Emma lives in the wild woods of Wales, where she is close to nature , with no running water, electricity, or internet. For Emma, this way of life is all about building a closer relationship to nature while also creating a lifestyle where she is free of the pressures of the modern world. Her simple … Read more
Justin & Linda Tyers bought a lot in the Exmoor National Park for £50k, which left them a budget of £67k to build a beautiful, off-grid, timber-frame, straw bale home. A truly inspirational self build. You can watch the video at www.youtube.com
Rebecca Tasker, with a crew of apprentices, is building two straw bale houses near Escondido, California. So the building project is also a teaching site. “Using straw fits in with permaculture. People like sustainability,” Tasker said. “When you talk of energy used for building materials, that energy was already used in growing the food that … Read more
A week long straw bale workshop near Ann Arbor, Michigan had 43 participants. “Building a straw bale home isn’t much different than a conventional home,” said Andrew Morrison, who created the workshop. “It uses regular foundations and floor frames, with posts and beams, and from there, workers stuff straw bales into the walls instead of … Read more
An article entitled “Typical wildfire recovery is ‘rebuilding to burn’, but there’s another way” makes the point that instead of rebuilding burned houses with the same mainstream concepts that continue to be vulnerable to fires, people should look toward more naturally fire-resistant methods, such as strawbale, cob, adobe, stone, etc. Not only are these methods … Read more
Here is another nicely made video in the Groundwork series featuring straw bale building and explaining why it makes so much sense to think in terms of using natural materials for dwellings. You can watch the video at www.youtube.com or click the title to watch on the blog.