Create a climate for peace

Be wary of fairy tales …

Mostly with no straight connection, the topic of straw bale houses was repeatedly touched during the seminar. For

example, envisioning the perfect green work camp one of us had the image of a straw bale dorm. Then, it was not easy to explain that straw houses do exist and, notwithstanding the fairy tales bias of getting them down with a blow, they are actually safe, solid and very ecological.

In fact, many are the strengths of straw bale construction, a technique which is getting more and more widespread in the United States and in Great Britain. Made with a "waste" material such as straw, these houses have a very high energy efficiency in as much they keep an optimal heat insulation. According to www.strawbale.com, a straw bale wall is about three times as efficient as conventional framing: over thirty years, it means a 75% reduction of energy costs and connected natural resources.

An often raised concern is fire. However, materials laboratories report that a plastered straw bale structure has proven to be exceptionally resistant to fire. In these tests, the flames took more than two hours to penetrate the plastered bale walls while conventional framing took only 30 minutes to one hour to burn: “due to their tight compaction, bales contain very little oxygen and thus resist combustion. It’s like trying to burn a phone book”.

Another surprise is that the straw won’t decompose. The reason behind this trick is that organic material needs both water and oxygen to decompose and the right building technique will keep water well out of the structure. To make sure of this, think that bale homes built in the1800’ still exist in Nebraska and Europe. Quoting again from www.strawbale.com, “straw bale homes have consistently withstood severe weather and wind in Wyoming as well as major earthquakes in California … Many architects and engineers consider straw bales to be the ideal “seismic-resistant” building material. In wind tests, bale structures see no movement in a sustained 75 mph gale and only 1/16 inch movement with 100 mph gusts”.

And what about pests? Pests are more of an imagined concern than a real threat. If straw bales are properly plastered there is no way for bugs and rodents to get in. And if pest were to find their way in, they would find it almost impossible to move in the densely packed bales. Amazingly, termites and other pests pose more of a problem to conventional construction than they do to straw bale structures.As you just read, straw bale houses are not just eco-friendly, energy efficient, sound proof, and solid. They are stunningly beautiful as well and they can have many different shapes. However, If you have never seen them, it's quite of an imagination stretching exercise!