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Housing - New Build: Straw Housing

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      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    Been on the news a bit today, they are pushing the 'eco' and renewables a bit, not so sure myself.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31156579
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    Better to say timber frame using straw as insulation. (And a marketing tool)
    • CommentAuthorEd Davies
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    Right, next writer to mention pigs in this context gets roasted on a spit.

    Apart from that, pity they had to go and put bricks on the outside just for appearance. What a waste of resources and effort.

    The main thing I'm not so sure of myself is whether the straw would be better chopped up and ploughed into the field to contribute to next year's crop. Still, if you don't take it too often from any individual field it's just a crop like, for example, timber used in construction.

    Also, 90% reduction in energy bills seems a bit optimistic. It may be valid compared against existing houses in the neighbourhood but I doubt it's a valid comparison against other new houses built to the same standard of detail. I.e., if it is a valid comparison it's down to newer standards and better details more than just to use of straw. Particularly if it's really energy bills (including, lighting, appliances and DHW) rather than just heating bills.
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      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    That point struck me. It is a shame that the university guy was pushing this point. And on the radio he failed to mention that there was a lot of EU finding to help pay for the building. I suspect that they got the land chap too.
    ICE seems to think that straw bail is not that great for embodied energy and carbon, same university too.
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    I'm not convinced by the whole straw build technique in our maritime climate. Great in Arizona and the like. Straw on its own as fertiliser has it's limitations, and there are costs involved in chopping. Traditionally animal bedding and then the FYM used as fertiliser is better, I think.
    In the States they've been turning straw into a chipboard/OSB type product for a while now although I don't know what the uptake is like. That seems a better building material for us in the UK rather than the raw bales. They, the bales, quite possibly make for a bigger house footprint too.
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015 edited
     
    On the radio they made it sound like it was an engineered timber frame with straw infill. Couldn't straw just be used as the outer skin in place of polystyrene and then render or whatever on top?
    • CommentAuthorsquirrel
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2015
     
    Straw houses have been talked about a lot in German-speaking countries - usually that is a timber frame with straw infill and thick clay render.


    Though the latest thing seems to be building with basically straw SIPs - the reasoning is that straw and similar fibres are available all over the world, while wood is expensive, doesn't grow everywhere and takes a while if it does. Apparently the fibre length and density makes it just as strong as wood.

    There's a straw SIP house in this video below - they say it was build in three days! Seems to have some sort of 'plastic' cladding though and the wet rooms (kitchen and bathroom) are finished in concrete (very green...) to avoid moisture problems.
    http://www.architekturclips.de/de/playing/strohfertighaus/ (sorry its in German)
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeFeb 10th 2015
     
    Posted By: owlmanI'm not convinced by the whole straw build technique in our maritime climate. Great in Arizona and the like.

    There are enough straw bale houses in the UK and in other parts of Europe and even the USA that have cool temperate maritime climates so that we know this is not a worry, provided the houses are properly designed and built.

    In the States they've been turning straw into a chipboard/OSB type product for a while now although I don't know what the uptake is like. That seems a better building material for us in the UK rather than the raw bales.

    The original straw panel is,as far as I know a British invention called Stramit. It's mainly made in third-world countries now, I think, although there is still the UK company.

    They, the bales, quite possibly make for a bigger house footprint too.

    The walls are about 500 mm thick, which is comparable with most other forms of construction with comparable levels of insulation. I guess about 300 mm is the minimum thickness of a wall to that standard, using better insulation and thin wall coverings, but most people go thicker for either cost or appearance reasons.

    Posted By: gravelldOn the radio they made it sound like it was an engineered timber frame with straw infill. Couldn't straw just be used as the outer skin in place of polystyrene and then render or whatever on top?

    Yes, but why add to the wall's thickness by placing the straw outside the timber frame?

    Posted By: squirrelStraw houses have been talked about a lot in German-speaking countries - usually that is a timber frame with straw infill and thick clay render.

    The German building code makes it illegal to build a loadbearing straw bale house (lack of certificates!) so they all have to build timber frame with infill. In Austria, they've managed to completely snooker themselves with certification of bales from each separate farm. Clay is not really suitable as an exterior render in a damp climate and would need to be covered with something else.
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      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeFeb 10th 2015 edited
     
    Posted By: djhThe walls are about 500 mm thick, which is comparable with most other forms of construction with comparable levels of insulation
    Fair comment if talking about taking up space on a tight site.

    But if talking about footprint as a cost factor, then yes straw bale is similar to wide-cavity masonry, as far as enormously wide foundations (incl dig and muck-away) extending far outboard of the useful floor area.

    By comparison a stud frame with EWI (as well as insulation between the studs), of similar insulation level, has a (much) smaller footprint. Construction-cost-wise, the found/trench etc then supports a structural stud extending only 4" or6" outboard of the useful floor area - and after the EWI is stuck onto its outside (requiring no found), site-space-wise it's still thinner than the straw bale and masonry alternatives.
  10.  
    Stramit boards are manufactured in the Czech Rep now, sold across Europe. Working with them though is tricky as they weigh a ton!
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      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeFeb 11th 2015
     
    As would that much Weetabix! Has Stramit become more water resistant than Weetabix, nowadays?
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