A home construction guide for all climates real goods solar living book paul lacinski, michel bergeron on. Get a leg up on the first little pig with the straw bale house, your guide to inexpensive, durable, earthfriendly construction that will. Building your straw bale home is a howto book for people interested in straw bale building. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally. Imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire. Strawbale homes strawbalestrawbale construction with. Most of the homes are in the higherend spectrum and i was disappointed that i didnt see less expensive but maybe not as fancy homes included. The straw bales are stacked, link bricks, in a running bond, coated with cement stucco, and on the interior walls a finishing coat of venetian plaster lime plaster mixed with crushed marble. Doesnt it seem a little dangerous to live in a house built with blocks of straw. The straw bale house a real goods independent living book. Building your own straw bale home natural building blog. House of bales, questions about strawbale construction. What you need to know about strawbale home construction. This book is for selfbuilders as well as for people working in the construction industry.
Now i just need to gather the materials and bodies then get to work. House of straw, straw bale construction comes of age. With admiration, i present to you this practical text on straw bale building. There isnt a lot of text in the book, just highquality drawings detailing how all the parts fit together in a straw bale house. This book is a timely and important tool for the empowerment of communities facing housing deficits.
Its easy to work with and you can make your house any shape you want. A general overview of strawbale building put together by global 2000 austrian friends of the earth. Building a home using straw bale construction mother. If youre thinking of building a straw bale house on an exposed site a hill or a lakeshore, or any site where you might consider using a wind turbine your design must be impeccable. The straw bale house a real goods independent living book by athena swentzell steen, bill steen, david bainbridge, david eisenberg. Strawbale construction, strawbale building if you happen tove been eager about constructing a straw bale house, this e book is a good place to strawbale house plans is an in. Straw bale is a building method that has been around for over a 100 years.
If you are ready to stop feeling confused, and start confidently building your own straw bale home im ready to take you, stepbystep through the process. Glen hunter the straw house blog home of glen, gil and. Straw bale homes cost almost exactly the same amount of money to build as traditional stickframe homes. This book is a good reference for anyone who has a desire to understand building construction or a desire to build a straw bale house to a high standard using wellresearched methods. Whats more, its fun, because the technique is easy to learn and easy to do yourself. Overall, a lovely book that you will drool over if you like straw bale or any other natural building. Imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually. It is a practical book reflecting the authors personal experience, with tips and wisdom learned from his own pitfalls and mistakes.
Straw bale house construction why build a straw bale house. Build your own affordable, sustainable straw bale home with these handy tips. Straw bale house construction dancing rabbit ecovillage. You want to save money by building your own straw bale house but also want to.
These are the construction techniques i have used and finetuned over the years building, teaching, and consulting on hundreds of straw bale projects from. The orientation of the straw in the bales makes some difference in the insulation value. Given i first started my straw bale construction business in 1991, i must admit that i learned a lot of mistakes the hard way. It has also convinced me that building with natural materials creates a healthy conscience and a healthy building, essential factors towards a healthy occupant. The red feather construction handbook corum, nathaniel, goodall, jane on. Looking for a sustainable building method thats affordable and easy to do yourself. Not only is strawbale construction a practical, cost effective means of building green, but is also an efficient and versatile material for many and varied applications. Imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a comparable conventional home. Little experience is needed to participate in building a straw bale home, and it can go fast.
Am slavenemond congratulations on a fantastic book. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction is an exceptionally durable and inexpensive option. For many, they are locally available and affordable. Strawbales are relatively cheap so people equate this to a whole house being cheap, however walls may only be 1420% of the cost of a building. Straw bale house building straw bale house, mud house. Straw bale building construction has become popular with people looking to build an inexpensive, ecologically sound house or other structure. The straw bale house real goods independent living books. One of the primary concerns of ownerbuilders is their capacity to deal with the structural issues associated with building a straw bale house. If you want to make sure you are buying a valuable resource, here are the best books about straw bale houses available today. Cadmon continues to work with new mexicos construction industries department to refine the straw bale building code. The red feather construction handbook paperback aug 24 2005. See also the books listed under straw bale building books. This book highlights various benefits and critical points, allowing you to decide if this construction alternative is right for you. Strawbale building is accessible to many people who are normally excluded.
The straw bale house, book by athena swentzell steen. The load bearing or nebraska method, where the straw acts as structure, insulation and surface for plaster for this type of build, there is no need for a frame. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottageplastered straw bale construction imagine building a house with superior seismic stability, fire resistance, and thermal insulation, using an annually renewable resource, for half the cost of a. Building with straw bales has taught me a lot about the technical aspects of straw bale construction, and inspired me with its beautiful results. Buy the straw bale house real goods independent living books by athena swentzell steen, bill steen, david bainbridge, david eisenberg isbn. If you want a chance to get a free copy, be sure to read this whole post or skip to the end if you prefer. So heres a list that came to my mind when i was asked by a fellow builder what i thought the top straw bale mistakes were. This book is a pictorial howto guide on strawbale construction basics that emphasizes lowcost. Smith, linda smiley the straw bale house athena swentzellsteen, bill steen, david bainbridge with davis eisenberg building with earth a guide to earthbag construction paulina wojciechowska adobe and rammed earth buildings paul graham mchenry, jr.
