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An Example of An Owner Built Straw
Bale House |
Are you interested in building with straw bales? If
so, you are among the tens of thousands of people who share
the same interest. Straw bale construction is seeing
a renaissance of sorts all over the United States and a birth
into new areas around the World. No single explanation
can be attributed to straw bale construction’s new found
achievements; however, a number of characteristics can surely
be associated with the success. Whichever reason is driving
your interest in straw bale construction, we hope to inspire
you to take the next step and build your dream home with bales.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
With rising heating and cooling costs, energy efficient homes
are becoming more and more desirable. To that end, perhaps
the most commonly cited reason for building with bales is the
high energy efficiency of the construction material. Consider
that a well designed and built straw bale home can lower heating
and cooling costs by up to 75% when compared to a conventional
home. This is a significant savings. Although straw bales
themselves provide excellent insulation, there is more to the
equation than simply stuffing straw into the walls of a house. Quality
design is needed for the overall house package to work to its
full potential. Structure orientation, floor/ceiling
and roof insulation choices, window and door quality, heating/cooling
and ventilation
systems, and the fine detailing of air penetration
all play a role in a home’s performance. Paying
close attention to the details during the design and construction
of the home will pay off in the long run.
VISUAL AESTHETICS
The first semblance of enthusiasm is often sparked by the
beauty of the straw bale homes themselves. There is something
intangible yet palpable about the beauty of straw bale homes. I
have had the pleasure of walking many people through their
first straw bale home. In every case, at least one of
the people in the party said something like: “Wow! There
is just something so amazing about this space.” Exactly
what it is that excites each person varies. Some may
be taken by the thick walls, reminiscent of old English castles
or Latin American adobe homes. Others may be drawn to
the window seats and nooks created within the bales. Even
the texture of the walls inspire people. To be sure,
bale buildings are special and offer something conventional
homes cannot. After all, who wouldn’t want live
in a home that instilled calm and joy in the owners each time
they walked in?
NOISE SUPPRESSION
Some people may not be as concerned with what they see as
with what they cannot hear. Straw bale homes are unbelievably
quiet. The thick walls eliminate most of the sounds of
the world outside, giving the owners the choice as to what
they hear. If the owners want to hear the birds singing,
they can open a window and revel in the sounds of nature; however,
if they live next to a freeway, they can design the building
so they never have to sit in their home cursing the sounds
of industry rushing past their door. As with the energy
efficiency of the home, the sound efficiency is dependant on
more than the bale walls. Most importantly, the design
of the home must be thoughtfully planned out to yield the correct
balance of sound insulation and natural light and energy design.
FIRE RATING
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Have you ever noticed that a home built with stud wall construction
looks like a home with a lot of chimneys in it before it is
drywalled? That’s what stud bays are: a series
of chimneys behind a 20 minute fire break of drywall. In
other words, the ability of the home to resist fire is in “the
hands” of the ½” thick drywall. Yikes! Once
the fire breaks through the drywall, it has access to the entire
structure by means of the chimneys created by the studs and
sheathing. A fire needs oxygen to burn and in a conventional
home, there is a lot of oxygen available. If you have
ever watched a home burn, you know how quickly it happens. Many
people think that a home built of straw would be at higher
risk for fire than a conventional home. In fact, the
opposite is true. Homes built with straw bales are extremely
fire resistant. A bale home has roughly three times the
resistance to fire of a conventional home. If you consider
that a stack of loose paper will burn well, but a phone book
won’t, you can understand the mechanics behind straw
bales and their fire resistance. There is nowhere near
enough oxygen in a stack of bales, so they just can’t
burn. Not to mention, of course, the fire would have
to get through roughly 1 ¼” of plaster before
even getting to the bales!
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
If you are concerned with the plight of our planet, then straw
bale construction holds another gem for you. Imagine
the site of millions of tons of straw burning and the smoke
that such an event would produce. Sadly, the United States
alone produces over 200 million tons of waste straw a year,
most of which is burned. Rather than burning this “waste” material,
we can use it to build with. Why not take a material
that would otherwise be turned into pollution and use it for
a healthy building material? This not only decreases
the amount of particulate pollution in the air, but also creates
a healthier, more efficient home to live in. In fact,
natural building materials decrease the chance of “sick
house syndrome” and other diseases caused by the off
gassing of common home construction materials such as formaldehyde
and VOC’s.
EASE OF BUILDING
Although building a home is no easy task, learning to build
with straw bales is achievable for most people. The most
difficult aspects of building with bales rests on the more
conventional elements: framing, electrical, plumbing, etc… The
baling itself is something that can easily be learned with
the right teacher. To that end, straw bale homes are
popular with owner builders because they are fun to build and
are a great way to bring friends and family together during
the building process. Even if you decide to stay away
from the framing, electrical, plumbing and other technical
aspects of the construction, you can still play a major role
in the construction of your home by raising the bales. For
many people, the very idea of building their own home brings
them joy. No matter what draws you to straw bale
construction, there is something sweet and beautiful about
the building process and, of course, the finished product.
Tomorrow I'll introduce you to some design criteria that
you must use before beginning your project.
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