SB: Re: Enquiry from Mexico

[Rob Tom <ArchiLogic@yahoo.ca>]

on  Tue, 22 Oct 2002  valeria van fortes <vanfortesv@yahoo.com>

>a small village in the fog forest in the mountains at the Gulf Coast 
>of Mexico(State of Veracruz). 

> The people from the state of Veracruz lived
>from the production of coffee for more
>than 2 centuries. In the last years, the world price of
>coffee dropped so dramatically that the
>rural population does not produce it anymore and the only
>economic resource left for the area is
>the (rational) touristic exploitation. 

> extremely humid (RH of 90% during 8 months of the year). 
>As a matter of fact, moist (mold, unpleasant smell, animals, etc) 
>is one of the biggest architectural problems in the local
>buildings.
>
> Is the straw building technology suitable for extremely
>humid areas?
>
> Is the straw treated (or can be treated) against mold
>or/and animals?

Valeria;

Years ago, I encountered a professor who had come to Canada from 
Mexico. 

He told us about a time when he was visiting a mountain village in 
Mexico and how he was puzzled by the fact that everywhere he went 
in the village, it seemed that the family was displaying every piece of 
footwear that the family owned by leaning it up against the base of the 
walls.

When he asked one of the villagers about this seemingly odd village 
custom , he was told that on the sunny days (which were rare) the 
villagers brought out all of their footwear which had gotten soggy due 
to the constant high humidity, and leaned it up against the  sun-facing 
walls so that the shoes could dry out. It was the only time that their 
footwear could get dried out.

In the straw bale construction community, it is generally understood 
that anything in excess of 70% RH (at warm tempertures of course) 
may support microbial activity in straw. 

Since you mention that the RH exceeds 90% for 8 months of the year 
in your locale, it seems highly unlikely that straw would ever get a 
chance to dry out to below the danger point of 70%.

Although I know nothing about the climate of Veracruz, I'm guessing 
that extreme cold isn't one of the challenges that one needs to deal 
with in Veracruz typically so the thermal insulation provided by thick, 
straw walls isn't really a necessity to ensure thermal comfort to the 
occupants of the buildings.

I suspect that a material like straw/clay which tends more towards the 
thermal mass end of the thermal spectrum, would be more 
appropriate and more mould-resistant ?

        ~~~ * ~~~
         Rob Tom
  Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<ArchiLogic@CHAFFyahoo.ca>
(winnow the "chaff" from my edress in your reply)

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