Yes, you did read the title correctly, there is such a thing as a straw bale house and I have decided to build such a house in Vermont on my property when finances allow. Obviously, I won't be building the house up there anytime soon, but I found it to be a fascinating idea is low impact to the environment and relatively easy to build. How is such a house even feasible and durable? Well, to answer the second part of the question first, there are straw bale houses built over two hundred years ago that are still standing. I don't necessarily know if anyone is still living in them, but they have them both in Europe and the United States. What originally turned me on to the idea was a blog series that was posted on the NY Times online about green building and the story of a group who embarked on building a straw bale house. I read through the article and was quite surprised at the beautiful outcome that can be achieved when built properly. The straw bale house is not just meant for small dwellings, but can also be used in conjunction with post and beam construction for larger dwellings as well, I think the largest picture of which I saw was about 5200 sq. ft. For smaller structures, the straw bales are the primary support in the walls being capable of carrying the roof load. Perhaps the most attractive part about the building process is that you can get the straw bales anywhere that farming occurs. A big draw for the straw bale house these days is that it actually helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions by keeping the waste hay and straw from being burned by farmers as it normally is. By baling it and using it as a building product instead, the carbon dioxide is kept neutral and not pumped into the atmosphere. But that is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to benefits to be had from building with straw bales. Perhaps the next best part is that they can be used in any climate, although depending on where you live will dictate the type of finished surface you will have to use on the exterior. Normally, it would be a earthen stucco on the exterior, but in moist climates I believe that lime is used as well to decrease the chance of water invading the bales.
Still not sold on the idea? Well, good, because I am not trying to sell anything here, just passing along info. In any case, perhaps the greatest draw for me is that a house built with straw bales is 75% more energy efficient than a house built using standard methods. With the tight binding of the bales and the increased thickness compared to standard walls, there is little or not air movement within the bales and as such they can do a much better job of keeping a house either warm or cold. The tightness of the bales also helps to reduce the possibility of rodents or insects getting in, although that obviously also depends on a tight seal on interior and exterior walls. Want even more benefits? In wind tests, straw bales houses have been shown to exhibit no movement in winds up to 75 m.p.h. and in winds over 100 m.p.h. there is movement of only about a 1/16th of an inch. I would say that is pretty sturdy. They are even approved for construction in California as they are capable of shifting in an earthquake without falling down. So what is the use of all this information? I find it fascinating personally, especially since I have never heard of a straw bale house before about a week ago. The fact that it is 75% more energy efficient than a standard house is the biggest draw for me as I would want to utilize this technique in Vermont where winters can get very cold. This winter, as I have randomly checked the weather, temperatures have often times been in the single digits and teens with wind chills far below that. An energy efficient house means that I would have to spend less on heating and cooling than I would have to otherwise, an enormous draw due to the set back nature of my property as it is. I also am quite fond of the idea of using locally sourced products for the building. Technically, I have enough trees on my property up there to build myself quite a large house, but frankly, I like the trees and would much rather leave as many of them as possible and only cut down what I need to in order to build the house itself. I would cut down some extra trees for part of the structure, but the more I can leave standing, the better.
Despite the fact that I will have an energy efficient house up there once I am done with a forest full of trees around me, that still leaves me with a few issues that would need resolving. The first would be electricity. I have a small stream running through the property that runs fairly continuously throughout the year, albeit a lot lower during late summer/early fall, and I have toyed with the idea of coming up with a small hydroelectric system to create a least a small amount of electricity. That combined with an enormous bank of batteries would be a start, but I would need a lot more in order to sustain a house. As part of my property is on top of a hill, I could always utilize part of the higher portions for solar power, clearing out an area that could be used as a solar panel field. The last possibility before paying a utility company to run lines a quarter mile up a trail would be wind power. However the last possibility is the least likely to take hold as Vermont is very fickle about anything that interrupts the view of foliage and could potentially take away from their tourism dollars. I would like to be able to survive "off the grid", it will just take some ingenuity, time, and obviously money to get there. I can make it happen though, I hope. I am not worried about water as there is a natural spring on part of my property that I can utilize along with a filtration system. That would leave waste to be taken care of. From what I know about the property, there used to be a septic system in my clearing that I have, however, I don't know how long ago that was or if it is even viable still. That will take some money to figure out, money that I don't have right now. So for now, I will plan away, dream of my straw bale house, and one day look towards retirement in the woods of Vermont, which with global warming should achieve the climate of Connecticut by the time I move up there. In any case, if your still skeptical about what a straw bale house looks like or what it could look like, google images of straw bale houses and I think you will be amazed as I was.
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