Straw-bale construction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An upscale use of straw bale insulation combined with energy-efficient passive features[1]

Straw bale construction project in Willits, California

Example of SMS Straw Bale Home

Exterior view of straw bale library in Mattawa, Washington taken in 2008 (constructed 2002 by IronStraw
Group)
 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. This construction method is
commonly used in natural building or "brown" construction projects. Research has shown that straw-
bale construction is a sustainable method for building, from the standpoint of both materials and
energy needed for heating and cooling.[2]
Advantages of straw-bale construction over conventional building systems include the renewable
nature of straw, cost, easy availability, naturally fire-retardant and high insulation
value.[3][4][5] Disadvantages include susceptibility to rot, difficulty of obtaining insurance coverage, and
high space requirements for the straw itself.[6] Research has been done using moisture probes
placed within the straw wall in which 7 of 8 locations had moisture contents of less than 20%. This is
a moisture level that does not aid in the breakdown of the straw.[7] However, proper construction of
the straw-bale wall is important in keeping moisture levels down, just as in the construction of any
type of building.

Contents
[hide]

1History
2Method
3Thermal Properties
4Problems with straw-bale
5See also
6References
7Further reading
8External links

History[edit]
Straw houses have been built on the African plains since the Paleolithic Era. Straw bales were used
in construction 400 years ago in Germany; and straw-thatched roofs have long been used in
northern Europe and Asia. In the New World, teepees were insulated in winter with loose straw
between the inner lining and outer cover.[8]

Pilgrim Holiness Church in Arthur, Nebraska

Straw-bale construction was greatly facilitated by the mechanical hay baler, which was invented in
the 1850s and was widespread by the 1890s.[8] It proved particularly useful in the Nebraska
Sandhills. Pioneers seeking land under the 1862 Homestead Act and the 1904 Kinkaid Act found a
dearth of trees over much of Nebraska. In many parts of the state, the soil was suitable
for dugoutsand sod houses.[9] However, in the Sandhills, the soil generally made poor construction
sod;[10] in the few places where suitable sod could be found, it was more valuable for agriculture than
as a building material.[11]
The first documented use of hay bales in construction in Nebraska was a schoolhouse built in 1896
or 1897. Unfenced and unprotected by stucco or plaster, it was reported in 1902 as having been
eaten by cows. To combat this, builders began plastering their bale structures; if cement or lime
stucco was unavailable, locally obtained "gumbo mud" was employed.[11] Between 1896 and 1945,
an estimated 70 straw-bale buildings, including houses, farm buildings, churches, schools, offices,
and grocery stores had been built in the Sandhills.[8] In 1990, nine surviving bale buildings were
reported in Arthur and Logan Counties,[12] including the 1928 Pilgrim Holiness Church in the village
of Arthur, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[10]
Since the 1990s straw-bale construction has been substantially revived, particularly in North
America, Europe, and Australia.[13] However, Straw-bale construction does encounter issues
regarding building codes depending on the location building.[14][15]

Method[edit]
Straw bale building typically consists of stacking rows of bales (often in running-bond) on a raised
footing or foundation, with a moisture barrier or capillary break between the bales and their
supporting platform.[16] There are two types of straw-bales commonly used, those bound together
with two strings and those with three. The three string bale is the larger in all three
dimensions.[17] Bale walls can be tied together with pins of bamboo or wood (internal to the bales or
on their faces), or with surface wire meshes, and then stuccoed or plastered, either with a lime-
based formulation or earth/clay render. The bales may actually provide the structural support for the
building[18] ("load-bearing" or "Nebraska-style" technique), as was the case in the original examples
from the late 19th century. The plastered bale assembly also can be designed to provide lateral and
shear support for wind and seismic loads.

This straw bale house plastered with loam earthen plaster is located in Swalmen, in the
southeastern Netherlands

Alternatively, bale buildings can have a structural frame of other materials, usually lumber or timber-
frame, with bales simply serving as insulation and plaster substrate, ("infill" or "non-loadbearing"
technique), which is most often required in northern regions and/or in wet climates. In northern
regions, the potential snow-loading can exceed the strength of the bale walls. In wet climates, the
imperative for applying a vapor-permeable finish precludes the use of cement-based stucco.
Additionally, the inclusion of a skeletal framework of wood or metal allows the erection of a roof prior
to raising the bales, which can protect the bale wall during construction, when it is the most
vulnerable to water damage in all but the most dependably arid climates. A combination
of framing and load-bearing techniques may also be employed, referred to as "hybrid" straw bale
construction.[19]
Straw bale construction

