[GSBN] David Arkin's Climate Ride 2018 for CASBA

[Martin Hammer]

Dear all,

>From Sept 15-18th GSBN member and CASBA's volunteer director David Arkin
will bicycle his sixth fundraising Climate Ride!  Each time David has raised
funds for CASBA (California Straw Building Association) as well as other
organizations with environmental causes such as the Solar Living Institute,
the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Architecture 2030. This
year his fundraising will go exclusively to CASBA.

In 2015, a rare year that David rested, I was privileged to do the 300+ mile
bike ride for CASBA. A fabulous ride with inspired support from friends of
straw bale and sustainable building.

David and I will not ask you to pedal the challenging but immensely
satisfying ride (though for future rides you're welcome to do that!). We
instead encourage your support with donations, especially if you believe in
or benefit from CASBA's work, including:

* Currently quantifying the carbon-sequestration of straw-based wall
systems. In conjunction with David chairing the Embodied Carbon Network's
Renewable Materials Task Force, to promote plant-based, rapidly-renewable
materials, and make our buildings carbon sinks instead of carbon-emitting!
* The many-years team effort to produce CASBA¹s Straw Bale Building Details
book, recently completed and now in the publisher¹s hands (!).
* Structural testing of straw bale walls at Santa Clara University in
cooperation with SCU engineering students and faculty.
* The straw bale code effort I have led the past 14 years and that some of
you have helped author, culminating in Appendix S - Strawbale Construction
in the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC). Appendix S also influenced
the approval of a similar code on Light Straw-Clay Construction, and is
being used as the basis for the EBANZ proposed Straw Bale Guidelines in New
Zealand.
* Adoption of Appendix S & R in a number of US states with CASBA supported
advocacy. (Note of thanks here to recent fundraising for the code work by
the Colorado Straw Bale Association and its director Ian Smith.)
* Offering Appendix S and its highly informative Commentary for free
download on CASBA¹s website:  https://www.strawbuilding.org/news/3587353
* Revision of the IRC Strawbale and Light Straw-Clay codes every three
years.
* Saving the Adobe section from removal from the International Building
Code.
* With input from others and based on historical experience and recent
testing, I will soon begin writing a proposed IRC appendix on Cob
Construction, which CASBA will also help support.
* Dialogue with and education of Insurance and Lending industries, about the
safety and high performance of straw bale buildings. Assisting straw bale
homeowners to find Insurance Companies and Lenders.
* Documentation of the performance of straw bale buildings in California¹s
catastrophic wildfires over recent years. Offering to fire victims
information and services regarding straw bale and all sustainable and safe
ways of building.
* Support of sustainable post-earthquake rebuilding in Pakistan, Haiti and
Nepal, in collaboration with Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building
(PAKSBAB) and Builders Without Borders.
* Annual Plastering and Straw Bale Workshops
* Annual CASBA Conferences, now called the West Coast Natural Building
Conference

CASBA does a lot!  And Climate Ride fundraising has helped support all of
its work over the past 7 years, and will continue to into the future.

Consider supporting CASBA. All donations small and large make a difference.
And this year David has personally matched all donations up to Climate
Ride's required minimum, which means every dollar donated goes to CASBA. As
a special thank you for donations of $150 or more, you will receive a copy
of the CASBA¹s Straw Bale Building Details, due out April 2019.

To donate to David¹s ride, please go to:
https://support.climateride.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&
participantID=6387

Thank you . . .

Sustainably yours,

Martin Hammer

On behalf CASBA





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainablesources.com/pipermail/gsbn/attachments/20180906/4b13fd0d/attachment.htm>