Strawbale house growing...

Construction process of a strawbale house. From the blog ourstrawbalehouse.blogspot.com

All images were sourced from: http://ourstrawbalehouse.blogspot.com/

There is something fascinating about building with natural building materials... Straw is no exception.


Having built with straw before, I have to say that this material is definitely amongst the most enjoyable to worked with!
I am not sure if the first people who first started to use straw for construction purposes, roughly 150 or 200, years ago ever imagined that this material would be used as often as it is today. The "movement" of straw bale builders is definitely gaining momentum and I would say that the prospects are looking very positive for the future of this material.
Low environmental impact, energy efficiency due to high insulation, and recyclable building elements are only a few of the many features of sustainable construction of straw bale buildings.

I took all the images above from the blog Our Straw House, where you can follow the construction process of a straw bale house, from day one. Have a look and get inspired!

7th. European Straw Bale Gathering 2011

7th. European Straw Bale Gathering

23rd-27th August 2011

Bouzov Podoli, Czech Republic

13-20/8 Straw bale building workshop

Tuesday 23/8 8-16:00 Optional bus tour

Tuesday 17:00 Start of ESBG. Social evening with music.

Wednesday Hands on workshops during day, plenum evaluation and social slide show evening.

Thursday “Open Space”: Sharing of information in large and small groups; further development of topics through evening “World Café”, leading to work groups.

Friday Conference, press meeting and concert.

Saturday 4th National Natural Building Celebration, a joyful mix of trade fair, hands-on workshops, music and presentations. 16:00 Closing circle of ESBG. Camp fire evening

Sunday 28/8 1st National ‘Open Door’ day of residential straw 10-17:00 bale homes
 
 
ESBG 2011 Price:


From 15/02 until 15/03: 150 Euro
From 15/03 until 01/07: 200 Euro
From 01/07 until 23/08: 240 Euro

Fee includes program, materials, meals etc. but does not include transport or accommodation.

Upcoming courses/workshops

via: http://www.earthenhand.com/workshops.html#HouseDesign

(more courses on the webpage)

Earthen House Design

This class is now two days long

10am-3pm, Feb 26th-27th
Portland, Oregon

Taught by Scott Howard. Participants will design a house of their choice that uses earthen building techniques. With a combination of models, sketches, and drawings, this class will cover the basics of what you need to know to design a small earthen building and how to think like a builder. Discussions and slideshows will cover: passive solar, engineering calculations, drawing/sculpting to scale, designing comfortable human spaces, various earthen building methods, project planning, and permits.

This event will be held at the planet repair headquarters. please see: http://planetrepair.wordpress.com/events/

Tuition = $160 payable to Earthen Hand. Bring your own lunch.

Preregistration is required. Email us at workshops@earthenhand.com. to begin registration.

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Cob Oven Workshop in Puerto Rico

February 26th-27th
Taught by Scott Howard and friends. Learn How to build an oven from mostly earthen materials in under two days! Learn the basics of Cob, earthen plasters, and earthen paints. Decorate the oven as a group artwork. Lectures and slideshows as well. Wonderful setting, nice people, great food.

Tuition = $260 payable to Earthen Hand. Includes all meals, camping, indoor showers and bathroom.
Preregistration is required. Email us at workshops@earthenhand.com. to begin registration.

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Earthen Paints


- Get Dirty! Create Your Own Earthen Paints

10am- 2pm, March 20th

Portland, Oregon
Taught by Scott Howard. Create durable, beautiful, inexpensive paints to enhance your home. Earthen paints are non-toxic, easy to apply, easy to maintain, and are planet friendly. A great way to cover up drywall. Half the cost of conventional paint. This hands-on class includes explanation of a variety earthen building methods.

Tuition = $70 payable to Earthen Hand. Bring your own lunch.
Preregistration is required. Email us at workshops@earthenhand.com. to begin registration.

