Saturday, July 30, 2005
Creativity at its Finest
The Cincinnati Post - Couple's new home being built with bales: "Always interested in 'getting back to basics,' Terry said they got the idea to build a straw bale house from an article they read 20 years ago in Mother Earth News, an environmentalist publication.
Since then, they have been reading any book they could get their hands on about so-called 'green construction.'
'It has to do with using resources well, preserving the environment. Green construction has a more positive and integrated relationship to the environment,' said Jud Gerwin of Cincinnati-based RWA Architects Inc., who toured the Abshires' house last month as part of a monthly activity for the Cincinnati branch of the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment.
Straw bale construction has many advantages, he said.
'Straw has an excellent insulation capacity, it is not difficult to build and it uses natural material very well,' he said. And a straw bailer is the only machine needed for construction.
Building with straw also saves trees.
'Straw is rapidly renewable. You are using a material that can replenish itself every year versus trees, which take years to grow,' Gerwin said, who said he was interested in building a home using straw bales.
Gerwin said his company is 'more and more interested' in sustainable construction, which reduces the impact of buildings on the environment.
Building with straw bales is also cheaper than building with conventional construction materials.
Aside from contracting out work on the roof and the tresses, the house has only cost the Abshires $25,000 in building materials.
Terry said she was just excited to get a 2,000-square-foot house with no bank note."
I tend to like the tradtional wood and such, but I applaud their creativity.
Since then, they have been reading any book they could get their hands on about so-called 'green construction.'
'It has to do with using resources well, preserving the environment. Green construction has a more positive and integrated relationship to the environment,' said Jud Gerwin of Cincinnati-based RWA Architects Inc., who toured the Abshires' house last month as part of a monthly activity for the Cincinnati branch of the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment.
Straw bale construction has many advantages, he said.
'Straw has an excellent insulation capacity, it is not difficult to build and it uses natural material very well,' he said. And a straw bailer is the only machine needed for construction.
Building with straw also saves trees.
'Straw is rapidly renewable. You are using a material that can replenish itself every year versus trees, which take years to grow,' Gerwin said, who said he was interested in building a home using straw bales.
Gerwin said his company is 'more and more interested' in sustainable construction, which reduces the impact of buildings on the environment.
Building with straw bales is also cheaper than building with conventional construction materials.
Aside from contracting out work on the roof and the tresses, the house has only cost the Abshires $25,000 in building materials.
Terry said she was just excited to get a 2,000-square-foot house with no bank note."
I tend to like the tradtional wood and such, but I applaud their creativity.
