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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Based on the numbers in the SB Registry
for Texas vs the number I know of in just the Central Texas area,
I would definitely push the numbers to easily 10x the listed
amounts in general. <br>
<br>
One thing to consider is the kind of people who are often drawn to
SB. There are a fair number (at least in the US) who are very
private about personal information, and there are a fair number
who have no interest in the online world, both of whom would not
be likely to list themselves. <br>
<br>
Note also that the Registry is entirely voluntary.<br>
<br>
Note also that the listing numbers have been rather flat for a
good number of years - partly because we've stopped promoting it
as much as we used to. Perhaps there has been a slowdown in the
actual construction numbers as well. That wouldn't be entirely
surprising. Maybe the revival of The Last Straw will bring an
influx of new listings. <br>
<br>
There are pockets where SB enthusiasts have listed every building
that goes up. There are more areas where people quietly built
after researching on the internet or reading about it in a
magazine somewhere, with little to no connection to the wider
SB/natural building community. <br>
<br>
For my own part, I have to say that the Registry is deeply in need
of a software overhaul. We built it 12 years ago, and the
underlying programming is way out of date. The server it's on is
old and slow, because the software is so old it won't run on a
newer server. Hard drive space cost a lot more back then... now
it's a lot cheaper and we could easily accommodate image uploads.
There are a lot of other enhancements we could do, if time and
money were no object. It's been on my long list of things to do
for quite a while now, but I've had to keep my attention on work
that pays my bills (there's been just slightly above zero funding
beyond the initial generosity of Catherine Wanek). Now that I've
taken on a 40 hour a week gig, my time to work on pet projects
like this is slimmer than ever, though the financial need is,
fortunately, less. <br>
<br>
At the same time, I regularly get email from people who benefit
from its existence - finding information about mortgagers and
insurance, as well as just finding out, as someone put it in an
email to me this morning, that at least someone else in their area
has already gone through the permitting process. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 9/16/13 2:16 PM, martin hammer wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:CE5CC337.18399%25mfhammer@pacbell.net"
type="cite">
<title>Re: [GSBN] How many strawbale buildings in the USA?</title>
<font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:9pt">Hi Catherine,<br>
<br>
Whenever I’m faced with this question, I go to the
International Straw Bale Registry; <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://sbregistry.sustainablesources.com/search.straw">http://sbregistry.sustainablesources.com/search.straw</a><br>
<br>
I take the number of registered SB buildings, for a particular
state, country, continent, or planet, and multiply it by a
reasonable factor. That factor will vary depending on the
state or country. For California with 125 registered
buildings, I’ve used a factor of 5, assuming for every SB
building registered there are 4 that aren’t. But that factor
is an educated hunch. It could be too high, but I’ve also
heard people say that for every one registered there are 10
that aren’t.<br>
<br>
There are 89 registered in Colorado, 741 in the US, 92 in
Canada, 29 in Australia, 6 in NZ, 7 in the UK, 2 in Pakistan
(where I know there are over 30), 597 in China (I believe
Kelly has stated there are now about 1000), 1 in Haiti (where
I know there is 1), so the factor depends on what you know, or
think you know for the region.<br>
<br>
For the NY Times inquiry, the enquiring mind (reporter?) could
say “In the US there are 741 straw bale buildings registered
on the International Straw Bale Registry. Many practitioners
believe there are at least 4 times that many in the US that
are not registered, suggesting a total of over 3500 straw bale
buildings in the US.” And similarly for Europe and the
world. Pick your numbers.<br>
<br>
Glad you’re safe and sound at the Black Range Lodge.<br>
<br>
Martin<br>
<br>
<br>
On 9/16/13 12:44 PM, "Catherine Wanek" <<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mail@builderswithoutborders.org">mail@builderswithoutborders.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</span></font>
<blockquote><span style="font-size:9pt"><font face="Georgia, Times
New Roman">I know that this topic has been on this list
before....but I haven't seen a compilation of how many
strawbale buildings there are in the USA. <br>
<br>
...An enquiring mind from the NY Times would like a rough
estimate.<br>
<br>
Is there an estimate of how many in Europe? The World?<br>
<br>
</font></span><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman"><font
size="5"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sincerely,<br>
</span></font><span style="font-size:9pt">Catherine Wanek<br>
Co-director<br>
Builders Without Borders<br>
</span><font size="5"><span style="font-size:12pt"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.builderswithoutborders.org">www.builderswithoutborders.org</a>
<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/">http://www.builderswithoutborders.org/</a>>
<br>
</span></font><span style="font-size:9pt"><br>
</span><font size="5"><span style="font-size:12pt"><i>Ecological
builders working together for a sustainable future.<br>
</i></span></font></font><font face="Arial"><span
style="font-size:9pt"><br>
<br>
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