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Straw bale houses and other low-impact homes around the World

Straw bale houses and other low-impact homes around the World

StrawBale.com Looking for local builders, plasterers, architects, contractors, and designers who specialize in straw bale and other natural building techniques? Search our resource center by clicking one of the links on the right or below. If you don’t find what you are looking for please click on one of the Google Ads, which are located on each page. Want to be listed in our strawbale.com Green Building Resource Center? We will give you a basic listing in the resource center absolutely freeClick here for more details. Green Building Trade and Supply Locator Straw Bale Builders or ContractorsPlasterers and plastering resources Architects or DesignersGreen building resources and suppliers Structural EngineeringInsurance State/Province Locator

Toby And Liz's Strawbale Abode Toby and Liz's strawbale abode I thought I would put up a few pictures from the past. A couple years ago some friends of mine, Toby and Liz, decided to hold a "straw raising" party to get some help putting up the walls of their soon to be guest house out in the Arizona Desert. They needed to build the guest house first in order to have a place to stay while they built their main house out of tires. They did all of the tedious prep work and all the finish work. Toby and Liz built this casita the way everyone should...they let the building build itself. Here I am playing with chicken wire. After the first day's plastering. Notice shoulder high by the door you can see the large snake head that Toby is creating beginning to take shape. A finished interior shelf up high. Bed loft with skylight and cool window. Awesome little kitchen Here they made a really cool copper "skylight" around the opening for the chimney. The finished product. Photos by Monica Van Hall

Strawbale Redux Here is a rudimentary drawing of the floor plan done with Paint. Not bad for my first try! Basics-the exterior dimensions are 32 X 46 but remember, these are strawbale walls so that translates into actual interior dimensions of 28 x 42. For orientation, the house is on a nearly E-W axis. The house is a basic ranch but you may be wondering: Why waste sq footage in such a small house with that hallway? The wall between the LR and S BR will be adobe for thermal mass. We tried to design the house for the way we live. Another important aspect of the design was to have light coming in from 2 sides in every room. Building Stage: PlansThe plans are now back to the City for (hopefully) final approval. Until next time...keep your straw dry.

Straw Bale and Hemp Construction Sam Atkinson LLP specialises in the design and construction of straw bale and hemp buildings. Our recent projects include a straw bale cottage, a straw bale bungalow, straw bale classrooms, a straw bale bird hide and a straw bale screen. You can also see more about our range of straw bale holiday accommodation at www.strawbalecabins.co.uk Straw is an abundant building material and offers a great many environmental advantages such as super insulation, energy efficiency and carbon storage. Hemp is grown here in East Yorkshire by the Voase family (www.kjvoaseandson.co.uk). We successfully use their hemp fibres in many of our lime and clay plasters and we cast their hemp shiv mixed with lime to form walls or to fill awkward spaces. Please click the links below to view some of our recent projects:

A House of Straw Why Build With Straw Bales? Straw bale construction lends itself well to an owner builder project. Some of the applications well suited for straw bale include: a cottage, office, garage, studio, and an art barn. You don’t have to limit yourself to these smaller projects. Thousands of people have successfully built their own straw bale house. As a world leader in straw bale education we want to help you every step of the way. I’ve created a great introductory video on why to build with straw bales. Reason #1 Energy Efficiency. A well built straw bale home can save you up to 75% on heating and cooling costs. Reason #2 Sound Proofing. Straw bale walls provide excellent sound insulation and are superior wall systems for home owners looking to block out the sounds of traffic or airplanes in urban environments. Reason # 3 Fire resistance. Straw bale homes have roughly three times the fire resistance of conventional homes. Reason # 4 Environmental responsibility. Building with straw helps the planet in many ways.

Sustainable Web Hosting - 10 Sensational Homes Built from Straw | green-building Written by Ryan Hollitz | 19 December 2009 Posted in Blog - Green Building New building materials could really make your house green from the ground up! Straw! :) via [thedailygreen.com] In the classic story of the Three Little Pigs‚ a naive piglet decides to build his home out of straw, which soon gets the huff and puff treatment by a big bad wolf, resulting in the poor little pig's untimely end. Many may wonder why a person would want to build a home made out of straw, but apart from providing a place to hide from the big bad wolf, they have some substantial benefits. Read on to discover just how right that first little pig was to build his home out of straw. Photos: Brett Weinstein/Realty Advocates 1. This unique, beautiful straw bale home in Oakland, California recently carried a $1.1 million price tag. Photo: JD Peterson 2. This gorgeous home, perched on owner Henry Siegel's 2 1/2-acre leafy lot, offers panoramic views and cozy comfort. Photo: University of Bath 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Straw Bale Home DVD

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