I received this email today (a bit late as my inbox has been so full). If you can help, please contact Errol below.

Andrew,
We are about to start plastering a straw bale house in central NH. The work so far has been done old fashioned barn raising/volunteerism style. Do you know anybody that may want to lend a hand anytime after Aug. 21? Please check out the project at the following link: www.alexiseynonuppermadriverrdproject.shutterfly.com.

Thanks
Errol

bestwalls4u@eagle1st.com

Check out this artist’s 5-year-old home on 2.4 usable, fenced acres in the foothills east of Sacramento, outside Auburn. The straw bale exterior walls, post/beam structure, are extremely efficient (as you know) and beautiful. The home has natural hand finished plasters inside and out The property has irrigation & treated water supplies and a cul-de-sac location in a  great town & neighborhood. Open floor plan, large rooms, high ceilings, in-floor radiant heat plus central (propane) forced air. Chef’s kitchen (granite, gourmet range, built-in refrig.). The house is roughly 2860 sq. feet, with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths over 2-stories . The master suite is on the main-level and the home has a central vacuum system. Built by Quantum Builders, a green-friendly contractor in Berkeley CA.

Currently, as of July 28 2010, priced at $550K.

Please leave a comment here if you’re interested in this amazing home and check out some of the photos here as well.

I just received this email a moment ago and want to share it with you. If you feel so inclined, please vote for this woman’s idea. It will help her and her husband attend a straw bale workshop, help them build their straw bale home, and will help bring awareness about straw bale construction to Habitat for Humanity in hope that they start utilizing this great technology in their projects.

Here’s the email and the link to vote:

Pepsi is hosting a Refresh Everything contest in which my husband and I entered. Our submission? A request to help us get to your Ottawa workshop and build our own straw bale house in New Brunswick.

In turn this will raise awareness to our fellow Canadians as well we plan to donate any remaining money to the local Habitat for Humanity. We hope to train, video tape, document, etc so that Habitat for Humanity can begin building more homes with straw instead of wood.

We’d love to have your support as well as the support of your followers.

The site to cast your vote is: http://www.refresheverything.ca/strawbalebuilding
Thanks for your support!

Are you looking for bales for your straw bale house? I just received an email from a man who has 6,500 bales in Kansas. They are 2 string, twine tied and are freshly baled. You can reach him at 785.201.4826. His name is Mike. I hope it works out for you both!

It’s no secret that the construction industry is not exactly woman friendly. How many times have you heard the phrase “now listen little lady…” when talking about contractors or supply yard employees?  That may be a bit rich for reality, but my point is that it isn’t uncommon for women to be told, or simply be given a subconscious message that they aren’t welcome in the construction world. I think that’s a huge loss and something that needs to change.

I believe that women hold such a unique perspective on life and on construction in general that to lose their input is a loss well beyond the moment, but for the greater success of the structure. I’m a believer in energies: masculine and feminine, and how they play out in the world as a balance. If that balance is lost, things don’t work as well, period. Why would it be any different in construction?
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Below is a call for help from Garnet McPherson, the Eco Village Designer, Educator and the Editor of Sustainable Living Magazine. The Earthworks Eco Village is in dire need of immediate funding to secure the land it wants for it’s village concept. Please read on if you’re interested in helping out. The deadline is literally a few days away, so if you want to help, please act now. Here’s what Garnet has to say:
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We’ve all heard about the horrible oil spill in the Gulf and how it’s impacting the environment and the livelihood of millions of people around the world. A woman wrote to me yesterday to ask how straw bales might be useful in protecting the shoreline and I’ve been thinking about that ever since. Thanks Jan! I spoke with a friend of mine from college who lives down in New Orleans this morning. I’ve asked him to offer the following suggestion top anyone who would listen and who is in a position to implement the idea.
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Image from www.vrbo.com/296628

Here’s a beautiful new house that is being offered as a vacation rental for people interested in the Yosemite area. This is a special house for sure with amazing views and delicious space to vacation. You can check it out or book it here: http://www.vrbo.com/296628

I received some information from a man in Alabama the other day. He has a sweet set up for spraying plaster that he is selling. It’s almost new and in great condition. Here’s the description, some photos and the price.
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Here’s a quick note to let you know about an open house for a straw bale office/demo building being held on May 15 from 9am to 5pm. This invitation is open to anyone interested in attending.
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James Van Raden, a veteran of the US armed services (Marines Echo company 1/2/5) and a builder in Minnesota and North Dakota is asking for support in a grant competition he is competing in through Pepsi. This is an opportunity for him to win a grant that will allow him start building affordable housing for chemically injured veterans and their families all across the United States.
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I received this message today and want to see how we, as a community, can help. I have asked Sumer what stage the building is currently in so that we can formulate a plan of action. If you are able to help, please comment here and let Sumer know that her Grandma Hope can still live in the dream her husband’s sudden death left behind. Surely there is no coincidence that her name is “Hope.”
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If you answered yes to this question, I want your opinion. I plan to hold a “virtual tasting” soon and I want to hear which beers you think are worthy of a taste night. Let me know by adding your choice here. Once I have some options available (or maybe I won’t wait for you and I’ll just add my own to the list!) I’ll let you know about how to log onto Twitter and participate in the on line tasting event. It should be fun. Stay tuned and tell me about your favorite beers. Personally, I like a lot of microbrews, but am also a huge fan of peach lambic!

