Straw Houses - Not Just for Little Pigs Anymore

           

Straw Bale House - Frame Phrase (Concrete, Plaster or Stucco Comes Next)

            I’m 7 hours from home, in a land where winter comes early and hits hard. (Just to prove that point, it snowed for us yesterday…And me with sandals on my feet!)

            But not to worry. The warmth of the group coupled with the information being digested revolving around alternative, sustainable, renewable resources held plenty to keep our inner fires burning and churning.

            As mentioned in my prior blog, I’m visiting the community of Stelle, Illinois --Stelle, being what is known as an “intentional community” meaning folks come here for a reason, making for like-minded neighbors all working together for a common good. It’s been a lot to take in. My little brain’s on overdrive…and in the days to come as I begin to download all that’s been uploading by way of info crammed into one very short window of time, I can’t wait to dig into grasping better just how much of this will be viable even back home in Tennessee (where can we agree, last winter was a tough one, even for us Southerners).

           Many things to note…But let me start with the first (for I was blown away by this one, as I thought such notions the thing of fairy tales and bedtime stories...)

Turns out, that first little pig was onto something—(You know…the one that built his house out of straw?) Trust me when I say no big, bad wolf is going to blow this one down. To the contrary, I suspect this one will be standing for generations to come, given the combination of materials, and the unique way in which it is built including a combination of( mostly) straw, some wire mesh, rebar and stucco.

            The concept actually dates back to Paleolithic times, but is now being revisited by those looking for natural, renewable building materials.  Turns out straw (who knew) makes for some of the best insulation known to man AND (again, another one lost on me) it’s amazingly fire retardant! (Who’da thunk?) Best of all, done in combination with reinforcing/strengthening materials like, rebar, wire mesh and stucco, straw house walls provide one of the best matches for materials playing conduit for passive solar building designs (meaning these walls distribute thermal mass more evenly, so no matter what the weather’s doing outside, your inside temps flatten out; otherwise, you need fans and fancy units to blow your heat around).

            One of so many new measures being studied to better our options for sustainable living. Turns out there are folks all over this planet pondering such notions. (I didn’t come up with this just pondering my own garden.) Gardens and food supplies are one form of energy to keep in mind; keeping warm in the winter and cool in the summer, an entire “other”. Bottom line, when you break down energy consumed in vs. energy expended, we’re the least efficient creatures on the planet to maximize a calorie. (Calories being a measure of heat energy …not just that label number most of us think of when dieting.)  In scientific terms, a calorie is what it takes to break down food, but it’s also what it takes to raise the temperature of water 1 degree, and is therefore a universal measurement for calculating how much it takes (i.e. taken in) vs. to produce a result (i.e. given up) - as in how much food it takes to keep your body going, yes, but also how much energy it takes for anything to live.)

            More of my findings to come…But for now, isn’t it great to think of the possibilities? (The longer I live, the more I marvel.)