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Earthbag Building Basics

at the Portland Healing Arts Resource Project

10am-4pm, March 26th-27th

Portland, Oregon
Taught by Scott Howard and friends. Learn How to build walls using the Earthbag technique, a form of rammed earth. Although much faster than Cob wall construction, the end result can look identical. Learn a bit about Cob and earthen plasters as well. We will be building a small Kiln House at The Portland Healing Arts Resource Project. Pdx HARP is dedicated to heightening awareness of our local resources and empowering the community with knowledge, to help each of us to relearn that our health is in our hands.
Tuition = $220 payable to Earthen Hand. Includes lunches.

Preregistration is required. Email us at workshops@earthenhand.com. to begin registration.

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via: Earthenbuilt.com

2011 Construction internship - Canada
This will be a very exciting year for Earthen Built! Come be a part of it.
Mission:
Our goal is to offer a comprehensive program that will empower our interns and give them the confidence they need to continue on with and move forward in natural building and homesteading skills. With workshops and guest teachers brought in through the season, this Natural Building and Homesteading Internship is sure to provide many great opportunities for learning and gaining hands-on experience.


We are enriched as individuals and as a culture through every connection we make outside of ourselves. Through developing skills and knowledge that deepen our connection to the land we live on, the home we live in, and the community we are a part of, we are strengthening our joint efforts in enriching life for all.


Areas to be covered:
Be prepared for a grand variety of opportunities in both building and homesteading.
Some areas that will be covered include, and not limited to:

carpentry
foundations
light clay infill
cob
sculpture and artistic embellishments
clay and lime plasters
group design projects
exposure to animal care: sheep, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and ducks
organic gardening with permaculture skills
aquaculture installation
food forest installation
market gardening
bee keeping
food precessing, preservation, and fermentation
bread baking
taking the farm to the market
communication and team work
Time Commitment:


The majority of the internship program will focus on natural building, with about 1/3 of the time being given to the other aspects of life on the farm. There is some flexibility available to accommodate the learning desires of individuals as passions are discovered.

6 Month Option

Arrive Tuesday April 12th
Orientation April 12th – 14th
Kick-start with Mandala Garden Workshop April 15th – 17th
Regular programming begins Tue April 19th
Ending Celebration Wed. Oct. 12th
Departures Thur. Oct. 13th
3 Month Option
Arrive Wednesday May 18th
Orientation May 18th-20th
Kick-start with Country Cook-off May 21st-22nd
Regular programming begins Tue May 24th
Ending Celebration Mon. Aug. 15th
Departures Tue. Aug. 16th


Cost:3 Month Option: $ 5,100
6 Month Option: $ 10,100

Most of the workshops are available at no extra cost to interns. There may be some special workshops with guest teachers that may be extra.
Field trips to visit other natural buildings and farms in the area are included in the fees.
The PDC is not included in the internship, though interns will be given a discounted rate.
Some work-trade may be available based on need.

If this sounds like you and you are interested in taking this program, please don’t hesitate to send us an email requesting an application form. Click here to go directly to the contact page.

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via: Aprovecho
 
Natural Building Apprenticeship
Oregon, USA
 

Spring Session 2/28-6/1, Summer Session 7/25-11/3
The Natural Building Apprenticeship Program (NBAP) is a three month work-study designed for the beginner in natural building. Time is spent between work, hands-on instruction, and independent study. The participant will receive exposure to the wide gamut of techniques that natural building has to offer.

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via: Laboa.org

workshop - "BUILDING WITH STRAW BALE from design to construction" - Italy

5th March 2011 - 9.30am - 5.30pm
Lambrugo (CO) in the multipurpose room of VillaMalvina

Cost:
€ 150 includes teaching, course materials, coffee breaks and lunch vegetarian.

