by Sandra Williams
If you want to learn about how to build a straw bale house, Andrew Morrison at Strawbale.com knows his stuff. He created a Straw Bale Village, which consists of 15 straw bale homes in Jacksonville Oregon.
He also teaches seven day workshops on straw bale techniques and encourages people to bring their musical instruments if they have them to play in the evening.
Free Straw Building Resources
If you can’t make it to his workshops, there are plenty of free resources on the site where you can learn more about straw baling. There are articles, videos, podcasts, blog and a free ecourse. If you are interested in attending a week long workshop you can check out his schedule online. It appears that they will be available in Oregon and New York although he’s mentioned he’s traveled all over the world.
Here for example is a video with Andrew addressing the misconceptions of building with straw bales. At the end, there are some gorgeous photos in a slide show with examples of straw bale homes.
I love the rounded contours, colors and the sturdy natural look of the homes. They are also noise proof and save on heat and air conditioning because of insulating so well. Of course they’re made with sustainable materials.
According to Andrew, the U.S. burns and/or throws out 200 million tons of straw a year. If we use our own local renewable straw for building, that saves on transportation and burning fossil fuels.
- For more tips on various green building methods Shelly from Natural and Sustainable shares some pointers on flooring choices, paint and more. See 9 Lessons on Green Building for more.
Leave a Reply