Straw bale building pdf files

Troop 20804 used straw bales to plant an organic vegetable garden in the back of a community church. Many inspectors and plan checkers had simply never heard of straw bale construction and they had certainly never inspected one. Build it with bales, along with the straw bale house and the last straw journal, launched the modern straw bale building movement. Straw bale construction worcester polytechnic institute. Moving forward in a continuing effort to increase acceptance of straw bale building techniques in an even wider market, a straw bale construction appendix is expected to be proposed for the 2018 international building code ibc in january 2015. A suitable moisture meter, designed for use with baled straw or hay, and equipped with a probe of sufficient length to reach the center of the bale, shall be used to determine the average moisture content of 5 bales randomly selected from the bales to be used. Braided polypropylene is now used nearly universally as baling twine.

Straw bale buildingstraw bale building an american invention older than jazz straw bale building began in the late 1800s after the invention of the baling machine. Straw bale constructionprint version introduction to building with straw bales history while use of grassfamily plant fibers has long been a part of building methods worldwide, dating far back into prehistory, actual strawbale construction was pioneered in nebraska in the united states, in the late 19thearly 20th. The main reason is to ventilate the building and protect the straw bale walls against splashing rain as its build in a humid climate. Pdf this study highlights the use of plastered straw bale as a load bearing element, its method of construction and specification required to obtain. Straw as a building material excels in the areas of costeffectiveness and energy efficiency. Straw bale construction is a sustainable construction technique, with straw as a renewable material that is readily available. Make sure its level water carefully so it doesnt wash away or cut the bottom out of a plastic flat, pin it down onto top of bale, fill with soil and plant. Straw bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw as structural elements, building insulation, or both. Straw bale house plans for a totally unique 1story home. Straw bale in construction of building and its future in india international journal of modern engineering research ijmer. Straw bale construction wikibooks, open books for an open world. The low afternoon sun cast a warm, rich light on the straw bale walls of a newly completed structure.

First, do some reading, attend a course, andor sign up for our online course. The files you receive will provide the drawings in at least two formats. Quality produce cucumberleft and cantalouperight grown on straw bales in stillwater, ok without use of any pesticide. In many respects, the requirements of strawbale buildings are essentially the same as traditional cob. The settlers then proceeded to build their homes with straw bales too.

Straw bale dike denver federal center building 56, room 2604 po box 25426 denver, co 802250426 7205442810 office. Straw is an agricultural byproduct remaining after. More importantly, straw bale beds offer the opportunity to grow quality produce that is relatively dirt and insect free figure 2. Loadbearing straw bale structuresa summary of testing and experience to date 3 bruce king ecological building network ebnet june 30, 2003 result of the construction processand thus helps ensure a durable building. With admiration, i present to you this practical text on straw bale building. Now there are thousands of strawbale houses around the world, and strawbale building is now in the building codes. Amazingly, all three poured concrete, asphalt adobe block, and concrete block worked out well. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or brown construction projects. February 2014 strawbale construction and its evolution in. If used to replace the more traditional wallbuilding system of brick and block,it can present savings of around. A cost benefit analysis was also conducted to see how the costs between straw bale construction and.

Straw bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. Locate a local source of straw bales, wheat or oat straw. It was built by student volunteers, and by undergraduate student members of the 1995 environmental studies capstone seminar. The appeals of straw bale building are many and varied. Once a straw bale has been prepared for planting, it can be transformed into a beautiful threedimensional annual garden, or host a fresh. The straw bale house was begun in late summer, 1994, and the building. But the link to the pdf file of the straw bale construction appendix is not working.

More importantly, straw bale beds offer the opportunity. Straw bale gardening university of wisconsinmadison. This may allow water to penetrate the bales or to enter the house, increasing the odds of water damage and mold or mildew. As evidenced by numerous precedents, straw bale buildings results in energy efficient, durable, and nontoxic structures. May 19, 2011 as we built our desert homestead, we explored three different techniques for building stem walls and footings for both straw bale and adobe structures. Standard for straw bale construction 9282012 page 2 of 6 1. Even contractorbuilt homes can suffer from the increased labor requirements of straw bale building. Of interest to the home owner is the huge reduction in. It has many southwest inspired elements, and incorporates a number of alternative materials and elements, including straw bale filled steel frame and rastra walls, radiant heat barrier, solar hot water panels, and a photovoltaic system. If youre building a garden office, extension or storage shed etc. The book deals with every facet of building a straw bale house, from council approval and insurance to.

Two and threestring bales are commonly used for building see fig. However, the purpose of this build goes far beyond just being a shed. You will want a bale that is held together tightly with baling twine encircling the bale in two to three places. Straw bale garden straw bales allow you to set up a garden anywhere, even on hardscapeadding valuable greenspace to your urban habitat. Dwg files that will enable the person modifying your plans to do so using autocad software the standard for the entire construction and engineering communities. Plastered straw bale walls have passed one and twohour american society for testing and materials astm fire tests and superior to standard wood frame construction with similar finishes. If there is nothing for alternative homes or straw bale in particular, then call your building department and let them know you plan to build an alternative home and that you intend to use approved building codes from another state or an engineer for the design. Building a home using straw bale construction mother earth news. This unique passive solar home radiates off a circular outdoor room, and has diverse indoor and outdoor spaces. But ive also chosen to design the building like this for aesthetical and practical reasons. Bale building encourages individual creativity and leads to final structures that are climatically adapted and. Though its original heyday was in the early 20th century, a vigorous revival began in the late 1980s and continues today.