All members will be given the book "Building with straw bales" B. Jones
For information on courses: casadipaglia@hotmail.com
 
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via: Canelo project
StrawBale Comprehensive - taught by Bill & Athena Steen
Arizona, Canelo community


April 16-23, 2011
(7pm Saturday- 3pm Saturday)

cost $795 (includes lunches)
This week long course is intended for anyone seriously considering building a straw bale house. It is appropriate for those who want to do most of it by themselves or who would like to be well enough informed to make intelligent decisions during the design and build process. It will help each person define an approach that is uniquely based on his or her skill level, available time and resources.  
Course Topics Include:

Bale Wall Systems
Roofs & Foundations
Doors & Windows
Moisture Issues
Pinning Options
Electrical & Plumbing
Interior Walls
Cob & Light/Clay Straw
Wall Finishes
Earth & Lime Plaster
Small - Efficient Design
Straw Bale Home Tour

Work begins on Europe's largest straw-bale building

Source: guardian.co.uk


By: Martin Wainwright
2.11.2010
guardian.co.uk

An artist's impressions of Europe's biggest straw building, which when built will be a community centre, and 'enterprise base' organised by local Newlands Community Association. Photograph: spacepr.co.uk

Work is to start in the new year on Europe's largest building made from straw bales, which will rise from the slopes of Eccleshill above the river Aire valley in Bradford.

Thousands of tightly packed cubes of compressed straw will form the core walls of the 2,787 square metre complex on a brownfield site, formerly occupied by a now-demolished high school.

The £4m project will house a new community centre for a socially deprived area of east Bradford as well as 14 workspaces for small enterprise startups or "incubators" for fledgling businesses. Funding has been won by the local Newlands Community Association (NCA) which brings together residents and neighbourhood groups from a range of large estates on the edge of the West Yorkshire city.

The straw construction has helped to bring in sustainability funding from the European Union, which is giving £1.19m, and helped the success of a bid for £1m from the government's competitive Communitybuilders fund. The balance has been met by £900,000 from Bradford's Labour-controlled council through the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative and a loan from the Charity Bank.

Tony Holditch, business manager of the NCA, said: "We wanted to really push the boundaries of design and build to create a centre of excellence. In this period of recession and bad news across the country we are investing in something new and different. It's going to benefit a lot of people."

The straw walls will be 3ft thick, with brick pillars as addition load-bearing support, and finished with lime rendering and cedar panels. The complex includes a ground-source heat pump and a rainwater catchment reservoir which will supply lavatories, showers and water for plants within the building.

Extra energy will be generated by photovoltaic cells in the roof and wooden fittings and carpets have been commissioned from recycled material. Construction is expected to take 36 weeks.

Nick Twigg, building consultant at the planning specialists CBRE, whose Leeds office is advising NCA, said: "This building is intended to set the benchmark for sustainable community development in Europe. The result will be a fantastic new centre for the community to benefit from, as well as an exemplar of 'green' building."

Britain's biggest straw building to date is the showroom near Stansted in Essex of fine art auctioneers Sworders, which covers 1,100 square metres. It was built by the Yorkshire specialists Amazonails, based in Todmorden, about 20 miles from Bradford. They have put up over 100 straw bale buildings in Britain over the past 12 years, including a library and building society offices in Bradford.

As their name implies, they also encourage women into the traditionally male-dominated building trade.

"Huff as hard as you like - you can’t blow a straw house down"

Segue um artigo muito interessante publicado hoje no Times relativo a investigação sobre casas com paredes de fardos de palha. 

Créditos imagens : ModCell

Fonte:
Times Online, 20 de Maio 2010

Autor: Ben Webster, Environmental Editor

"Scientists have ruined the plot of a children’s fairytale by proving that straw houses do not necessarily blow down, even when subjected to an awful lot of huffing and puffing.
The first straw housing estate is being planned after tests showed that walls built of straw bales can be made strong enough to withstand hurricane-force winds. A two-storey straw house constructed at the University of Bath moved only 4mm (0.16in) when subjected to a force exceeding four tonnes, equivalent to 120mph winds.
Researchers pushed hydraulic jacks against the walls to simulate the wind speed. They concluded that even a three-storey straw house would be strong enough to survive the worst storms Britain is likely to experience. The house in the tests was made from prefabricated panels that consisted of wooden frames filled with straw bales and covered with lime render.
The heating bills for this type of straw house, which has walls almost half a metre thick, are 80 per cent lower than for modern homes made from bricks and breeze blocks. The carbon footprint from the construction and materials is also far lower because straw locks in carbon as it grows.

