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Straw bale construction. Straw bales can also be used as part of a Spar and Membrane Structure (SMS) wall system in which lightly reinforced 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) sprayed concrete skins are interconnected with extended X-shaped light rebar in the head joints of the bales. [22]
[2] [3] In a strawbale house, a truth window is often used to show the walls are actually made from straw bales. A small section of a wall is left unplastered on the interior, and a frame is used to create a window which shows only straw, which makes up the inside of the wall. [4] Many designs exist for truth windows.
Straw bales can be used as a basis for walls instead of drywall. Straw provides excellent insulation and fire resistance in a traditional post-and-beam structure, where a wood frame supports the house. [3] These straw walls are about 75% more energy efficient than standard drywall and because no oxygen can get through the walls, fire cannot ...
Typically, bales created on farms with mobile machinery have been used ("field-bales"), but recently higher-density "recompressed" bales (or "straw-blocks") are increasing the loads that may be supported; where field bales might support around 600 pounds per linear foot of wall, the high density bales bear up to 4,000 lb./lin.ft.
The use of highly compressed straw bales as insulation, though uncommon, is gaining popularity in experimental building projects for the high R-value and low cost of a thick wall made of straw. "Research by Joe McCabe at the Univ. of Arizona found R-value for both wheat and rice bales was about R-2.4 (RSI-0.42) per inch with the grain, and R-3 ...
Straw is an abundant agricultural waste product, and requires little energy to bale and transport for construction. For these reasons, straw bale construction is gaining popularity as part of passive solar and other renewable energy projects. [3] Wheat straw can be used as a fibrous filler combined with polymers to produce composite lumber. [4]
Cordwood masonry wall detail. The method is sometimes called stackwall because the effect resembles a stack of cordwood. A section of a cordwood home. Cordwood construction (also called cordwood masonry or cordwood building, alternatively stackwall or stovewood) is a term used for a natural building method in which short logs are piled crosswise to build a wall, using mortar or cob to ...
Reconstructed crannog on Loch Tay, Scotland. A roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, usually with a conical roof. In the later part of the 20th century, modern designs of roundhouse eco-buildings were constructed with materials such as cob, cordwood or straw bale walls and reciprocal frame green roofs.