[GSBN] Prefabricated and/or Modular Natural Building Systems

[Chris Magwood]

Hi all,

I have found this discussion to be packed with important ideas and 
directions for the future of straw bale construction and responsible 
building in general. And I can also see the relevance of everybody's 
point of view.

In my own practice, I have always tried to keep my material and labour 
sources as close to home as possible. I completely understand Dirk's 
interest in ensuring that this is embedded in his practice. At the same 
time, there are sometimes materials, products or skills that currently 
don't exist in the local market, and I think it does make sense to 
import these things, especially if the imports are products and/or 
skills that could come to exist in my local market, and if my importing 
them will help to build the case for developing them locally.

Prefab straw bale, in all the various forms it is taking around the 
world, is a great case in point. While it probably doesn't make sense 
for panels to originate in Lithuania and be shipped all around Europe 
forever, the fact that Ecococon has developed an excellent product that 
is stirring up interest and projects in many countries is a really 
important development. If interest grows enough, then it seems likely 
that manufacturing will begin to be set up elsewhere to serve regional 
markets. But this doesn't happen overnight, and having some patience and 
openness while this development grows is crucial for the spread of the 
idea. It certainly doesn't seem to me that anybody in this discussion 
has given up their ideals by using Ecococon panels. In fact, we can 
probably put numbers to the impacts of shipping the panels versus 
building with worse materials that were obtained locally. I'm sure it's 
not a disaster for the planet to have these bale panels moving around 
Europe, and it may be the start of something that we've all been hoping 
for: more widespread use of the material and the ideals behind the 
material.

We wouldn't be at the point where Dirk is able to build 20-unit houses 
or Lars building 2-story schools if we all approached the issue of 
better buildings in the exact same way. This whole GSBN community, and 
many people beyond it, have tried things out, reported back on the 
results and adjusted approaches in a continuous process of 
experimenting, sharing and learning. I would hope that we can continue 
to find out more about both of these approaches, and that they also 
splinter/grow into even more approaches. I would be concerned if anybody 
on this list began advocating for putting toxic glues into straw walls, 
or coating them with petrochemical sealant crap, or using bad labour 
practices. However, all I see in this debate is two approaches that 
share a whole lot of basic DNA. I want to know lots more about both 
approaches, because I see a lot of value in each of them. Okay, I'll 
admit it, I want to "steal" the best of both ways of building.

I definitely don't want to see us get so locked into any one particular 
approach that we stop seeing the value in the positive work of others.

Cheers,

Chris


-- 
Chris Magwood
Director, Endeavour Centre
www.endeavourcentre.org