Straw bale gardening is a great alternative for building raised garden beds, and the. When building with straw bale, three general types of structural systems may be used load bearing, nonload bearing, and hybrid combination of load bearing and nonload bearing. The use of straw bales is typically found in natural building projects, or earthen construction, and while historically it has been a common. When building your house by hand it is easy to incorporate elements of beauty. Straw bale construction is a method of building that uses bales or bundles of straw. Straw bales can be heavy and bulky to move, especially when building the upper courses of a straw bale structure. Pdf straw bale construction as an economic environmental. Pdf straw bale in construction of building and its. Building your straw bale homeis a howto book for people interested in straw bale building. Information guide to straw bale building for self builders and the construction industry amazon nails, hollinroyd farm, todmorden, ol14 8rj. In forest glen, girl scout annie aguirre and other members of troop 20804 used straw bales to plant an organic vegetable garden in the back of a community church.

In fact, many of the original settlers farm buildings and homes are still intact, standing as a. Straw bales have good insulation properties and keep the building warm in winter and cool in summer, with rvalues between 40 and 60 when built correctly. It is baled at a moisture content of less than 20 percent using mechanical baling equipment. Remove a chunk of straw and fill the hole with potting soil small seeds or to plant in rows put a couple inches of potting soil on top of the bales. The building was designed by students in this seminar. Over the years it has been relatively difficult, in some areas more than others, to get building permits for straw bale homes. A temporary sediment barrier constructed of straw bales located down slope of a.

Strawbale constructiona wall system using baled straw. Straw bale planters are an easy solution for people lacking clean soil or extra space for gardening. Straw bale houses are usually covered in plaster once the structure is constructed. Surrounded by grasslands and wheat fields and very few trees, they developed what became known as a nebraska style load bearing straw bale building. Straw is a very natural product so it ought to be ecologically friendly.

Building with straw bales began on the great plains in the 1880s when pioneering farmers realized they could create straw building blocks with newly invented baling machines. Straw bale construction metadata this file contains additional information such as exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. Straw bale construction designing buildings wiki share your construction industry knowledge. The roof has a big over hang this is also to protect the straw bale walls against the climate. Then who knows you might graduate to building a strawbale home. I maintained a small file on walls, it is expensive to develop operable straw bale building which i had frrst see insulated shades and shutters to cover large. They often have graceful, elegant curves, delightful window seats, and can have exciting sculpture and mosaics integrated into the plaster.

By contrast, the builder of a loadbearing structure must generally complete the foundation, erect the. Straw bales can be used as structural elements, insulation or both. The disadvantages of straw bale construction hunker. For both methods, the growing medium can be a mix of a wellrotted,good quality compost, soil, aged manure, and other nutrient rich materials. It is a practical book reflecting the authors personal experience, with tips and wisdom learned from his own pitfalls and mistakes. Straw bale constructionprint version 1 straw bale constructionprint version introduction to building with straw bales history while use of grassfamily plant fibers has long been a part of building methods worldwide, dating far back into prehistory, actual straw bale construction was pioneered in nebraska in the united states, in the late 19thearly 20th century, in response the thennew. Straw bale house construction dancing rabbit ecovillage. The nonload bearing category most commonly includes the postandbeam system with straw bale infill, stud wall framing with straw bale infill, or a combination. Straw bale planters are an easy solution for people lacking clean soil or extra. Note that bales have sides one is of the cut edge of the straw sheaf, and the other is the folded edge.

The strawbale house project at swarthmore college 19941998 this building was an environmentally innovative structure, constructed mainly out of loadbearing strawbales. Like all innovative ideas,it has been pioneered by the passionate,and used experimentally by those with the vision to see its potential. Without proper maintenance, plaster can quickly degrade. Once a straw bale has been prepared for planting, it can be transformed into a beautiful threedimensional annual garden, or host a fresh vegetable garden.

Basic straw bale building techniques strawbale buildings can be generally characterized. A small, singlestorey building could be a good thing to practice on. Create a flatbed on top of the bale by spreading growing medium on the top of each bale figure 3b. In thinking of plastered straw bale walls, it is essential to. The viability of straw bale as a sustainable construction material for. Pdf files that will enable you to view the plans on your home or office computer. Frequently asked questions about straw bale buildings. Ease of construction building walls from straw is much less labor intensive than using other materials such as concrete blocks, brick, adobe, or stone, and requires considerably less skill. We built it in place of our previous shed which was on the property and needed a bit of upgrading. The main reason for this was a lack of education in the building departments. Jun 06, 2017 straw bale house building the straw walls it is important not to build the walls too tight, because forcing a bale into one spot just makes somewhere else bulge. My straw bale cabin i conceived of building walls of straw bales in 1994.