Permaculture: Why don't we use Straw Bale Building more?

Question

If you can grow the straw to build your own home in a season, why don't we use straw bale building more?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of this method of building?

Any good websites?

Straw Bale Building is also Permaculture because:

You are auto sufficient in your own building materials: You grow the materials on your own land so there is less environmental damage/input: transport, mining, etc.

Straw and Mud are collected from homestead and the whole building will be returned to the homestead eventually. It uses natural materials that will return without trace when the building is no longer needed. Limits your personal environmental impact.

Whereas bricks production has many environmental costs including production, transport, environmental impact, CO2 production etc.

Relies on self reliance: The homesteader does not require special skills.

Resource use: It is using, a byproduct: ie an otherwise unused resource. Each resource should be used for as many functions within a system.

Answer 1

I'm in the U.S.A. My husband & I will be building a straw bale house.

Straw bale homes usually cost MORE to construct, than convential construction.

Straw bale homes are difficult to construct in areas where it rains a lot. By the time the straw is harvested and baled, the rainy season is often only a week or two away. That means storing the straw under cover, until late spring, early summer, when you will have the optimal number of dry days. The straw will almost always be FILLED with mice after storing over the winter.

Straw bale homes can be virtually impossible (less so now) to insure. Insurance agents heard straw (and I swear) looked up straw home construction referances in The Three Little Pig's fairytale, and said, "nope, we can't insure THAT!" Also many insurance companies are under the mistaken impression that straw bale equals extremely flamable, when the exact oposite is true.

Straw bale houses can be tricky if you want them more than one story high.

Mortgage companies will almost never finance them.

It can be very, very difficult to get a permit to build a straw bale home, especially if you are one of the first in your local area.

Those are the main reasons why they are not built more often. Shear expence and dificulty.

By the way, modern straw bale houses are not covered with mud. They use stuco, gunite, or a concrete mixture. The straw bales are usually spiked together, with rebar. Chicken wire is wrapped over the straw bale walls, once they are constructed. The stuco, gunite, or concrete mixture is then sprayed on the walls. The chicken wire gives the "plaster" something more to adhear to, and to suport it.

I like this link, and own most of the books shown on this site.
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/strawbale.htm


This link shows some decent pictures of a straw bale home being constructed.
http://www.pbase.com/michellemahood/my_house_of_straw_bales

I've also seen interesting pictures of a steel pole building being retrofit into a straw bale building. The building remained exactly as it was, only a large foundation was poured around the building. The straw bales were stacked up outside the building, against the steel sides, and "plastered" in on the outside. It was a neat way to retrofit a building. They lost no inerior space, made the outside look very lovely and spanish looking, and increased their insulation value tremendously.

If you are interested in alternative construction, you might also research Earthships, and rammed earth houses. Both are very interesting, and both use old tires, filled with rammed earth for their construction. They are nearly indestructctable homes.

~Garnet
Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

possible cons.
straw building walls are very wide ,
so the overall space needed for a house is more ,so it is OK in the country ,

It helps if you live in farming country because the balers are not far away
and it can only be done in very dry times.

pros

the insulation is like no other ,so it is a great way for very hot or very cold countries.

,the building is fast and the cost is about one third less from brick building

you still need concrete foundation with round bar implanted ,every 1.5 meters to act as guides and to stick the bales on top ,pegging them in place.

including a base that is at least one meter high and the width of the bales ,because damp rises

Then chicken wire on both sides which you tighten by sowing them together with a meter long steel bar, made as a needle.
this is plastered all around and the end result is the straw encased totally in cement .

but one can put up the initial structure in a couple of days

more than two levels is not recommended although it ends up very strong .

Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,
One-Straw Revolution,
this may have some relevant points.

Answer 3

1. Straw bale building isn't "permaculture", it's "green building" or "natural building". In the case of straw bale, just as with wood frame construction, it is the opposite of permaculture; you are tying up nutrients inside cement/mud structures rather than enriching the soil.

2. Advantages

It is a cheap, environmentally benign building material with excellent insulating qualities: "Straw and adobe are natural partners for passive solar home designs. The straw envelope creates thick, insulating walls that keep the warmth inside, and the adobe floors and mud plasters serve as thermal mass to store the heat and release it back to the space at night. "

The biggest advantage is that it can replace manufactured wood products that produce large amounts of CO2 in their manufacture and transport to market. Straw can been grown faster and closer to market and the harvesting and manufacturing is all one step (baling machine).

Disadvantages

There is only so much capacity to grow crops, the more you burn in cars and make into buildings the less there is to eat. That also includes less to eat in the future as the nutrients in the soil are depleted over time.
Straw building is okay where the humidity isnt too high, the walls are designed to breathe to keep the straw bales from rotting. (good in Arizona, bad in Louisiana)

3. If you browse green building you should find some websites.

Answer 4

My husband and I have desert property outside of Joshua Tree and plan to build using straw, clay, and timber. We attended a program with Paula Baker-Laporte & Robert Laporte and bought one of their books to browse through until we're ready to dive in. We've also checked out the site below, which has some great information.

Advantages? Our desert home will stay cool in the hot summer months, toasty in the winter. Disadvantages? Having to explain to everyone why you built something so unconventional.

I've included a few other sites I had stashed in my favorites file. My husband was planning on attending a workshop last fall but had surgury instead. The one he planned to attend was in New Mexico. You help build a home and in doing so make friends and learn a lot about the process.

The only person I know who actually made one lost it in a fire in San Diego several years ago. His name is Mike Evans, and as co-owner of the Tree of Life nursery, and they have several straw bale structures on site at the nursery for all to enjoy.

Answer 5

Couple of very good sources for you below. Tons of information, helpful resources, and even some very cool floorplans.

Strawbale homes, especially where they can be well positioned for passive solar heating, are an awesome answer to "building green." Their thermal properties cannot be beaten, and strawbales are a completely renewable resource.

My wife and I have been investigating this for quite some time in anticipation of building a strawbale home for our "retirement" home. The more we learn the more impressed we become at what a great, earth-friendly solution this is. There are seminars and training classes you can attend to learn how to do it yourself. We will be combining strawbale construction with passive solar heating and solar photovoltaic and wind power generation to be "off the grid" and energy self sufficient.

Go for it!!!

Answer 6

Wow, what a great question!. I have always thought it was a good idea and it is being done in 3rd whole countries. It would not only save on energy but lumber also. You would stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. A good outside and inside wall of of fire retardants would save you worries about fires. I am thinking cement or bricks on the outside.
While we are at it, how about solar energy to help us heat the house and water.
I will be very interested to see the responses

Answer 7

Nice question!

Answer 8

i dont know sorry