use cement or clay as a binder around a paper fiber aggregate, creating lightweight, strong, and highly insulative material.
Cement or clay binders have also been used around sawdust aggregate. All of these methods make use of waste fibers to create an adaptable and useful building material.
Baled Waste Materials
This book focuses on the use of straw bales, but many other waste products are similarly baled and used as building materials. Non-recyclable plastics, car tires, shredded paper, and cardboard are all compactly baled for minimizing size and ease of handling. These bales, often free or inexpensive, can be used in similar ways to straw bales. (See Other Baled Stuff in Chapter 3).
Traditional Building Materials
For environmental and cost considerations, it is often worthwhile to study historical building materials and systems. Timber framing, stone masonry, wattle and daub, and thatch all offer the potential to use sustainably harvested natural materials to create beautiful, non-toxic, efficient homes.
In pursuing your ideal home plans, we encourage you to research these methods and to apply them in creative ways that are appropriate to your project, your location, and your climate. Our goal is the creation of healthy, environmentally sound, appropriate housing; we find straw bale construction to be an excellent option in this pursuit, but by no means the only option. Unique hybrids of straw bale and the materials mentioned above are often the best solution for creating the ideal building for any given circumstance.
References
Bee, Becky. The Cob Builder’s Handbook. Groundworks, 1997. ISBN 0-9659082-0-8.
Borer, Pat and Cindy Harris. The Whole House Book: Ecological Building Design and Materials. New Society Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-86571-481-9.
Chappell, Steve, ed. Alternative Building Sourcebook: Traditional, Natural and Sustainable Building Products and Services. Fox Maple Press, 1998.
Chappell, Steve. A Timber Framer’s Workshop: Joinery, Design and Construction of Traditional Timber Frames. Fox Maple Press, 1998.
Chiras, Daniel. The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes. Chelsea Green, 2000.
Easton, David. The Rammed Earth House. Chelsea Green Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-9652335-0-2.
Elizabeth, Lynne, and Cassandra Adams, eds. Alternative Construction: Contemporary Natural Building Methods. John Wiley and Sons, 2000.
Evans, Ianto, Linda Smiley, and Michael G. Smith. Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage. Chelsea Green, 2002.
Guelberth, Cedar Rose and Dan Chiras. The Natural Plaster Book. New Society Publishers, 2003.
Hall, Nicholas. Thatching: A Handbook. Intermediate Technology Publications, 1988.
Holmes, Stafford and Michael Wingate. Building with Lime: A Practical Introduction. Intermediate Technology Publications, 1997.
Houben, Hugo and Hubert Guillaud. Earth Construction: A Comprehensive Guide. Intermediate Technology Publications, 1994.
Hunter, Kaki and Donald Kiffmeyer. Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks, and Techniques. New Society Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-86571-507-6.
Johnston, David. Building Green in a Black and White World. New Society Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-886718-507-8.
Kennedy, Joseph, Michael G. Smith, and Wanek, eds. The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources. New Society Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-86571-433-9.
Laporte, Robert. Mooseprints: A Holistic Home Building Guide. Econest Building Company, 1993.
McHenry, Paul, Jr. Adobe and Rammed Earth Buildings: Design and Construction. University of Arizona Press, 1985.
McRaven, Charles. Building with Stone. Garden Way, 1989.
Norton, John. Building with Earth. Intermediate Technology Publications, 1997.
Reynolds, Michael. Earthship, Vol. 1: How to Build Your Own House; Vol. 2: Systems and Components ; Vol. 3: Evolution Beyond Economics. Solar Survival Press, 1993.
Roulac, John. Hemp Horizons: A Comeback of the World’s Most Promising Plant. Chelsea Green, 1997.
Roy, Robert L. The Complete Book of Underground Housing. Sterling, 1994.
Roy, Robert L. Cordwood Masonry Housebuilding. Sterling Publishing Co., 1995. ISBN 0-8069-8590-9.
Smith, Michael G. The Cobber’s Companion: How to Build Your Own Earthen Home, 3rd ed. Cob Cottage Company, 2001.
Steen, Bill, Athena Steen, Eiko Komatsu, and Yoshio Komatsu. Built by Hand: Vernacular Buildings around the World. Gibbs Smith Publishers, 2003. ISBN 1-58685-237-X.
Wells, Malcolm. The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect’s Sketchbook. Chelsea Green Publishers, 1999. ISBN 1-890132-19-5.
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CHAPTER 3
What are Straw Bales?
As bales are the essential building blocks for your home, it is important to know your bales. If you are going to make the right choices, you should understand how bales are made and what qualities to look for.
Speaking of Straw
Rectangular bales dotting the fields in midsummer is a familiar sight to a lot of people. An essential rural icon, a field of bales is often a symbol for wholesome rural ideals. But are those bales straw or hay?
Straw Is Not Hay!
It is common for people to confuse straw with hay. While bales of the two are the same size and shape, they are different substances. Hay refers to any combination of field grasses that are grown to maturity, cut while still relatively green, and baled to use as livestock feed when fresh grasses are not available. High in moisture content, food energy — a full course meal for critters big and small! — and having the potential to sustain microbial activity that can cause rotting and mold, hay is not what you want in your walls. Build your house with straw. Feed the hay to your livestock!
3.1: The seed heads of this summer barley are what the farmer wants to harvest. Once they are removed, the stalks are baled into a great building material.
“I’ll Grind Your Seeds to Make My Bread .…”
Straw, the dried stems of grain-bearing grasses, is harvested as a by-product of cereal grain farming. The nutritious seed head is cut — threshed — from the top of the plant once it is fully mature.With the seed head gone, the stalks are dried and baled.
The most common types of straw are wheat, oats, barely, flax, and rice. All of these are commercially farmed in most parts of the world. But any kind of straw can work, including hemp, spelt, rye, and other specialty grain and seed plants. It is possible to bale and build with almost any fibrous plant stems. As long as the majority of seed heads are removed and the stems are thoroughly dry before baling, anything growing nearby can be baled and used.
Farmers may use their straw as bedding for