THE CASE FOR STRAW BALE HOMES

BRIAN WAITE - I have, for forty years, earned my living from my (usually patented) engineering designs. I have built homes for myself and have done a lot of architectural design but I am not an architect. Over the years of building my own homes I have proved the financial and comfort benefits of investing in high quality building with, at the time, over the top insulation, and now we need to use more – much more. However most insulation has high embodied energy incurred from its production and distribution.

Therefore it seems logical to use a natural material that is so abundant that it mostly goes to waste, that is local and reproduced annually yet is durable and cheap. That, of course, is straw. Why a house of straw? The UK alone produces 4 million tons of surplus straw every year – enough for 250,000 homes. Straw must have the lowest embodied energy of any building material and is probably the cheapest and most sustainable. . .

Contrary to common perception straw-bales in a building, are not a fire risk, are not a vermin risk and are not short-term, but would compost back into the earth if and when required to do so. Straw in bales is so tightly bound that it doesn't contain enough air to support combustion, just add a (carbon neutral) "breathing" lime render/plaster and any fire regulation requirement is easily met. There is no nutritional value in straw and so it does not attract vermin, it is only voids that vermin like, so proper attention to detail is the only precaution needed. Lime rendered straw-bales "breath" so evening out fluctuations of humidity thereby creating a healthier environment.

To an engineer like myself, and all the homeowners from whom I have canvassed opinions, most houses made of straw-bales seem to reinforce the children's storybook illusion of straw houses being flimsy and vulnerable and therefore definitely not worth devoting ones working life paying for, with their resale value being the biggest worry. They have "the big bad wolf" syndrome, yet straw-bale homes in Nebraska are over 100 years old and still fit for purpose.

My solution. To try to overcome this reticence I have devised a more solid engineered design for a house that uses straw-bales as the main form of heat and sound insulation yet has a robust exterior that will cope with harsh weather and exposed locations. . .

The design came from my experience of converting and living so comfortably for 20 years in a Kent barn. This simple design is eminently suitable to being developed as a kit house, not just for homes but also as small workshops and art galleries – just add ridge glazing.

STRAW BALE HOUSES IN NEBRASKA