Building a Home Using Straw Bale Construction

By Athena And Bill Steen
Published on December 1, 1995
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To build with straw bales requires a good understanding of the basic characteristics of straw and how it behaves as a building material.
To build with straw bales requires a good understanding of the basic characteristics of straw and how it behaves as a building material.
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Stacking the corner bales for a load-bearing building.
Stacking the corner bales for a load-bearing building.
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Working with straw bales for construction.
Working with straw bales for construction.
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Curving a bale.
Curving a bale.
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Stacking bales.
Stacking bales.
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Installing a box beam roof plate on a load-bearing structure.
Installing a box beam roof plate on a load-bearing structure.
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Builders pin bale walls with rebar or bamboo.
Builders pin bale walls with rebar or bamboo.
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The roof plate is designed to carry the vertical loads above this simple window frame.
The roof plate is designed to carry the vertical loads above this simple window frame.
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Poly-cord strapping attaches the roof plate to the foundation.
Poly-cord strapping attaches the roof plate to the foundation.
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Earth plaster stabilizers are from natural materials such as cooked prickly pear, or manufactured ones, such as glue. Straw is critical reinforcement material in earth plaster. 
Earth plaster stabilizers are from natural materials such as cooked prickly pear, or manufactured ones, such as glue. Straw is critical reinforcement material in earth plaster. 
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Constructing the roof plate for a load-bearing structure.
Constructing the roof plate for a load-bearing structure.
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Bill Steen applying earth plaster wall finishing.
Bill Steen applying earth plaster wall finishing.

Straw bale construction can be used in almost any climate to create a comfortable home.

Building a Home Using Straw Bale Construction

The low afternoon sun cast a warm, rich light on the straw bale walls of a newly completed structure. A mixed group of men, women, and children, most of whom had never built before, sat suspended in a sudden silence, admiring the space they had created over just the past few days. It was the summer of 1990, and we had just organized, through our nonprofit organization The Canelo Project, one of the first straw bale workshops at our home in the Canelo Hills of southeastern Arizona. At that time the only straw bale buildings were a few scattered historic structures, mostly in Nebraska, and a handful of simple structures built by modern straw bale pioneers.

Five years later we estimate that the number of new straw bale structures exceeds 400. Scattered throughout Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Norway, and the United States, as well as remote sites in Mongolia and Russia, these buildings range from small, cozy cottages to large, multiple-story, elegant homes. Throw in the number of proposed projects in progress, and the number jumps to several thousand. Modest growth, to be sure, but when it is considered that a bureaucratic mountain must be moved every time local building codes are wrestled to allow for this “primitive” design, the number of projects is startling.

The lesson is quickly being learned that straw bales are an extraordinary material for building, a use for which they were never intended. Straw bale construction is superbly energy efficient, environmentally safe, fun, simple to work with, and can be used to build structures that are durable, innovative, and beautiful. With a high level of owner, family, and friend involvement, common sense, and the incorporation of recycled, salvaged, and local materials, the cost of a straw bale structure can also be very low. What’s more, it will be significantly better insulated (R-40 to R-60), more comfortable, and typically have a greater degree of aesthetic character than a home built from a standard 2 x 6 frame. We have seen bale structures cost anywhere from $5 a square foot to well over $100 a square foot, depending upon the luxuries thrown in. Many of these bale homes have received building permits, have been bank financed and are completely insured.

How Does Straw Hold Up a Wall?

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