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technique has remained pretty much as straightforward as stacking the bales and plastering both
sides. Our knowledge of the material properties of these walls has blossomed in tandem with the
extraordinary revival of the past fifteen years, and we now are now equipped, at least roughly, to
design for any conditions. Codes written to date for load-bearing straw bale buildings appear to
be conservative, but not excessively so, and can be refined as we learn more.
There are also enormous environmental benefits to straw bale construction, so every strategy to
move the construction industry towards a sustainable course must allow for, and encourage, this
intriguing new building technology. In particular, grain growing regions with available straw
and extreme temperatures stand to benefit from the insulating properties of straw bale
construction. Hybrids between traditional adobe earthen blocks and straw bales straw-clay
blocks presents another building material more resistant than bales or adobes to water
problems, easy to field fabricate with any straw and clay, not requiring baling machines, and
capable of providing both structural and insulative properties. Both straw bales and straw-clay
blocks hold great promise for both disaster-relief and permanent housing throughout the world.
photo courtesy of Bill Steen
Bruce King is the Director of the Ecological Building Network
(EBNet), and a consulting structural engineer
in Sausalito, California.
bruce@ecobuildnetwork.org
209 Caledonia St., Sausalito, CA 94965
Bruce King / Ecological Building Network (EBNet) June 30, 2003 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]