Straw bales can also be used as part of a Spar and Membrane Structure (SMS) wall system in which
lightly reinforced 5 - 8 cm (2 - 3") gunite or shotcrete skins are interconnected with extended "X"
shaped light rebar in the head joints of the bales.[20] In this wall system the concrete skins provide
structure, seismic reinforcing, and fireproofing, while the bales are used as leave-in formwork and
insulation.
The University of Bath has completed a research programme which used ModCell panels - pre-
fabricated panels consisting of a wooden structural frame infilled with straw bales and rendered with
a breathable lime-based system - to build 'BaleHaus', a straw bale construction on the university's
campus. Monitoring work of the structure carried out by architectural researchers at the university
has found that as well as reducing the environmental footprint, the construction offers other benefits,
including healthier living through higher levels of thermal insulation and regulation of humidity levels.
The group has published a number of research papers on its findings.[21]
Typically "field bales" (bales created on farms with baling machines) have been used, but recently
higher-density "precompressed" bales (or "straw-blocks") are increasing the loads that may be
supported. Oryzatech out of Goleta, California has been developing rice straw compressed
block.[22] Field bales might support around 900 kg per linear meter of wall (600 lb./ lin. ft.), but the
high density bales bear up to 6000 kg per linear meter of wall (4,000 lb./lin.ft.), and more. The basic
bale-building method is now increasingly being extended to bound modules of other oft-recycled
materials, including tire-bales, cardboard, paper, plastic, and used carpeting. The technique has also
been extended to bags containing "bales" of wood chips or rice hulls.[4][5]
Straw bales have also been used in very energy efficient high performance buildings such as the S-
House[23] in Austria which meets the Passivhaus energy standard. In South Africa, a five-star lodge
made from 10,000 strawbales has housed luminaries such as Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair.[24] In
the Swiss Alps, in the little village of Nax Mont-Noble, construction works have begun in October
2011 for the first hotel in Europe built entirely with straw bales.[25] The Harrison Vault,[26] in Joshua
Tree, California, is engineered to withstand the high seismic loads in that area using only the
assembly consisting of bales, lath and plaster.[27] The technique was used successfully for strawbale
housing in rural China.[28] Straw bale domes along the Syrio-African rift at Kibbutz Lotan have an
interior geodesic frame of steel pipes.[29] Another method to reap the benefits of straw is to
incorporate straw-bale walls into a pre-existing structure.[30]
 Thermal Properties[edit]
Compressed straw bales have a wide range of documented R-value. R-value is a measurement of a
materials insulating quality, higher the number the more insulating. The reported R-value ranges
from 17-55 (in American units) or 3-9.6 (in SI) depending on the study, differing wall designs could
be responsible for wide range in R-value.[31][32] Bale walls are typically coated with a thick layer of
plaster, which provides a well-distributed thermal mass, active on a short-term (diurnal) cycle. The
combination of insulation and mass provide an excellent platform for passive solar building
design for winter and summer.
Compressed and plastered straw bale walls are also resistant to fire.[33]

Problems with straw-bale[edit]

Two significant problems related to straw-bale construction are moisture and mold. During the
construction phase, buildings need to be protected from rain and from water leakages into the body
of the walls.[34] If exposed to water, compressed straw may expand due to absorption of moisture. In
turn, this can cause more cracking through which more moisture can infiltrate. Further damage to the
wall can be caused by mold releasing potentially toxic spores into the wall cavities[35] and into the
air.[36] In hot climates, where walls may have become internally dampened, internal temperatures
may rise (due to decomposition of affected straw). While fire is generally considered a rare event,
compressed straw or hay bales have the serious potential of undergoing spontaneous internal
combustion.[37] Rats and mice can infiltrate straw bale homes during construction, so care must be
taken to keep such animals out of the material. Other problems relate to straw dust which may cause
breathing difficulties among people with allergies to straw or hay.[38][39]

See also[edit]

Sustainable development portal

Interior view of straw bale library[28]

