Straw-Construction Sources Abound

Fri., May 19, 1995

Amy Mickelson Washington State E

Dear readers:

Who would have thought the first little pig had a good thing going? As people struggle with the high cost of construction - both economic and environmental - some builders have turned to constructing homes out of straw. That’s right. Straw.

Finding more information about straw as a building material is as easy as a trip to your public library, logging in on your computer, or a telephone call. Check your local library for the following articles and books:

MAGAZINE ARTICLES:

“Buildings of straw: Huffing and puffing toward acceptance,” by Richard Yost (Pacific Farmer, July 1994).

“The new adobes,” by Peter O. Whiteley (Sunset, April 1995).

“One man’s personal straw bale odyssey,” by David Booth (Home Power, Apr/May 1995).

“Straw-bale testing” (Environmental Building News, Sept/ Oct 1994).

“Straw homes: in response to rising lumber costs, advocates of alternative building materials present their case,” by George Everett. Mother Earth News, Oct/Nov 1993).

“Straw: the next great building material.” Environmental Building News, May/June 1995).

BOOKS:

“Plastered Straw Bale Construction: Super Energy Efficient and Economical,” by David A. Bainbridge with Athena and Bill Steen (1992,Canelo Project, HCR Box 324, Canelo, AZ)

“The Straw Bale House,” by Athena Swentzell Steen, Bill Steen and David Bainbridge with David Eisenberg (1994, Chelsea Green, White River Junction, VT)

“A Straw-Bale Primer,” by S.O. MacDonald and Orien MacDonald (1992, P.O. Box 58, Gila, NM)

“The Thermal Resistivity of Straw Bales for Construction (Masters Thesis),” by Joseph C. McCabe (1993, Dept. Nuclear Engineering, University of Arizona).

INTERNET STRAWBALE MAILING LIST:

Join this mailing list to exchange ideas and information with like-minded people. The Internet address is: majordomo@crest.org. To subscribe, send this e-mail message: subscribe strawbale your email address>

ORGANIZATIONS:

Further information, workshops, consultations, publications or videos are available from the following:

Center for Resourceful Building Technology, PO Box 3866, Missoula, MT 59806; (406) 549-7678

Development Center for Appropriate Technology, PO Box 41144, Tucson, AZ 85717; (520) 326-1418; email: strawnet@aol.com

GreenFire Institute, 1509 Queen Anne Ave., #606, Seattle, WA 98109; (206) 284-7470; email: pegrobs@aol.com

Straw Bale Construction Association, 31 Old Arroyo Chamiso, Santa Fe, NM 87505; (505) 989-4400

Real Goods Technical Department, 555 Leslie St., Ukiah, CA 95482; (707) 468-9292; email: realgood@well.ss.ca.us

NEWSLETTER:

“The Last Straw.” Quarterly newsletter of news, techniques and resources. Published by Out on Bale, 1037 E. Linden St., Tucson, AZ 5719; (602) 624-1673. ($28/yr)

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Amy Mickelson Washington State Energy Office Martha Parsons contributed to the writing of this column.

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