<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV>Greetings All:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In 2000 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published a summary paper
titled “Straw Bale House Moisture Research.” It is part of the Research
Highlights Technical Series 00-103. There are quotes from Bob Platt’s “Pilot
Study of Moisture Control in Stuccoed Straw Bale Walls” concerning the
“discouraging” results of the investigation of straw in floors- </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of the 12 samples, two in an occupied house were in the range of 20 to 30
per cent moisture content (MC).</DIV>
<DIV>All the others exceeded 45 per cent. Some were as wet as 300 per cent
moisture content; these samples showed</DIV>
<DIV>liquid water in the cavities. Current advice on preventing straw rot
recommends</DIV>
<DIV>keeping it under 20 per cent moisture content. Rot typically begins at 25
to 30 per cent moisture content.</DIV>
<DIV>The collected core samples showed that in-floor environments are conducive
to rot. All the samples</DIV>
<DIV>showed at least some discolouration at the base of the concrete cavity; the
straw was rotting from the bottom</DIV>
<DIV>up.The longer the straw had been wet, the more developed the rot. Several
bales had lost volume and</DIV>
<DIV>subsided within the concrete cavity. In the worst case, a straw-insulated
swimming pool, there was nothing</DIV>
<DIV>but a pile of black compost in the base of the cavity. The waffle slab
floor of a Montreal-area house is still</DIV>
<DIV>being monitored with wood-block sensors.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There you have it-nix on the swimming pools.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The full report can be downloaded at: </DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">
<DIV><BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/publications/en/rh-pr/tech/dblist.cfm?mode=year"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/publications/en/rh-pr/tech/dblist.cfm?mode=year</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> <BR>Go to the bottom of the list for 00-103 on straw
bale moisture monitoring, look under 2000, the year of publication.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">All the best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Habib</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">*****************************************<BR>SUSTAINABLEWORKS<BR>Habib
John L Gonzalez<BR>RR#1, S-4, C-12<BR>Crescent Valley, BC<BR>Canada V0G
1H0<BR>250-359-5095
<BR>780-438-0821<BR>www.sustainableworks.ca<BR>*****************************************<BR><BR>"Better
the kindness of imperfection than perfection without kindness"
</DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>