<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Hello fellow Bale-heads,<br><br>I've been quietly lurking on
the list for some time now, and my coffee-hour review of GSBN topic
threads has been a delight. My gratitude to you all for your
contributions. I had the pleasure of meeting many of you at the ISBC in
Colorado this fall. <br>
<br>I am the president of the non profit Alternative Solutions Resource
Initiative (ASRi) on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Our mandate includes
the development of technical guidelines in collaboration with the
professional building community on the best practices and uses of
alternative materials.<br>
<br>We are about to publish the ASR guideline on Straw Bale
construction. The purpose of this ASR Straw Bale document is to provide a
reference for the building community - from homeowners to architects,
engineers, building
officials, contractors, and all other building professionals - when
working on any project that involves straw bale. The guideline provides
comprehensive, concise and
regionally-appropriate information on the use of Straw Bale methods that
are not currently addressed by the British Columbia Building Code. It
is in essence a comprehensive review of the existing testing and
documentation on straw bale construction, edited and organized through
the lens of the provincial building code, and reviewed by experienced
professionals. More information including the methodology and a sample
page is available on our website, <a href="http://www.asri.ca" target="_blank">www.asri.ca</a>. As of June 10th, the PDF will be available for sale on our website for $25.<br>
<br>Chris Magwood is visiting the island to present on straw bale
construction as a part of the launch, Saturday June 8th here in
Victoria. If any of you happen to be nearby, you are of course most
welcome to attend- full details on the <a href="http://asri.ca/index.html" target="_blank">ASRi website</a>. <br>
<br>My heart felt gratitude to the many reviewers who have supported our
team in creating this document- Bruce King, Martin Hammer, Jacob Deva
Racusin, Frank Tettemer, Habib Gonzalez, Tim Krahn, Chris Magwood, Darcey Donovan
and many many others from around the world. Gratitude to David Eisenberg
for encouraging me years ago to jump in, and keeping me inspired on a
mixture of red wine and poetry. Christina Goodvin was the lead
researcher of the project, and all around rockstar. The ASRi team and I
could not have accomplished what we have without the support, feedback,
and comradery of the wider straw bale building community. Cheers all
around folks. I humbly hope that what we have created is useful to the
wider building community, and feedback on our work is of course most
welcome.<br>
<br></div>hugs,<br>Dawn Smith<br></div>on behalf of ASRi <br clear="all"><br></div>ps this my first post to the list, my apologies if I accidentally double post.<br><div>-- <br>Dawn Smith<br>Project Manager<br>Island Village Builders<br>
778-679-5888<br><img src="http://islandvillagebuilders.ca/IslandVillageBuildersSignatureLogo.png"><br>
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