Re: 360 reasons to build with SB

["Huff 'n' Puff Constructions" <huffnpuff@shoal.net.au>]

G ' day Bill


> Let me just comment that many such low costs one hears quoted do not
> include the labor of owner builders, volunteers, workshop workers, etc.

Yes you are right here but why do we have to cost everything when it can be
done with help from friends relations and neighbours or workshop participants.
If you want apples to apples comparisons then I agree the cost of in-fill SB
will be dearer than stick frame from cost per say, but if you look at all the
major benefits of SB AND adobe (mud brick) v stick frames then there is a huge
advantage environmentally.

>
> Oh, adobe? In cold country, I think you need some insulation.  The endless
> poorly heated adobe villages in the Peruvian Andes come to mind. I wish I
> could think of some way to help those people out.

Tell me more; and if we can transport horse feed in the form of double dumped
oaten/wheaten hay thousands of miles for four legged nags then surely we can
transport building blocks such as straw bales to areas of the planet that most
need good affordable shelter.  For example we are burning millions of tonnes of
straw in the Riverina of New South Wales which could of been baled and sent to
East Timor for affordable shelter locking up carbon and providing beautiful
homes in the process.  The East Timorese need 100,000 homes which are in the
process of being constructed now.  Maybe I am wrong but morally I feel that I
am right.

>  What are your local materials? Does SB have to come a few hundred miles, and
>
> adobe soil is underfoot?

Our straw bales are baled within five miles of our home and the sub-soil for
the render comes from right under our feet.  The chaff is made within a mile of
our home.

Hot again over 37C or 100F today and the same tomorrow; swap your snow for some
hot northerlies Mate!

The Straw Wolf
http://strawbale.archinet.com.au
61 2 6927 6027