Very interesting. What about strength, durability and sound-proofing? What kind of maintenance does this require?

The biggest drawback to using hay is having to replace it every 8-10 years and no insurance company will insure it. Soundproofing is pretty decent. Most people who pioneered this had problems with bugs and rodents but higher compression rates in bales now days have negated this to some effect. Read more here.

Edit: P.S. Mink, I doubt they would be paying off anyone. Steel and concrete building are just time proven methods of building that have proved their flexibility and durability through centuries.

The reasons to not use straw bales are the same as the reasons people stopped using thach roofs & bare wood siding:

1. Millions of microscopic bugs & bacteria thrive in it.
2. It'll decompose quickly, because of those guys.
3. It's very flammable. This has caused chain reactions that burned down whole cities.

Actually, if a straw-bale house is properly built and maintained, there shouldn't be an issue with decomposition -- they can easily last as long as a conventionally-built house. They cost around the same to build, yet are incredibly energy-efficient, are made from non-offgassing materials, and are impressively fireproof.

I know somebody who built a huge straw-bale home near where I live in Ontario, which gets pretty cold winters, usually averaging -15°C to -20°C. Construction was completed in the fall, and because he was still researching alternative heating options for the house, he hadn't installed a heat source by the time winter hit. He discovered that a small space heater in the living room was enough to heat the whole house.

At least in my part of the world, there doesn't seem to be any trouble getting building permission or insurance for straw bale houses. I've heard that they are even more widespread in the USA than here. As more get built, the building techniques will continue to improve and the costs will inevitably come down further as well.

Thanks for the video, Mink! I'm in total support of green living options.

so basically, there's people who have the wrong idea about bugs, damp, maintenance etc.

there's 100 year old strawbale houses still standing.

heat insulation is phenomenal, i built one on a very cold day and as soon as the walls were up our body heat was enough to keep us warm inside, without a roof!

sound insulation is phenomenal, they built a single bale width wall around the generator and filmed a tv program 10 meters away.

a properly built plastered straw bale wall is a 2 hour firewall. there's not much air in there to fuel the fire if the bales are compressed. a straw bale house in the uk burnt down recently and the only thing left standing was the straw bale wall. that is not "very flammable".

the problem in the UK is getting a standard certified so that you can get a mortgage, and convincing local corrupt planners that you are not insane.

http://www.strawbale-building.co.uk/index.php?page=faq

it's not like there are zero drawbacks with bricks and mortar.

one of the things i liked best about building that straw house was that a whole big team of unqualified people can learn the skills in about five minutes under an experienced foreman. then you all get together and have fun building, instead of just calling a big ass truck to come and pour tons of concrete into the ground.

also don't forget the fact that if you build your own natural home, it's BEAUTIFUL to live in, these things are really damn nice compared to identikit "american dream" new houses.

Upvote for beauty. I love how strawbale homes have deep windowsills and gorgeous wall recesses. The house becomes a work of art. We can't decide whether to build with strawbale or rammed earth. Extremely hot and humid weather is a big factor here in Queensland.

yeah i have no idea about humidity, i just know english rain is not a problem.

Persephone, have you heard of fired adobe? That's how I'm going to build my dream home in Costa Rica.

I have a great book by Nader Khalili on the subject, well worth checking out.

^ wow that ceramic stuff is cool!

i think it's obvious that there's no big commercial force behind promoting the idea of using mud instead of thousands of dollars of building materials. the joys of capitalism.

Actually in Arizona there is North Americas largest Adobe brick manufacturing plant. I honestly expected it to be a bit larger when I visited. The problem with green building now is everyone wants to do it which drives up price so in some regions it's costing more to live green then traditional building.

but "traditional" building is modern crap...

*eco

Adding video to channels (Eco) - requested by fissionchips.