Truth window
Wintergreen Studios

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ "S-House writeup" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-04-08.
2. Jump up^ Milutiene, Edita, et al. "increase in Buildings Sustainability Using Renewable materials and
Energy." Clean Technologies & Environmental policy 14.6 (2012): 1075-84.Print.
3. Jump up^ Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. "Energy Use In Straw Bale Houses".
Retrieved on 4 September 2008.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Steen, Steen & Bainbridge (1994). The Straw Bale House. Chelsey Green Publishing
Co. ISBN 0-930031-71-7.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Magwood & Mark (2000). Straw Bale Building. New Society Publishers. ISBN 0-
86571-403-7.
6. Jump up^ Webster, Ben (2010-05-20). "Huff as hard as you like - you cant blow a straw house
down". London: The Times, May 20, 2010.
7. Jump up^ Goodhew, Steve, Richard Griffiths, and Tom Woolley. "An Investigation of the Moisture
Content in the Walls of a Straw-Bale Building." Building and Environment39.12 (2004): 1443-51. Print.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b c Marks, Leanne R. (2005). "Straw Bale as a Viable, Cost Effective, and Sustainable
Building Material for use in Southeast Ohio". Master's thesis, Ohio University. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
9. Jump up^ Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey: Custer County Nebraska State Historical
Society. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b Spencer, Janet Jeffries and D. Murphy (1979). "National Register of Historic Places
InventoryNomination Form: Pilgrim Holiness Church"Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved
2010-08-10.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b Hammett, Jerilou and Kingsley (1998). "The Strawbale
Search".DESIGNER/builder magazine, August 1998. Article reproduced at "The Last Straw" website.
Retrieved 2010-08-10.
12. Jump up^ Kay, John, David Anthone, Robert Kay, and Christina Hugly (1990). "Nebraska Historic
Buildings Survey, Reconnaissance Survey Final Report of Arthur County, Nebraska." Nebraska State
Historical Society. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
13. Jump up^ Hollis, Murray (2005). Practical Straw Bale Building. Collingwood: Landlinks
Press. ISBN 0-643-06977-1.
14. Jump up^ Kathryn Henderson Science, Technology, & Human Values , Vol. 31, No. 3, Ethics and
Engineering Design (May, 2006), pp. 261-288
15. Jump up^ Hammer, Martin (1 February 2006). "Ten years Later: Strawbale in the Building Codes".
Buildinggreen.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
16. Jump up^ Jones, Barbara (2002). Building with Straw Bales: A Practical Guide for UK and
Ireland (2011 ed.). Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EB: Green Books. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-900322-51-
5.
17. Jump up^ Keefe, Chris. "Straw Bale Design - Choosing the Right Size Straw Bales". Strawbale.com.
18. Jump up^ Malin, Nadav (1 May 1993). "Building With Straw Bale". .buildinggreen.com. Retrieved 5
October 2013.
19. Jump up^ Myhrman, Matts; S.O. MacDonald (1994). Build it with Bales. Out on Bale. ISBN 0-
9642821-1-9.
20. Jump up^ Black, Gary, and Mannik, Henri, "Spar and Membrane Structure" The Last Straw journal,
#17, Winter 1997
21. Jump up^ "BaleHaus: innovation in straw bale building". The University of Bath. Retrieved 8
July 2014.
22. Jump up^ Wilson, Alex (1 December 2009). "Lego Blocks from Straw". Buildinggreen.com.
23. Jump up^ Hans-Peter Petek. "S-House". S-house.at. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
24. Jump up^ "Five Star Didimala Lodge Is The Worlds Largest Strawbale Building!". Inhabitat.
Retrieved 2014-04-08.
25. Jump up^ "Blog about the first hotel built with straw bales". Mayaguesthouse.wordpress.com.
Retrieved 2014-04-08.
26. Jump up^ [1] Archived June 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
27. Jump up^ "Google Drive Viewer". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
28. ^ Jump up to:a b "Google Drive Viewer". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
29. Jump up^ EcoCampus, Center for Creative Ecology, Kibbutz Lotan
30. Jump up^ Whitty, Cadmon. "I Wrapped My House in Straw: A Straw Bale Builder Turns an Ugly old,
Energy-Eating House into a Cozy, Efficient Home with a Unique Straw Bale Retrofit Process." Natural
Life Sept.-Oct. 2009 Print.
31. Jump up^ "R-Value of Straw Bales Lower Than Previously Reported - EBN: 7:9". Buildinggreen.com.
Retrieved 2014-04-08.
32. Jump up^ [2] Archived July 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
33. Jump up^ "Straw Bale Fire Test Video - Ecological Building Network". Ecobuildnetwork.org.
Retrieved 2014-04-08.
34. Jump up^ http://thesustainablehome.net/do-straw-bale-buildings-last/
35. Jump up^ Kuhn, D. M.; Ghannoum, M. A. (2003). "Indoor Mold, Toxigenic Fungi, and Stachybotrys
chartarum: Infectious Disease Perspective". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 16 (1): 144
172. PMC 145304 . doi:10.1128/CMR.16.1.144-172.2003.
36. Jump up^ https://www.nachi.org/strawbalehomebasics2006.htm
37. Jump up^ http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/dairy/pastures-management/haystack-fires-
spontaneous-combustion Vermin
38. Jump up^ http://envibuild.eu/archive/2014/proceedings2014/enviBUILD-2014-proceedings.pdf
39. Jump up^ http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/298811-overview