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 Builders Without  Borders Straw-Bale  Construction Guides

 The Last Straw -
 The International  Journal of Straw  Bale and Natural  Building


- Promoting natural building, and sustainable design and development, through research, training, education and consulting services.
Annotated Straw Bale Bibliography, by Dr. Owen Geiger
Straw Bale Building Codes
Austin, Texas Straw Bale Code

Boulder, Colorado Alternative Building Materials Code

1995 California Straw Bale Code

2002 Proposed California Straw Bale Code

Cortez, Colorado Straw Bale Code

Nevada Straw Bale Code

New Mexico Straw Bale Code

Tucson/Pima County, Arizona Straw Bale Code


Additional Straw Bale Building Code Information
Building Officials Guide to Straw Bale Construction.
Edited by Kelly Lerner and Pamela Wadsworth Goode, CASBA, 2000.
California Straw Building Association.
A compilation of testing and code work done to date.

Eisenberg, David. "Straw Bale Construction & The Building Codes: A Working Paper ."
Development Center for Appropriate Technology, 1996.
An informative paper for building officials and for anyone else preparing to build a straw bale home.

Sayre, Leroy. "Straw-bale Construction: A Building Official's Perspective."
Building Standards . International Conference of Building Officials, September/October 1998.
A review of straw-bale construction for building officials.

Tawse, Clint. "Officially Converted."
The Last Straw Journal , Spring 1996.
The former head building official in Pueblo, Colorado endorses straw-bale construction.


Articles
California Straw Building Association Frequently Asked Questions.
The best straw bale FAQ on the Web.

House of Straw - Straw Bale Construction Comes of Age.
U.S. Department of Energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy rates straw-bale construction as the most energy efficient form of construction.

Johnston, Janet, and John Swearingen. "Building a Straw-Bale House."
Fine Homebuilding Magazine July, 1996.
A popular home building magazine examines straw bale building. Excellent photographs.

King, Bruce. Straw-bale Construction.
Building Standards . International Conference of Building Officials, September/Ocotober 1998.
Good straw-bale construction overview.

McCabe, Joseph C. The Thermal Resistivity of Straw Bales for Construction. 1993.
Joseph McCabe's master's thesis.

Pilot Study of Moisture Control in Stuccoed Straw Bale Walls.
Report to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation from Fibrehouse Limited, Bob Platts, Ottawa, May 1997.
This report presents the findings of pilot work exploring straw bale house performance in resisting and controlling moisture.

Straw: The Next Great Building Material?
Environmental Building News May/June 1995.
An analysis of straw-bale construction by a major environmental building magazine.


Books
King, Bruce. Buildings of Earth and Straw.
Ecological Design Press, 1997.
Overview of straw-bale and earth construction engineering issues.

Lacinski, Paul; Bergeron, Michel. Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates.
New Society Publishers, 2000.
Complete guide to straw bale building.

MacDonald, S. O., and Matts Myhrman. Build It With Bales: A Step-by-Step Guide to Straw Bale Construction, Version Two.
Tucson: West Press, 1997.
The most popular how-to guide on straw bale basics that includes many useful drawings and construction details.

Magwood, Chris and Peter Mack, and Tina Therrien. More Straw Bale Building.
New Society Publishers, 2005.
Comprehensive coverage of straw-bale construction, with updated information.

Magwood, Chris and Chris Walker. Straw Bale Details: A Manual for Designers and Builders.
Chelsea Green, 2002.
Architectural details for straw bale buildings.

Meagan, Keely. Earth Plasters for Straw Bale Homes.
Self-published, 2000.
Complete information on using earth as a natural plaster on bale walls.

Steen, Athena and Bill. The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes.
Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2002.
Exceptional photographs of beautiful straw bale homes, as well as general bale building guidelines.

Steen, Athena and Bill, and David Bainbridge. The Straw Bale House.
Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1994.
The number one selling book on straw-bale construction.

Straw Bale Construction Details.
Edited by Ken Haggard and Scott Clark.
California Straw Building Assocation.
A valuable resource for architects, designers and homeowners.

Wanek, Catherine. The New Strawbale Home.
Gibbs, Smith, 2003.
This book compiles floor plans and specifications from 40 straw bale homes, along with a good up-to-date overview of straw bale building and many excellent photographs.


Journals
The Last Straw - The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building.
The most authoritative source for current straw bale information.


Videos
Owens, Ted. "Building With Awareness - The Construction of a Hybrid Home."
Syncronos Design Production. BuildingWithAwareness.com
Excellent video showing the complete process of building a sustainable straw bale home.

Morrison, Andrew. "The Comprehensive Guide to Building with Straw Bales (Post and Beam Infill)."
Straw Bale Innovations, LLC. StrawBale.com
Step-by-step straw bale building video, primarily for seismic regions.

Wanek, Catherine. "Building with Straw, Vol. 1: A Straw-Bale Workshop."
Black Range Films. StrawBaleCentral.com
View post and beam straw-bale construction at a weekend workshop.

Wanek, Catherine. "Building with Straw, Vol. 2: A Straw-Bale Home Tour."
Black Range Films. StrawBaleCentral.com
A video tour of ten homes with a wide range of styles and prices.

Wanek, Catherine. "Building with Straw, Vol. 3: Straw-Bale Code Testing."
Black Range Films. StrawBaleCentral.com
Intended for building officials, this video will also be of interest to straw bale enthusiasts. Watch as a bale of straw is unloaded from a 2,000 degree furnace after 2 hours. This test earned straw bale construction a 2-hour commercial fire rating.

Kemble, Steve; Escott, Carol. "How to Build Your Elegant Home With Straw Bales."
Sustainable Systems Support.
Includes video and manual for building a straw bale home.


Websites
CREST Strawbale Mailing List Archive and Search Engine
Online dialog of straw bale building, with an archive of previous discussions.

Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building
Major site on straw-bale construction and other types of sustainable building methods.

GEIGER RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
Crestone, Colorado 81131 Email: Contact Information