Re: SB: RE: Re: sb sustainable foundations

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

G ' day Dom

Do not forget thet The Last Straw latest issue has a a whole magazine devoted to
alternative footings great read.  Even at $18 Aus an issue for us it is worth
every cent so those of you who do not subscribe you are missing out on the best
value straw bale information available for virtually free.

I agree with you that the footings that we are using and promoting are
experimental.  However for Australian conditions they seem to be working well.
All three of the sustainable alternative footings that we are promoting and
using have been certified by a structural engineer.  In this case Geoff McVey
from Morse McVey and Associates from Nowra in NSW.

As I posted recently we are working hard  on the whole of the building being
sustainable.  We have the footings right, the straw bale walls speak for
themselves, the earthen renders we use are about to be tested for load bearing
capabilities by Mike Faine at the University of Western Sydney.  All we have
left to do is to look at competitive alternative sustainable roofing materials
and methods.

This is leading us down the bamboo track and recycled steel cladding.  There is
a lot of bamboo work going on in SE Queensland and Northern NSW but if you can
grow bamboo in China in cold climates we should be able to grow it anywhere in
Australia that has a reasonable climate.  Big statement for someone who knows
very little about bamboo I know but just a gut feeling.

So the search continues.  My advice to anyone considering alternative footings
is to have a go with a small building first such as a chook shed or emu brooding
shed.  Once you have the feel for it you can then have a go on the main
building.  So far our living room pavilion has been standing for 24 months on a
rubble trench footing with a 6" concrete bond beam (which has 30% of chaff by
volume in the mix as a pozzolan).  The footings have not moved one mm nor look
like moving.  The footings are fully loaded now with a 2.7 m high load bearing
straw bale earthen rendered wall.  The roof is recycled timber purlins and a
corrugated iron roof also recycled.

The only thing that I would change on the details of the RTF footing is to
exclude the 100 mm ag pipe for drainage, as no water is getting into the
footings. There are now some three other straw bale buildings built on rubble
trench footings in NSW all certified by Geoff McVey and approved by the local
Council.

Keep thinking and one day someone will work out why the Roman Roads worked so
well and how Frank Llyod Wright got away with such ideas.  Nothing new eh?

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


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