All Entries Tagged With: "straw"

A Bit About Bale Walls

Currently in rough draft form, this information is the beginning preparation for an article or perhaps two that will appear in a future issue of The Last Straw journal with the theme “All About Bales.” Your comments and input are welcome.
by Joyce Coppinger, Managing Editor/Publisher, The Last Straw Journal
Wall Structures
The structural methods used for the [...]

Basics and Benefits of the Use of Straw Bales for Building

This article does not appear in The Last Straw and is original content.
Prepared by Joyce Coppinger, Managing Editor/Publisher, The Last Straw Journal
402.483.5135, <thelaststraw@thelaststraw.org> www.thelaststraw.org

INSULATION
The R-value used for straw-bale walls is R-30. Most conventional stick-built construction has an R-value of around 15 with as high as R-30 in ceilings.
Testing under controlled conditions allows the researcher to [...]

Better Quality, Ecological Correctness through Sustainable Design – TLS #59

This article appeared in TLS #59.
by Ken Haggard and Polly Cooper – California, USA
Adopted from an article that appeared in Home Power Magazine.
Like many other architectural firms in California, San Luis Obispo Sustainability Group architects had been designing building that utilized passive solar for many years. Like many other architectural firms around the country, [...]

Where to Draw the Line – TLS #50

This article appeared in TLS #50.
by Chris Newton – Queensland, Australia
Can you design and build straw-bale homes for a hot and humid climate? Living in Queensland, Australia, I am frequently asked to identify an invisible line on the map where “she’ll be right” applies on one side of the line and “don’t go there” [...]

Straw-bale Sound Isolation and Acoustics – TLS #53

This article appeared in TLS #53.  The topic of this issue is Moisture.  It contains an extensive article about Moisture Basics and Straw-Bale Moisture Basics (by John Straube, edited by Bruce King)  it also includes articles on moisture meter accuracy, moisture sensors, seismic resistance, and plaster testing.
by Rene Dalmeijer – The Netherlands
In June 2003, [...]

Earth Plastering Guidelines for Finishes – TLS #43

This article appeared in TLS #43.

by Gernot Minke – University of Kassel, Germany
Note: This article is excerpted from Earth Construction Handbook (by Gernot Minke, WIT Press, Southhampton, Boston, 2000) which contains further information about weather protection, physical and mechanical properties of clayey soils, treatments and additives and modern earth construction techniques worldwide.

1) [...]