Home design

Interest in straw bale construction has been growing rapidly in the U.S., especially among ownerbuilders. A straw bale house full resembles an adobe house in the southwest, with thick walls, rounded corners a bit, and stucco finish. From an environmental standpoint, this building system has much in its favor. The thick walls insulate very well, and the main raw material is an agricultural waste product.

Straw is the dry stalk left after harvest of cereals, including wheat, barley, oats or rice. It makes no sense to plow all the straw back into the ground, because the microorganisms needed to break it down steal nitrogen from the soil, fertilizer and therefore more to add. Until recently, the straw is usually burned in the fields after the grain harvest (a practice in California generates more air pollution smogcausing that all state’s power plants combined).

Traffic accidents caused by the burning of straw during the shifting winds have led to the prohibition of burning in some areas, and pollutioncontrol and safety standards have greatly reduced the practice. Using straw as construction material is a great way to make use of this waste product. The idea of using the packed straw as a building material dates back to late 1800, just after wrapping machines were invented. There