Pete Walker, director of the university’s Centre for Innovative Construction Materials, said there could be a net carbon reduction if transport emissions were avoided by purchasing straw from local farms. “We hope the data will help strengthen the case for the mainstream building industry switching to using more sustainable building materials like straw,” he said.

“It can be difficult to get a loan for a straw house because of the perception among some building societies that they are not as strong. But we have shown that the BaleHaus design is robust and suitable for the windiest places, though that doesn’t quite include building one on top of Snowdon as a replacement restaurant.”

Professor Walker said that the house had also passed fire tests, with the lime render preventing flames from reaching the straw for one and a half hours, well over the 30-minute minimum under safety regulations. The greatest risk to straw houses is from moisture, which can cause the straw to decay. The university is planning to test how the panels would cope with a flood this summer.

Professor Walker said that lime render was breathable and this should allow any moisture to escape. “If you get an inundation we don’t yet know if the straw dries out quickly enough before it starts decaying,” he said. “But even in the worst-case scenario, the straw could be replaced in a panel for only a few hundred pounds.”

He added that the homes should last more than 100 years if they remained occupied and any leaks were quickly repaired. In Nebraska there are several straw bale buildings dating from the early 20th century.
The BaleHaus design used by the university requires eight panels for each storey. Once the concrete foundations are in place, it can be assembled in four days, compared with a minimum of four weeks for a conventional home.
An affordable housing co-operative in Leeds is planning to submit an application within three months for 20 straw homes in the Kirkstall area of the city. A single-storey apartment will cost £60,000 and a four-bedroom terrace home £160,000.
The homes will have slightly smaller rooms than conventional houses of similar overall dimensions. The straw bales are 490mm thick, compared with 300-350mm walls in a new brick home.
Professor Walker said: “This is an issue for developers that want to pack as many houses as they can into a space.” But he added that developers using straw would find it much easier to meet the Government’s target to make all new homes “zero carbon” from 2016. "

Workshop com Gernot Minke - Verão 2010

Workshop:  “Load-bearing Straw Bale Vaults and Dome. Dirigido por Gernot Minke."

 

Lugar: Eslováquia. Perto de Bratislava.

Datas: 16-28 Agosto 2010
           6-18 Setembro 2010
Preço: 245 Euros (sem alojamento); 380 Euros (com alojamento)

Este workshop, a cargo do arquitecto alemão Gernot Minke, é uma oportunidade fantástica para aprender sobre formas de construção com terra e fardos de palha. Tendo já tido o privilégio de passar uma semana a aprender com este senhor, posso dizer por experiência própria que aconselho vivamente este curso.

Programa e inscrição:  AQUI

Contacto: Zuzana Kierulfová (zkierulfova@gmail.com)

Curso de construção com Fardos de Palha

Directamente do blog Terra Palha fica também a informação relativa a um curso de construção com fardos de palha.

A formação tem uma duração de 30h - 4h teóricas e 26h práticas para treino de construção de fundações, paredes, vãos e cobertura verde. Abrange trabalho prático de todas as fases da construção para que os formandos possam ficar com bases que permitam construir com fardos de palha. Não é necessária experiência de construção prévia. Teremos um operário de construção a dar apoio técnico na execução dos trabalhos práticos.

Dias: 3, 4, 5 e 6 de Junho.
Local: Casa-Shanti, Mafra

Site: www.casa-shanti.com
Formadores: Catarina Pinto . Eduardo Buzaglo
Preço: 340€ inclui 4 noites de alojamento na Casa-Shanti, todas as refeições e formação. Ou 220€ formação e 4 almoços, sem alojamento.

As inscrições até 15 de Maio têm 20€ de desconto.
Inscrições: tlm 933 291 112
catarinapinto@terrapalha.com

Máximo de 15 participantes.

"A low impact woodland home"

As imagens que vos mostro hoje estão disponíveis no website de Simon Dale, o autor e construtor de uma casa muito especial. Simon tinha a intenção de habitar uma casa que respeitasse a natureza e que tivesse o mínimo de impacto ambiental possível, foi então a partir desta premissa que resolveu construir para si e para a sua família este magnífico espaço.

