Straw Revolution

Sustainable Building
Straw Bale, Solar/Wind Power,
Passive Solar Design

Licensed New Mexico Contractor

We design and build energy efficient structures using sustainable technology and nontoxic materials. Solar aware, environmentally conscious, site specific. Owner/builder participation welcome. We can also provide in depth consultation to help you make the tough choices. Sometimes a "neat" idea is just a "neat" idea, sometimes it's the best solution, and sometimes it's absolute disaster.

We've lived off grid for over 9 years now. We rely on the sun for all our electricity and heat. 100%. Our house is warm in winter, cool in summer -- probably better heated and cooled than yours -- and it's all passive. We live South of Santa Fe at 6100 feet, have had temperatures from 0 - 103, and get ferocious winds and weather. Don't believe anyone who says it can't be done. Imagine being immune (personally that is) to rolling blackouts, rising utility prices, high prices for propane. Imagine Saddam Hussein without any oil revenues. It would be a different world.

Contribute

I welcome your ideas, designs, experiences. Submit solar related content to me for consideration. I will credit all sources.

Straw Bale Houses

We've lived in, worked with, and modified straw bale structures for over 9 years. We know what works and what doesn't. We've experimented with many variations and keep coming back to a basic post and beam structure with straw bale infill and cement stucco inside and out. Post and beam is one of the strongest structures around, and easily adapted to different terrain. You can build the roof first — and then work in the shade and have a place to keep everything out of the rain (unless it comes in sideways). With the right combination of mass and solar gain, a straw bale house be heated and cooled without relying on fossil fuels, electricity, or nuclear power plants.

Myths

Straw doesn't mold, so I don't have to keep it dry.

— Straw does mold, and you should keep it dry until you have it under roof and stuccoed. It also soaks up water like a sponge a thoroughly wet bale can weigh over 100 pounds. We've even used soggy bales with a bit of compost stuffed between the palettes to grow peas. Straw will dry out eventually — if you stop letting it get wet.

The straw will mold and cause health problems for the inhabitants.

— Straw can mold and cause health problems if water leaks in through the roof or walls. Leaks can cause health problems in any structure. The problem here is shoddy construction, not the use of straw.

Passive solar houses are stuffy and uncomfortable.

— They can be, if improperly designed. Mini-blinds, overhangs, strategically placed vent windows, and cross ventilation are just a few solutions that come to mind.

Passive solar houses don't really work all that well anyway.

— They can, if properly designed for the specific location and environment. We've live at 6,100' with temperatures from 0 to 103, and winds that gust into the 80s. Our house stays draft free and in the 60s and 70s year round. The temperature swing between night and day is usually 5 - 10 degrees. All this with no wood stove, no furnace, no air conditioner, no artificial source of heating or cooling. One hundred per cent comfort, zero per cent oil, gas, wood, nuclear. Technically, we're heated by a nuclear fusion reactor about 92,900,000 miles (149,476,000 kilometers) away. So far away that we never get any bills from them!

Alternative energy is too expensive.

— Non-alternative energy is too expensive — they just hide the costs.

Straw bale houses look funky.

— They can. They can also look like almost any other house. How it looks is a result of the skills designer and builder and the dialogue they have with the owner.

Mice will infest my house, or cows will eat it.

— Well, mice and cows can make a mess of almost anything, even "regular" houses. Again, like the water leaking in, it's up to the builder to do a good enough job to keep them all out.

Termites will eat all the straw.

— Termites don't eat straw. They could get a chance eat all the wood out of any house, even a "regular" one, if it were improperly designed.

They're not any cheaper than other forms of construction.

— It's true that if you do none of the work yourself, you won't save any money upfront by choosing straw bale. But you will save buckets of money by reducing, even eliminating, the need for heating and cooling. With only basic skills, you can save up to 2/3 of the price of a house by doing all the building yourself.

Adobe houses are better than straw bale houses.

— Straw bale provides much better insulation at a fraction of the price, and it can look just like the classic double-adobe walls when it's finished. Adobe makes excellent interior walls — it's good sound proofing, and fairly good mass.

Canoes have a mind of their own. Nobody can learn to paddle in a straight line.

— Hmmm. We can change your mind.