Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Straw Building Material

[Shava Nerad (shava]

> One of the arguments for strawbale construction has always been that it
> didn't have to go through industrial processes, with all the energy use for
> treatment, handling and shipping that that implies. Once you go to all this
> trouble, is straw really a good material, or are there better alternatives?
> 
> I suspect the latter.

But another argument for straw bale construction is that it could be a step
in eliminating our dependencies on big timber.  We don't *need* to build 
with wood, we just *do* because it's a cultural tradition, comforting,
stylish, subsidized by the goverment, and a status symbol.  Whereas wood
*is* a good building material, our dependency on it as a major resource
is destroying the last great forests in the world, including the old
growth forests and great rainforest of the pacific northwest.

Personally, I'd take something like gypsum board, made from straw, if it
reduced the use of wood.  So it isn't optimal, but it might be a good
intermediate step.  And if *someone* is making money off of it, it'll 
probably gain acceptance sooner, because someone will spend money to 
promote it...

Shava Nerad
shava [at] ns.uoregon.edu
/* tree hugger...;) */