[GSBN] [Gsbn] Important GSBN News

[John Swearingen]

This seems like something that might be appropriate for the larger SB
associations, ie CASBA, COSBA etc. to support on an ongoing basis.

John
John Swearingen
Skillful Means Design & Construction
2550 9th Street   Suite 209A
Berkeley, CA   94710
510.849.1800 phone
*707.494.0199* mobile
Web Site:  http://www.skillful-means.com


On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 7:55 PM Bill Christensen <
billc at sustainablesources.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> The Straw Bale Registry server started giving me problems just last
> week... it is currently offline, and since we're under "stay at home"
> orders here in Austin, TX, it'll probably be next week at the earliest,
> possibly the week after that before I can address the problem.  The
> Registry is the only thing on that server.
>
> The Registry server and the software that runs the Registry are both
> pretty old.  I've been wanting to completely overhaul it and expand the
> scope for years, but I don't have any funding to do that - We received some
> funding to build it initially (shout out to Catherine Wanek), but there's
> been pretty much nothing ever since.
>
> I have the data from the Registry downloaded of course.  I suspect it'll
> take a fair bit of work to make it usable. I also suspect that the contact
> info for a fair number of the listed buildings is waaaay out of date as
> we've done nothing to remind people to update their listings for a very
> long time. But we do have location info, if someone wanted to follow up on
> that.
>
> You can see some of the data by going to
> http://web.archive.org/web/20190904143620/http://sbregistry.sustainablesources.com/search.straw.
> They didn't archive all the way down in many cases, and of course they
> could only see the info which is publicly visible.  A lot of SB people are
> pretty adamant about their privacy and we took pains to insure that we
> could collect data about their SBs without making it public except in a
> general aggregate form.
>
> Remember also that some years into this project, State Farm decided to use
> the Registry to identify and deny insurance to SB homes - the exact
> opposite of our intent.  That resulted in further restrictions on what
> identifying info we were able and willing to share.  I'm pretty sure that
> occurred prior to the oldest data on archive.org (2011).
>
>
> On 3/27/20 8:55 PM, David Arkin, AIA wrote:
>
> Hello Bill / GSBN and Sustainable Sources:
>
> Hope this finds you well, in these times in particular.
>
> I was looking for the Straw Bale Registry and the link provided by Google
> wouldn’t open … curious if it now has a new address as well, or otherwise?
>
> One of our members has a project idea to query the registry for their
> insurance and finance experience, and ideally the information gathered is
> made available to others who might be struggling with one or both of these,
> both potential homeowners as well as many current ones located in
> fire-prone areas in particular.
>
> Would be please to hear your thoughts on the survey project, and whether
> it could be added to the database or just solicited separately.
>
> Be well, stay kind,
>
> David / CASBA
>
> On Jan 22, 2020, at 9:22 PM, Bill Christensen <
> billc at sustainablesources.com> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone!
>
> I have a couple of important news items:
>
> 1) GSBN has moved to a new server, and *the address has changed.*  Please
> be sure that you use the address "*gsbn at lists.sustainablesources.com
> <gsbn at lists.sustainablesources.com>*" (we added the "lists." part to the
> previous address) in all future emails.  I may be able to get the old
> address to forward over to the new, but it'll be best if you just use the
> new address.
>
> We were offline for a while in the fall due to software issues, and I'll
> be forwarding the two emails the list received during our downtime to the
> list as soon as I'm done with this one.
>
> 2) I now have time to put together something I've wanted to do for a long
> time: an online video meeting.  We can use Zoom or GoToMeeting - I'm open
> to suggestions - and talk about what is going on in the world of Straw,
> Earth, and Sustainable Building.
>
> The idea would be to have quarterly or monthly video meetups, record them,
> and post them to YouTube or similar.
>
> The first one would probably just be a round-table type free for all, but
> later ones could center on a particular topic or a presentation by one of
> our esteemed contributors.
>
> I'm thinking that the first meeting could be sometime in February. Let's
> discuss dates and times and, if anyone is particularly familiar with
> various technologies, that too.
>
> --
> Bill Christensenhttp://SustainableSources.com <http://sustainablesources.com/>http://LinkedIn.com/in/billc108 <http://linkedin.com/in/billc108>
>
> “A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention
> with the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequila.” — Mitch Ratcliffe
>
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>
>
>
>
> *  *  *  *  *
> Arkin Tilt Architects
> Ecological Planning & Design
> 1101 8th St. #180, Berkeley, CA  94710
> 510/528-9830 ext. 202
> www.arkintilt.com
>
> David Arkin, AIA, Architect
> LEED Accredited Professional
> CA #C22459/NV #5030
>
> Co-Director, California Straw Building Association
> www.strawbuilding.org
> CASBA is a project of the Tides Center
>
> "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way."
> — A. J. Muste
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Bill Christensenhttp://SustainableSources.comhttp://LinkedIn.com/in/billc108
>
> “A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other invention
> with the possible exceptions of handguns and Tequila.” — Mitch Ratcliffe
>
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>
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