A strawbale building can be anything you want it to be as long as you want it to be the best home, office, school, retail space possible. Building a straw bale and plaster house is a lowcost and environmentally friendly way to create a home. A practical guide for the uk and ireland 2nd revised edition by barbara jones isbn. You can use straw to make any kind of buildings from a fourstorey office block to a house i know, which is a spiral. Building a straw bale house the red feather way was very informative. Are you excited about the idea of living in a straw bale house but unsure of how to make your dream a reality or are flat out terrified to even get started. Build it with bales, version two is one of my all time favorite books. One of the best natural building books of the past few years. Building a home using straw bale construction solid, rugged, inexpensive, and twice as fireproof as conventional lumber, straw bale construction is an idea whos time has come. If youre interested in calculating and comparing the specific costs of building a straw bale home vs a stick frame home, feel free to contact me. Straw bale house building workshop the online workshop. Straw bale houses can be easy and affordable to build, super energy efficient, you can do it yourself. Please let us know of other titles in any language. In my online straw bale house building workshop you will learn everything that you need to know.
We built it in place of our previous shed which was on the property and needed a bit of upgrading. We just finished building our own strawbale home and have read pretty much all the straw bale books published within the last several years. I do remember it saying you cannot build a two story load bearing. For someone like myself, with modest building experience, ready to build a straw bale house, straw bale building doesnt have enough detail. Straw bale construction was devised in the mid1800s in the sand hills of nebraska, and some straw houses are still standing in the american midwest. My brand new straw bale book, a modern look at straw bale construction is complete. The ebook rings in at 214 pages, contains 1 photographs to outline various points and steps, and has 22 professionally drawn architectural details created by chris keefe of organicforms design. Posted on december 14, 2014 by owen geiger december 14. Cadmon whitty, owner and operator of paja construction, was a founding member of the new mexico straw bale construction association. Straw is easy to work with for people new to construction as they are flexible and can be very forgiving. This book is a great volume for a layperson, with little or no construction experience, interested in straw bale building and other construction topics. I read it in one afternoon and have the concept down pretty good. Home straw bale construction since 1991 paja construction.
See more ideas about straw bales, earth homes and natural building. The straw bale house a real goods independent living book steen, athena swentzell, steen, bill, bainbridge, david on. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. As firsttime builders, they combined elements from various approaches a straw bale house with a gravel foundation, a floor made from secondhand pallets, a composting toilet, and a permaculture garden. It really is an amazing contribution to the straw bale building knowledge base and fills an enormous gap in what information is available. Bohdan dorniak, president of ausbale the australasian straw bale building association. An illustrated guide for design and construction by casba isbn. Lloyds books have been a big source of inspiration for me these past 10 years. This book is a pictorial howto guide on strawbale construction basics that emphasizes lowcost methods to help those in the greatest need for affordable.
This guide covers the materials and methods you might use to build a straw bale house, a house that can last hundreds of years, is energy efficient and is cheap to maintain. I read a good book in 2005 about building with straw and have always loved the idea. Strawbale buildings are costeffective, easy to build and are highly energy efficient, enabling you to design and build beautiful, environmentally friendly buildings. From foundations to the roof by brian hodge of strawbalehouses published 2006.
Instead, the amsterdambased pair envisioned a home with a minimal ecological footprint. However, you can squeeze out some cost savings depending on who builds the house. Whether you build an entire house or something more modesta home office or studio, a retreat cabin or guest cottage plastered. Our straw bale house in small homes book the year of mud. Straw bale raising parties, similar to barn raising parties, are a chance for a bunch of people to stack bales like building blocks.
You might want to consider a bungalow with good overhangs all the way around, you. All plans for ecological, natural, sustainable, green homes or buildings that use strawbales and are featured at dream green homes are listed here. I would like to build a square 20 x 20 two story structure existing garage is there. Another possible approach, due to the low cost of building a house with plastered straw bales, is to avoid the need for a mortgage by saving and paying as you go. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A home construction guide for all climates real goods solar living book. Top 8 advantages and challenges of straw bale construction.
1630 839 632 1175 1496 8 15 1131 320 171 703 1080 409 520 1266 1362 164 230 1198 428 797 1615 996 338 1331 237 946 407 940 883 1312 1359 438 386 713 1552 227 376 1006 25 1416 187 1004 1439 1472 226