lower that number a bit.
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I was recently asked if it is possible to do an earthen or cement skim coat over a slab foundation. The answer is yes, you can do a skim coat of either clay/straw (earthen floor) or cement over the top of a concrete slab; however, there are minimum thicknesses that need to be maintained. At least 3″ of concrete are required unless a specialty skim coat is used (this takes extra skill).
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Welcome to the November 2006 “Building Green Podcast”. “Building Green” is my monthly podcast where I answer your green building and straw bale construction questions. This month I answer the following questions:
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This is a charged blog entry. I am angry and I am speaking out. I am disgusted with the consumption values of the American culture. With over 14,000 people dying everyday from lack of clean water, we in America (I know we all don’t fall into this category, but the vast majority of Americans do) still feel like it is okay to install a shower like the one in the picture above. That should be a crime! The shower above uses roughly 80 gallons of water per minute.
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Many of you will have already received the email telling you about the Save the Rain Foundation and our efforts to support their work. For those of you who have not heard from us on this, I hope you find the information inspiring. A few weeks ago I was at the West Coast Green Expo in San Francisco and I met a woman who has dedicated herself to the health of the planet. She is actively making a difference, along with her husband, by bringing rain catchment systems to people who do not have clean water available to them.
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Welcome to the inaugural show from “Building Green Radio”, the monthly radio show from strawbale.com, where I answer your green building questions. Every month I answer questions from our readers and visitors and share with you the latest news and information in the green building world along with Dicken Weatherby, the web master at strawbale.com. Some of the questions I answer this month include:
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I spent the day at The West Coast Green Show today in San Francisco. I was amazed to see that even within the world of “Green Builders” there is a general lack of knowledge about straw bale construction. Of the hundreds of people I spoke with, perhaps 10 had knowledge of straw bale construction other than “Yeah, I’ve heard of that.” There was even an exhibitor who had a small model of a straw bale home and yet spoke of “Hay Bale Homes!”
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Finding a home insurance company willing to insure your straw bale home may be difficult or may indeed be impossible. This is not because they are not worthy of insurance but because many insurance underwriters are operating from a place of fear and ignorance. Many underwriters I have heard from have said they could not write a policy because of the risk of fire yet all of the evidence points to the FACT that SB homes are far more resistant to fire than conventional homes. Below is a link that will take you to a list of insurance companies that you may want to contact including State Farm, Farmers, Allstate, and Farm Bureau among others.
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Ecoversity in Santa Fe, New Mexico is a hands on learning center that focuses on all things sustainable from natural building to conscious sociology. This summer they are offering a series of free classes and workshops to introduce people to their campus and classes.
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I received the following e-mail yesterday regarding the fire resistance of straw bale homes:

“I have a 10 year old straw bale house in Flagstaff, AZ. I heard that in the wildfires over the last few years that straw bale homes incinerated. Have you heard that?”

Here’s my reply:

Thanks for your email and you can take a deep breath of relief. No, that is absolutely not true.
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I received an email today from a curriculum writer for a fourth grade class in Kansas. The idea is to write a curriculum that introduces the class to straw bale construction as an economic and environmental asset. I have attached the email below because I think it is so cool that fourth graders will be exposed to this! She also asked a series of questions which I have attached with the email along with my answers to them.

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I am developing a unit on shelter for 4th grade students in Kansas. I need some information on straw bale building and don’t want to create errors as a result of my lack of knowledge. I am hoping you have time to respond to a few questions. A very brief background history: The purpose of my unit is to teach archeology so that students will have a passion for protecting archaeological resources. My first priority in design is to make sure my unit meets state curriculum standards. I found my entry point through the economics standards.

So, in short, students will examine the archeology of the Wichita grass house and the archeology of the African American dugout, look at the use of natural materials to build energy efficient houses and then bring that knowledge forward in to the present, and examine houses we could build today using local resources.

Students will use their economic standards to create a business that promotes energy efficient homes. I thought since Kansas is an agriculture state, that access to affordable and abundant straw would allow students to think about promoting straw bale houses. The enduring understanding that I want students to have at the end of this is: Building shelters using local resources protects the environment and saves money. Here are my questions so far:
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Below is an invitation to the 2006 ISBBC. This should be a great event for beginners and experts alike.
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