Throughout human history, home building has developed and different materials have emerged to increase durability, resistance to storms and pests, strength, and longevity. Now there is a new characteristic added to the list, efficiency.
Building efficient structures requires employing local materials which are plentiful, reduce transportation costs, avoid pollution, and support local manufacturers. Today, this refers to locally grown woods, tree farms, etc. Taking a step back one century ago whatever was available was used, it didn’t make sense to ship wood across the US to build your home, and it still doesn’t make sense today.
Conserving energy in the construction phase is vital to building green. Ensuring that energy used to heat or cool a home is saved, effective insulation can be energy’s best advocate. By just improving insulation, we can greatly increase energy conservation through the entire stage of a building’s life cycle. Straw bale seems to live up to the challenge, however it still needs to win builders and consumers over.
When we think of straw in homes, we think of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf who huffed and puffed and blew the straw house down. Using straw bale is much more advanced and intelligent in design than the little straw house ever was.
First, straw-bale is a less expensive, widely available, durable, and high in value. It can be used in structural elements and insulation. This type of natural building stacks rows of bale over a foundation and then tied together by other sustainable products like pins of bamboo. The rows are then plastered or stuccoed. Not only is straw bale construction three times more efficient than traditional methods, but it can save a homeowner up to 75% in energy costs. Additional benefits include, superior sound insulation, resistant to fire (because of their compact rows they contain very little oxygen), won’t decompose (as long as construction is done properly without intrusion of water), and does not off gas. Buildings that have used straw-bale are also very durable, able to resist shattering earthquakes and violent winds. (www.strawbale.com)
Staw bale is still an untapped resource, despite its long list of advantages. This underutilized insulation material could help reduce GHG emissions. According to strawbale.com the US alone burns 200 million tons of ‘waste straw’ each year. By diverting straw to construction and insulation we could avoid tons of CO2 emissions yearly by just building green!
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