BUILDING WITH STRAW

Description

Building With Straw: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture
Building with straw bales is a technique pioneered a century ago in the state of Nebraska. In recent years there has been a renaissance in the use of straw as a building material largely in the American Southwest, but also in Canada, Australia, France, Holland, Germany, Austria and China. Straw is a renewable resource with excellent insulating properties. It is a cheap and easy-to-use option for self-builders, and even large-scale structures can be erected using timber framework filled with straw.
This book is a practical, hands-on guide to building with straw. Fire safety, protection against moisture, damp, pests and parasites are treated in detail. Numerous on-site photos document the process of assembly and construction step by step.
30 exemplary international projects illustrate the wide spectrum of design possibilities with straw.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

• Purpose and objectives of this book
• About the contents
• Building with straw – a contribution to sustainability in construction
• Further advantages of straw bale building
• Objections and anxieties

2. History and profileration of straw bale building

• Early buildings (1880-1970)
• The development after 1980

3. Straw as building material

• General facts
• Straw bales
• Straw panels

4. Wall construction systems using straw bales

• Introduction to the construction systems
• Load-bearing straw bale walls
• Non-loadbearing straw bale walls
• Facing straw bale layer as thermal insulation
• Structural and dynamic aspects
• Summary and comparison of the individual systems

5. Roof and floor construction with straw bales

• Roof insulation
• Floor constructions
• Supplementary thermal insulation of existing structures

6. Physical aspects of straw bale building

• Heat storage and heat conductivity
• Thermal bridges
• Thermal insulation
• Moisture protection
• Moisture balance
• Wind and air tightness
• Fire protection
• Sound insulation

7. Designing a straw bale building

• Special aspects of load-bearing straw bale walls
• Special aspects of non-loadbearing straw bale walls
• Detailing of foundations
• Base details
• Wall build-up
• Wall junctions with foundation, base and floor
• Ring beams
• Windows and doors
• Wall corners
• Wall/roof junctions
• Interior walls
• Intermediate ceilings
• Service ducts
• Heavy-duty fixings in straw bale walls
• Wall recesses

8. Surface protection and finishing works

• Interior render
• Exterior render
• Paint coats
• Water-repellent treatment
• Weather boarding, facing and ventilated cladding

9. The building process

• Supervision and co-ordination on site
• Health and safety measures
• Assessment of the quality of the bales
• Supplementary compaction of the bales
• Transport and storage
• Separating of bales
• Reshaping of bales
• Bale installation
• Wall reinforcement
• Wall prestressing
• Removal of deformations
• Backfilling of joints and gaps
• Cropping of bale surfaces
• Rendering of the walls

10. Trial and error – an example

• Preliminary note
• Scheme design
• Construction – the first attempt
• Solving the problems – the second attempt

11 Building cost, insurance, planning permission

• Building cost, expenditure of time and personal contribution
• Insurance of building
• Planning permission

II Built examples in detail

1. Residences

• Residential building in Ouwerkerk, Zeeland, Netherlands
• Residential building in Balneario Punta Ballena, Uruguay
• Residential building in central Montreal, Canada
• Prefabricated single-family home in Hitzendorf, near Graz, Styria, Austria
• Single-family home in Dobersdorf, Burgenland, Austria
• Urban cottage in Berkeley, California, USA
• Single-family home in Bryson City, North Carolina, USA
• Singe-family home with guest house, games room and garage in Galston, near Sidney, Australia
• Single-family home in Lower Lake, California, USA
• Single-family home at Lake Biwa, Japan
• The Spiral House, Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
• Load-bearing straw bale house in Disentis, Switzerland
• Passive house in Cavan, Ontario, Canada
• First straw bale house in Vienna, Austria
• Single-family home in Blanden, Belgium
• Low-energy house in Maria Laach, Austria
• Passive house in Wienerherberg, Austria

2. Home and workplace

• Trout Farm Complex, Tassaraja Canyon, California, USA
• Residential and office building in London, Great Britain
• Ulenkrug Farm, Stubbendorf, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany
• Residential building for ethnic German resettlers, Wargoldshausen, Lower Franconia, Germany
• The Woodage Sawmill in Mittagong, Australia
• Straw bale dome as a rehearsal and performance space in Forstmehren, Westerwald, Germany
• Farm and residential building near Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Franconia, Germany
• House of a painter near Santa Cruz, California, USA

3. Educational and cultural buildings

• Foothills Academy College Preparatory, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
• Real Goods Solar Living Center, Hopland, California, USA
• International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center Lodge,
• Val-Morin, Quebec, Canada
• Waldorf school in Carbondale, Colorado, USA
• Salem Childrens’ Village, Kaliningrad, Russia
• Sanctuary House, Crestone, Colorado, USA
• Vipassana Meditation Hall, Blackheath, Australia

III Appendices

• Measures, Networks, Internet links, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Illustration credits

143 pages, color ills / 22 x 28 cm/ English