Deixo também um excerto da sua página, onde se descreve a estratégia para a construção da casa:

"Some key points of the design and construction:

Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
Water by gravity from nearby spring
Compost toilet
Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again."

Clique AQUI para aceder à página A Low impact woodland Home.

Créditos das imagens: www.SimonDale.net

Web - Construcción con Balas de Paja

Para os interessados na construção com materiais naturais em geral, e fardos de palha em particular, aqui fica um link para uma página com imensa informação interessante sobre o tema (Construcción con Balas de Paja).

Ainda neste website poderão encontrar imagens de workshops recentes e exemplos de utilização do material.

Construção com fardos de palha

Este vídeo traz-nos o testemunho de Carolyn (ver website), uma mulher que dedicou cerca de um ano e meio da sua vida ao seu sonho de construir a sua própria casa. Para tal, recorreu aos fardos de palha como material para as suas paredes e à terra para as cobrir e também para o pavimento interior.

São cada vez mais os exemplos de pessoas que decidem enveredar por este caminho. Eu diria que as razões são imensas, assim como as vantagens. Julgo que só o facto de se investir uma quantia mínima quando comparada ao preço de uma casa "convencional" já é motivação suficiente, se a isso adicionarmos o facto de se erguer um edifício com materiais naturais, de baixa energia incorporada, com bom comportamento térmico e confortável...

Poder-se-ia argumentar, no entanto, que incentivar este tipo de construções deixa de fora o papel do arquitecto. Pessoalmente, discordo desta afirmação.

Acredito que os arquitectos podem embarcar em todo este processo de "self-build", provavelmente com uma postura mais participativa do que a que se pratica actualmente. Claro que nem todos os clientes procuram este tipo de intervenção, mas para os que desejam ter um papel fundamental na concepção, e mesmo construção, da sua casa, poderiam encontrar no arquitecto o especialista que garantirá a manutenção da qualidade desde os primeiros esquissos até ao produto final.

Fonte da imagem: http://www.ahouseofstraw.com/

workshop - fardos de palha

O entusiasmo pelos métodos de construção mais sustentáveis tem vindo a crescer visivelmente. Para além da terra também outros materiais têm angariado fiéis seguidores, tanto aqui no Reino Unido como em tantas outras partes do mundo.
Este é o caso da palha que, quando aglomerada em fardos, pode também ser utilizada para erguer paredes transformando-se num bloco de grandes dimensões com excelentes qualidades térmicas e acústicas.
Passei o dia de sexta-feira num workshop de construção em fardos de palha que antecedeu uma conferência com o mesmo tema. Já tinha experimentado construir com este material numa ocasião anterior, há coisa de 4 ou 5 anos, e a sensação de que estava a lidar com um material de grandes potencialidades voltou a estar bem presente na minha mente.

A falta de massa térmica no material pode ser facilmente compensada com um reboco de terra de espessura considerável, o que proporciona ao ambiente anterior conforto quer em termos de temperatura, quer em termos de níveis de humidade relativa. Em edifícios de fardos de palha erguidos em zonas excepcionalmente frias, já foram inclusive registadas temperaturas internas na casa dos 20ºC quando no exterior se liam -20ºC, isto sem recurso a qualquer aquecimento.
Obviamente que para tal acontecer todos os elementos do projecto têm de trabalhar em conjunto. Não basta ter paredes de fardos de palha para que uma casa seja imediatamente confortável. No caso que referi anteriormente, a fachada Sul era completamente composta por vidro triplo e o conceito de construção da casa baseava-se no passivhaus standard, ou seja, estes níveis de conforto seriam provavelmente igualmente atingíveis com recurso a outro tipo de materiais de construção.

Tal como na construção em terra, caso nos preocupemos com a energia incorporada, será importante considerar o nível de mecanização envolvida no processo. Este facto influenciará decisões como por exemplo rebocar as paredes à mão ou com terra projectada.

Este material, a par de outros, entre os quais se encontra a terra, será com certeza uma boa opção para quem deseja construir de forma mais sustentável e em harmonia com a Natureza.