straw bale housing
A BIG issue in everyone’s lives today is increasing fuel costs. (Don’t be fooled by the current low prices. They’ll be going back up shortly due to limitations in oil production.) High oil prices are connected to peak oil and gas production, wars to secure limited resources and climate change. These problems are all a consequence of our overconsumption and dependence on non-renewable energy. These problems are not going away any time soon. The seriousness and scope of these problems calls for an all-out effort for sustainable solutions, started as soon as possible.
We don’t have to devastate the planet to build, heat and cool our homes and workplaces. Good building design can greatly reduce our energy problems. With dozens of simple, well-proven solutions at hand, most of which are totally painless to implement, it makes one wonder why more isn’t being done.
Below is a sampling of simple, workable, low-cost solutions for building more efficient structures. (Do a Google search for more in-depth information.)
Free energy from the sun: passive solar design for daylighting and space heating (use correct building orientation, appropriate amount of glass, window placement, size of roof overhang, etc.); solar hot water; solar wall ovens; photovoltaic panels (consider buying one at a time as finances allow).
Superinsulated homes: highly insulated walls, ceilings, floors and foundations; straw bale or earthbag homes; energy-efficient windows; insulated window coverings; window shades; insulated doors; insulated hot water lines; weathersealing (see www.grisb.org/publications/pub4.doc for one case study).
Energy-efficient appliances and fixtures: Energy Star appliances; compact fluorescent light bulbs; tankless on-demand hot water heaters; energy-efficient heating systems; set-back (clock) thermostats; gas ranges with electronic ignition; fans, including whole-house fans, air-to-air exchangers.
Energy-efficient house designs: more efficient building shapes (roundhouses, hexagonal, octagonal, domes, vaults); better site selection; appropriate level of thermal mass inside the insulated envelope (mass floors and interior walls, thick plaster, built-in benches); earth berming; cool pantries; attached greenhouses; night venting when appropriate; open layout to enhance air circulation; open layout and light-colored interior walls and ceilings to enhance daylighting; efficient use of space; low-embodied energy building materials (use locally available, minimally processed, natural materials); multiple use features; cross ventilation; natural convention; lower ceilings in cold climates; sleeping lofts in cold climates; light colored roofs in hot climates; roof vents; privacy walls to block the wind; planting trees and plants for shade and to block wind; outdoor living space; xeriscaping.
Lifestyle changes: conservation (put on a sweater and turn the thermostat down slightly; close off unused rooms; turn off computers at night; etc.); build no larger than what you need; minimize the number of appliances and gadgets; co-housing.
Appropriate technology: small-scale, point-of-use renewable energy systems such wind generators or micro hydro; water catchment; composting toilets; grey/blackwater systems.
About the Author:
Owen Geiger (Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building at http://www.GRISB.org) and Kelly Hart have teamed up to create http://www.EarthbagBuilding.com to better focus and keep track of the rapid growth of this novel building method.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Why is There an Energy Crisis?
Straw Bale House
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Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates (Real Goods Solar Living Book)
$19.95 Bergeron and Lacinski's new book Serious Straw Bale is the first to look carefully at the specific design considerations critical to success with a straw bale building in more extreme climates-where seasonal changes in temperature, precipitation, and humidity create special stresses that builders must understand and address. The authors draw upon years of experience with natural materials and expe... |
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The Straw Bale House (Real Goods Independent Living Book)
$11.50 Get a leg up on the first Little Pig with The Straw Bale House, your guide to inexpensive, durable, earth-friendly construction that will stand up to much more than the Big Bad Wolf. Authors Athena Swentzell Steen and Bill Steen founded the Canelo Project, which promotes innovative building; David Bainbridge is a California restoration ecologist; and David Eisenberg is an alternative-materi... |
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Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects & Designs
$18.61 Small Strawbale is a meditative exploration of the innumerable reasons to consider strawbale as a viable building material. Environmentally friendly, super insulative, economical, and natural, strawbale can be used to build everything from garden walls to small homes. Small Strawbale tells the stories of people who have successfully created structures out of this easily replenishable building mate... |
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The Straw Bale House
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Building Green
$19.77 Description not available. |
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Living Homes (Paperback)
$19.6 The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. The key is all in the planning. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is--all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. A little ... |
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Building Green (Paperback)
$22.05 The best-selling and highly regarded reference to sustainable construction gets an update! It`s refreshed with a completely revised introduction, a bright new cover, and extensive online resource tie-ins. Plus, ... |
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Design of Straw Bale Buildings
$23.71 Description not available. |
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Strawbale Home Plans (Paperback)
$22.23 30 Plans to inspire you to build your strawbale dream home. |
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Small Strawbale
$19.6 This practical guide is filled with rich photos of homes, greenhouses, studios, sheds, open-air structures and more, each pulsating with unique yet subtle creativity. Both a pragmatic construction manual and a philosophical, artistic guidebook, Small S... |
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More Straw Bale Building
$22.84 Virtually unheard of a decade or so ago, building houses and other structures with straw bales as the primary structural material is gaining in popularity around the United States. In this work, a trio of professional straw bale house builders and cons... |
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Serious Straw Bale (Paperback)
$22.84 Description not available. |
