[GSBN] prefab strawbale

[Bruce King]

Prefab or site built, compadres and commadres, what still drives me a  
bit nuts is that we are still using quite a lot of framing lumber to  
build (most) straw bale buildings.  There are lots of compelling  
reasons for that, of course, but I keep hoping someone will make the  
breakthrough that makes load-bearing straw bale much easier and hassle- 
free.

There are lots and lots of load-bearing bale buildings all over the  
world, yes, of course, but they are not mainstream.  Meaning:  in one  
way or another they are not easy, or cheap (??!!??), or just don't  
meet (or haven't yet been proven to meet) the kind of building  
standards that most of us have to work with.

Straw bale building is stuck in a bit of a wood rut, and I don't know  
how to bump it out.  Do you?

Thanks,

Bruce King
(415) 987-7271
bruce-king.com

On Jul 29, 2009, at 3:51 PM, John Glassford wrote:

> G ' day Again
>
> Re the costing of the Pommie Panels.
>
> They say from 250 pounds per square metre that is expensive, very  
> expensive.  That brings them in at around $500 per square metre and  
> as we all know it takes around three standard bales for one square  
> metre of wall.  In our case that costs $15 per square metre just for  
> the bales.  Then you have to build them and render them of course  
> but the margin is huge in the case of the Pommie Panels v the good  
> old Nebraska way!
>
> I am of the opinion that tilt up panels will have their place but  
> the costs of manufacture transportation and erection cannot compete  
> with the way we build with straw bale just like this little cottage:
>
> http://glassford.com.au/main/?attachment_id=1751
>
> The Straw Wolf.
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