[GSBN] Prefabricated and/or Modular Natural Building Systems

[John Swearingen]

Chris makes excellent points about the evolution and progress of natural
building materials.  We are still experimenting, and adapting methods and
technologies to our particular conditions, and to new 'markets' for healthy
buildings.

Our own interest in prefabricated strawbale methods came directly out of
our experience with victims of wildfires in California. First, we watched
as modular home manufacturers swooped in to offer great deals on not so
great housing, with promises of exactly what people needed--low cost and
construction-ready housing.

Then, in hopes that some people at least would build sustainable and
healthy homes, we offered free plans to anyone who lost their home.  People
loved them--but couldn't come close to affording to build them.  So we
decided to apply our expertise in earnest to developing a low-cost
strawbale solution.

We've favored a system that could be adopted by owner-builders and used at
remote sites, does not require extensive equipment or a particular 'plant'
to produce, and efficiently will meet seismic demands. Chris and John
Glassford have been models for this. Even though John's toilets swirl the
wrong direction, he's been clever and relentless in keeping his systems
affordable, and Chris has his eye on both the owner-builders he's helped
and the larger building community that he has increasingly come to
influence.

Fully developed systems like ModCell and Ecococon are definitely going to
play a large part in spreading use of sustainable, carbon sequestering
materials. We have an architect in Northern California, Jon Hammond with
Indigo Architects who pioneered strawbale and has bravely managed to
infiltrate light commercial and public markets, but has done so "despite"
the difficulties of using a funky and imperfect material in the highly
standardized commercial sphere. I can only imagine what could be done with
an Ecococonn plant nearby!

When strawbale first came to California our biggest efforts went into
developing engineering, fire, energy and other data that would allow the
wide adoption of the material, and that has led to adoption by code, but
we're still making one-off buildings, with the trouble and expense that
entails. Ecococon is an example of where a standardized system can take
sustainable materials to a new market, and is many ways the next phase of
strawbale technology, Strawbale 3.0.  Both Ecococon and ModCell, have what
might be viewed as proprietary systems, but they are exclusive only in the
work that has gone into developing and testing their assemblies and their
approaches can be replicated (stolen) easily and their details are freely
shared.  I think it's an exciting new frontier!

John "Modulus of Modularity" Swearingen







On Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 6:07 PM Chris Magwood <chris at endeavourcentre.org>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have found this discussion to be packed with important ideas and
> directions for the future of straw bale construction and responsible
> building in general. And I can also see the relevance of everybody's
> point of view.
>
> In my own practice, I have always tried to keep my material and labour
> sources as close to home as possible. I completely understand Dirk's
> interest in ensuring that this is embedded in his practice. At the same
> time, there are sometimes materials, products or skills that currently
> don't exist in the local market, and I think it does make sense to
> import these things, especially if the imports are products and/or
> skills that could come to exist in my local market, and if my importing
> them will help to build the case for developing them locally.
>
> Prefab straw bale, in all the various forms it is taking around the
> world, is a great case in point. While it probably doesn't make sense
> for panels to originate in Lithuania and be shipped all around Europe
> forever, the fact that Ecococon has developed an excellent product that
> is stirring up interest and projects in many countries is a really
> important development. If interest grows enough, then it seems likely
> that manufacturing will begin to be set up elsewhere to serve regional
> markets. But this doesn't happen overnight, and having some patience and
> openness while this development grows is crucial for the spread of the
> idea. It certainly doesn't seem to me that anybody in this discussion
> has given up their ideals by using Ecococon panels. In fact, we can
> probably put numbers to the impacts of shipping the panels versus
> building with worse materials that were obtained locally. I'm sure it's
> not a disaster for the planet to have these bale panels moving around
> Europe, and it may be the start of something that we've all been hoping
> for: more widespread use of the material and the ideals behind the
> material.
>
> We wouldn't be at the point where Dirk is able to build 20-unit houses
> or Lars building 2-story schools if we all approached the issue of
> better buildings in the exact same way. This whole GSBN community, and
> many people beyond it, have tried things out, reported back on the
> results and adjusted approaches in a continuous process of
> experimenting, sharing and learning. I would hope that we can continue
> to find out more about both of these approaches, and that they also
> splinter/grow into even more approaches. I would be concerned if anybody
> on this list began advocating for putting toxic glues into straw walls,
> or coating them with petrochemical sealant crap, or using bad labour
> practices. However, all I see in this debate is two approaches that
> share a whole lot of basic DNA. I want to know lots more about both
> approaches, because I see a lot of value in each of them. Okay, I'll
> admit it, I want to "steal" the best of both ways of building.
>
> I definitely don't want to see us get so locked into any one particular
> approach that we stop seeing the value in the positive work of others.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
>
>
> --
> Chris Magwood
> Director, Endeavour Centre
> www.endeavourcentre.org
>
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> Gsbn at sustainablesources.com
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>
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