Design Sustainable Buildings Assessment 1：Alternative Wall Construction

HOW TO BUILD A STRAW BALE WALL Straw bales can be constructed like brick walls. The bales are stacked on a concrete foundation and a moisture-proof material (heavy plastic) is used between the concrete and the bales to prevent any moisture from entering the walls from the ground. They are held by high-strength fences or rods that attach to the “board” and are as strong as wooden frames or slabs to securely secure the bale to the foundation. If a wire is used, it will pass through a curved "multiple tube" which is placed into the foundation. Many Australian designs simply use reinforced mesh as the top plate and high-strength fence line as a bondage. The bales can be stacked on a plane or on the edges and can be engraved to fit. One technique we developed was to save the cost and resources of building a garden wall by using bales on the edge rather than on the plane. The base can be narrower and use fewer packages. The top plate is a 300 mm wide trench net purchased at

Straw house in Paleolithic Era Straw houses have been built on the African plains since the P aleolithic  Era. Straw bales were used in construction 400 years ago in Germany; and straw-thatched roofs have long been used in northern Europe and Asia. When European Settlers came to North America,  t eepees  were insulated in winter with loose straw between the inner lining and outer cover. Straw-bale construction was greatly facilitated by the mechanical hay baler, which was invented in the 1850s and was widespread by the 1890s. It proved particularly useful in the N ebraska Sandhills . Pioneers seeking land under the 1862 H omestead Act  and the 1904 K inkaid Act  found a dearth of trees over much of Nebraska. In many parts of the state, the soil was suitable for dugouts  and s od houses . However, in the Sandhills, the soil generally made poor construction sod; in the few places where suitable sod could be found, it was more valuable for agriculture than as a building material.