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Re: GBlist: Re: Housing Costs



Dear Green Builders,

This is in reply to Buzz Burrell and others tuning in to the Housing Costs
thread that is touching on alternative structural systems .  While Buzz has
pointed out many important considerations, including the facts that the
wall themselves typically account for only 15% of a building's cost, and
that operational and maintenance costs need to be accounted, I want to note
a few points of misinformation about alternative natural systems in
particular, ie., strawbale, rammed earth, straw clay, cob, etc.

>6. Stucco.  Thats the key.  You'll never read this in any book, see it in
>any magazine, but its the insight you'll want to remember.  All the
>alternative wall systems are stuccoed, and thats where the money is.

All alternative systems are not stuccoed.  Yes, strawbale, is typically
stuccoed on the outside and plastered on the inside, although natural lime
and earthen plasters are gaining increasing favor for a breathing wall.  It
is also true that strawbale walls often take considerably larger amounts of
stucco or plaster than conventional wood-frame structures (there are
methods for smoothing a strawbale wall before plastering to reduce that
usage).  Rammed earth, though, requires no finish whatsoever, and plasters,
though common, are not absolutely required for many applications of straw
clay and cob.  Alternative cladding is also always an option.


>>       *straw bale
>. . . Could be problems doing a small
>subdivision, due to limited materials and subcontractors.  . . .  If
>permitted, then it will probably have to be timber framed, which uses as
>much wood as efficient stick framing.

Waste straw is abundant anywhere in the country where grain is grown.  It
is true that it may be burned or otherwise destroyed if the farmer doesn't
know he has a market for bales, so building with it requires advance
planning.  Bale buildings don't have to be timber framed.  The
architectural office of Dan Smith and Associates in Berkeley, for instance,
has been developing methods that minimize the use of wood.  Contact the
Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT), 520/624-6628, or
check out the numerous websites on strawbale construction to get info on
various bale wall systems.

>>       *sraw clay
>
>If you have a few years to spend, this produces an incredible building
>with great heart and soul.  I couldn't help but note, in India they don't
>build this way because its too labor intensive!   A sobering thought
>considering our lifestyles.

I suspect Buzz has never built a straw clay building, as they are fairly
efficient to construct.  Parts can even be prefabricated.  Buzz may be
confusing straw clay with cob.  Cob is a slower building process, but is
valued among other reasons for its sculptural quality.  People are building
homes and other structures with it all over the world, including the United
States.  It is increasingly used in combination with other building
methods, to build in difficult spaces and to add fluid details.  See the
Cob Cottage website, http://www.deatech.com/cobcottage
         Straw clay, (also known as slip straw, light clay, lehmbau,
leichtlehm or rammed straw) is slower than strawbale, but certainly faster
than cob.  Bill and Athena Steen are currently using adobe size straw clay
blocks to build with in Mexico, because they find it so easy.  The blocks
can be lifted by women and children  They make even, straight walls that
the locals favor, and they do not have to worry about the straw clay wall
getting wet inside the way they do with strawbale.  Straw clay requires
simple removable forms to shape panels, bricks, tiles or whole wall
sections.  It is relatively well known in Germany and other parts of
Northern Europe, where there are hundreds of lehmbau contractors and some
of the materials are available in building supply stores.  Robert LaPorte
is the best known teacher of it in this country - contact the Natural House
Building Center in Santa Fe, 505/471-5314.  You can also contact Frank
Andresen at the Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in Maine
207/935-3720, where he teaches in during the summer.

Because there is an increasing demand for information on alternative
building systems, more than 18 natural builders are currently compiling a
digest on non-industrialized methods being used in North America.  This is
not to replace the growing body of construction literature on individual
systems, but to provide an overview for people like Barry Goldberg who want
to understand what's possible and especially what's appropriate.  The book
will be published by John Wiley & Sons, but unfortunately will not be
released until November 1998.  Besides reports on more than seven
structural systems by specialists in each, it will offer chapters on design
principles including one on passive solar design strategies for specific
natural building genres by Ken Haggard, Polly Cooper and their colleague
Jennifer Rennick, and advice on selecting bioregionally appropriate
materials by Pliny Fisk.  Contact me for more info on the book.

For an overview that's available now of several natural building systems
check out the website of the last Natural Building Colloquium at the Black
Range Lodge.  http://www.zianet.com/blackrange/natbild.html

Best regards,
Lynne

Lynne Elizabeth
2721 Stuart Street
Berkeley, CA 94705 USA
510 845 2481


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