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<TITLE>Re: [GSBN] Straw Bale Code Appeal</TITLE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Great work, Laura. Look forward to the report when it’s available. Many of us on the GSBN have done so much to help educate building officials and others in our own communities and regions and in many countries. Always glad to hear about the experiences everyone has had. Thanks.<BR>
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Joyce<BR>
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Joyce Coppinger<BR>
Managing Editor/Publisher<BR>
The Last Straw, the international journal<BR>
of strawbale and natural building<BR>
PO Box 22706, Lincoln NE 68542-2706<BR>
402.483.5135, fax 402.483.5161<BR>
<thelaststraw@thelaststraw.org><BR>
web site: www.thelaststraw.org<BR>
and our new blog at <a href="http://thelaststrawblog.org">http://thelaststrawblog.org</a><BR>
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Dear GSBN'ers, <BR>
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First, let me say I am feeling very thankful again for this network, the value it offers, and the access it provides to so many good people doing excellent work. I don't write often, but I "listen" a lot and speak up as my schedule allows. <BR>
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And secondly, I was asked to share this by several of you. I was recently hired by a client to appeal a straw bale code in Grand County, UT that required a "weather barrier" or "sheet barrier" 32" up the exterior of the straw bale wall under the plaster. This code requirement has been in place for over 10 years, previously required a full sheet barrier and was unsatisfactory to many builders and owners in the jurisdiction. The client, who I applaud, was willing to put some resources into having a study of this and to create a hopefully successful appeal for the benefit of those following him. The head code official is on the board of the International Code Council and is involved at the state level as well. Thanks</SPAN></FONT><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'><FONT FACE="Arial"> go </FONT><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">to several folks on this list who I contacted individually for thoughts and data related to this issue. I collected data from the StrawSense systems that GreenWeaver makes and sells and wrote a report summarizing that data, the data in a study by Kris Dick, and a one-time moisture investigation I did of the Waldorf School campus in 2007. With that in hand, I met with the building official, the clients and their builder last week and at the end of a two hour meeting, he agreed to remove the requirement from the code and to look more deeply at the other straw bale requirements and opportunities</FONT><FONT FACE="Arial"> to improve their code.</FONT><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"> The meeting helped me to see again some of the common misconceptions about drainage vs. storage wall assemblies, the role of plasters, and the properties of vapor permeance and capillary absorption. But, it also helped me to understand again the value of taking the educational approach, going in with an appreciation of the motivations for a code, and an attitude of wanting to work together. The building official was very conscientious and I applaud him as well in this change. <BR>
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Thanks again to those involved. <BR>
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Laura <BR>
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I will make available a .pdf of the data after I add some additional data that came in after the fact. <BR>
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</I></B></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT COLOR="#50742B"><FONT SIZE="4"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14.0px'>Laura Bartels<BR>
<I>P.O. Box 912, Carbondale, CO 81623<BR>
Ph 970-379-6779, Fax 970-963-0905<BR>
laura@greenweaverinc.com<BR>
www.greenweaverinc.com<BR>
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