[GSBN] 200-yr-old straw houses in Europe?

[Mark Piepkorn]

Though I hardly ever see the claim made anymore, for a while it was a 
fairly standard pro-SB argument (made by neophyte evangelists, 
usually) that we know SB works because it's been around for a couple 
hundred years. Rubbish.

In the book Sustainable Architecture White Papers, which came out in 
2000 (from Chelsea Green) but which I'd never read, a paper on the 
Roaring Fork Waldorf School (apparently reprinted from Solar Today 
Magazine) by Laurie Stone of Solar Energy International says, 
"Straw-bale construction has been around for centuries. In Europe, 
one can find houses built out of straw that are over 200 years old."

It doesn't specifically say 200-year-old *baled*-straw structures. 
(Automatic balers weren't around until the 1800s, of course, though 
there were hand-balers prior to that... but never in widespread use, 
as far as I can tell.)

I'm trying to figure out why and how this claim started - if there's 
some kernel of misunderstood truth, or if it's just cut from whole 
cloth. I haven't contacted the author yet. Probably won't. I met her 
once, years ago, and she was very nice. I'm content to leave it at that.

There are similar claims made in cordwood-building circles, though 
nobody can cite actual examples.


Mark Piepkorn
www.potkettleblack.com

In the world to come I shall not be asked, "Why were you
not Moses?" I should be asked, "Why were you not Zusya?"
   - Rabbi Zusya