This is an amazing organization that I want to share with you all in hopes that you can help support what they do. You can see more about them on their website at www.paksbab.org, but to give you a general idea, they are a nonprofit organization that was created in response to the Kashmir earthquake of 2005. Much of Northern Pakistan was devastated by the earthquake and, just as we are seeing today in Haiti, Chile, and Turkey, appropriate and quality housing is the difference between life and death. To give you an idea of how important safe housing is, I recently heard that roughly 1 in 8 people in Haiti knew someone who had died as a result of the earthquake. That means that each living person in Haiti not only knows someone who died, but that someone in their family died. Counter that with the death toll in Chile where the housing is much better and more prepared for earthquakes and you’ll see that only .01 in 1 people know someone who died. That’s a shocking difference and it’s ALL because of the housing.

Please check out the video below to learn more about this amazing organization and how you can help stop needless deaths resulting from earthquakes.
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This sounds like an amazing property with potential to be a horse property if one were so inclined. If you would like more information on the property, please write a comment here and I’ll forward it on to the agent. I’ll let the real estate agent tell you about it in her words.
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I was sent an announcement today about this two suite, straw bale guest chalet rental in BC Canada. This is pretty interesting and looks like a beautiful area. I’ve been to the Okanagan Valley and it is pretty amazing; however, I don’t think Ive ever been to this location. There is tons to do in Okanagan if you like wine tasting, skiing and other outdoor activities. I like this concept because the straw bale building could potentially turn others onto this type of construction. When I first started building straw bale homes, I found that the best way to get someone who had never heard of the technique excited about it was to have them visit a bale house. There’s nothing like the feel of a straw bale building and so by letting them experience it first hand, they got an immediate sense of how amazing their own straw bale home could be. I think having people stay in one of the two chalet suites could help inspire them towards living a life surrounded by bales of their own!
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I recently wrote to someone who is trying to find an inexpensive way to build with bales. The intention is to wrap existing houses with bales in the cheapest way possible. There are no codes that need to be met on the reservation in question and a few dollars saved on each house could mean that one more home gets retrofitted each year. As it stands now, at least one person dies from the cold every year on this reservation. It’s time to stop that from happening.

Most of the work I do is on higher end homes and relates to teaching people the techniques I find applicable to most people. That said, I have outlined some ideas of how I think they could cut costs while still keeping the safety and integrity of the buildings. Please add your thoughts to mine in hopes that we can together find ways to help save lives and improve the quality of living for the people of this reservation, and hopefully beyond.
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I think my listing this property for sale on my website is an interesting example of the full circle of life. It was this house that really inspired me to commit myself to straw bale consturction. I worked on this house, as a helper and nothing more auspitious, and found a real desire to make my living around straw bale projects. This property has also been an inspiration for several of my past clients. When they would come to visit this area in hope sof moving here, they would either visit Humingbird or stay at the Bed and Breakfast. I knew, on some level, that if they were to stay there, their commitment to this area and to straw bale construction would be complete. It’s really that special of a place! Here’s what the owners have to say about it:

There are many catch-words used these days to describe energy efficient homes built with natural materials and respect for the land: green, eco-friendly, passive solar, low impact, non-toxic. The property described here is all of these things plus the energy of the artist-owner-builders and all the volunteers and craftsmen whose good will is embedded throughout. Hummingbird is not just a “must see” place but a must “feel”. People feel it all the time- like the repair man who recently asked “Is this a straw-bale house? The whole place felt different as soon as I drove in- it felt good.” and the B&B guests who wrote comments such as ” The house felt like a living thing…the curved stucco walls an embrace.” and “When I stepped into Hummingbird I felt a peacefulness.”

Now this property is looking for enthusiastic new owners. For those who would choose a life in the thoughtful lane, we hope you will visit. The sunshine, the quiet and a canopy of stars all await you. In the meantime, enjoy these web pages and the following images.
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I just got a message from a man in Virginia who’s looking to connect with like minded folks to work on a straw bale project together. Check out his message below.
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A friend of mine just finished baling his house (Wohoo!!) and has over 100 bales left over. He is willing to sell them for $3 each. That’s $1 less than he paid for them. If you’re interested, please respond here and I’ll make sure he gets in touch with you. The bales are in Ashland, Oregon.