After more than ten years of work by many, many people, the book actually really exists! I’m proud to be one of about 40 contributors to this great book that covers many options and variations for building with straw bales and is full of good illustrations. This is the book I wish I had had when I started building with bales 15 years ago. On sale now: https://www.newsociety.com/Bo…/S/Straw-Bale-Building-Details.
Attached are some photos taken this AM of the house - 3-4" of snow which is pretty good for Campo. Low 20's outside at night. Interior drops to 72 when the woodstove is cold or overnight, and the whole house heats quite uniformly. We haven't used the mini-split heater. I know I harp on this, but such performance is remarkable. This house is just so damn easy to live in
Learn about building with straw-clay at this hands-on workshop. Straw-clay is a method of filling in a wall with a mixture of straw and clay that, once dry, is good insulation and creates a surface you can plaster right over. It is a non-toxic, versatile, and user-friendly way to add natural insulation to any space.
There are still a few spots left for the Strawbale Building Workshop we will be teaching at Terra Corazon Farm in Valley Center on Sat., Feb 9, 2019, as part of the San Diego Sustainable Living Institute’s new Natural Building Program. This will be a fun day spent in a relaxed and safe environment learning about building with bales. We will be shaping and stacking the bales for an adorable 120 sq foot building. People of all gender identities are encouraged to attend.
These workshops fill up quickly so register soon!
Wondering what people think of our workshops? Here are some recent testimonials:
“I learned more than I had hoped to at this workshop. I particularly liked the hands-on experience and the knowledge you gain from other participant’s past experiences. The workshop was really well put together and the information was presented extremely well. I want to thank you for going above and beyond in putting these workshops together. It was great!!” –
“I learned a lot and really liked that there was a lot of hands-on work, the information was well presented, and there was a great atmosphere. It was a great experience– you guys have so much knowledge and passion for what you do and I appreciated the opportunity to learn from you.” – Maria B.
“The workshop had a good pace, was very well thought out by the teachers and easy to understand. It was the perfect amount of students. Easy to understand. Excellent presentation. Very knowledgeable instructors. Would highly recommend the workshops.” – Anna C.
“I loved the size of the workshops and how they were presented. Very easy to grasp the principles as they were presented. There was always time for questions and they were all answered. I felt that a great deal of consideration was given in the planning of the classes and there is nothing I can think of that I would want different. Often when attending this sort of thing there is a feeling from the people giving the class that they are better than those of us who do not know enough yet. I never once got the feeling like that from the teachers of this class. They were always very much interested in our needs and perception of the material. I felt like it would be easy to become friends with them.” – Kari W.
The County allows an ADU to be added to any property with an existing house (as long as you meet certain zoning regulations). A detached ADU can be as big as 1,200 sq ft or as tiny as 150 sq ft, regardless of the size of the existing house, and it is legal to rent out either the ADU or the main house.
And the County supports green building by allowing us to count the sq footage to the inside of the strawbale walls, so we get all the benefits of thick super-insulated walls without losing any precious living space.
So why not build your dream strawbale home in your backyard and then rent out the conventional house? That’s what we call making your guest house your best house!
We are a design-build company with a passion for small, sustainable, high-performance homes. So contact us today to explore building a high-performance, natural ADU on your property.
Interested in seeing some of our work in person? Here’s your chance: three projects we worked on will be open to the public on the Green Homes Tour on Sunday, Oct 21, 2018, from 10 am – 4 pm. The Tour is an annual event hosted by the San Diego chapter of the Green Building Council and, this year features a total of 13 homes all over the county. More info and tickets here: http://usgbc-sd.org/event-3042748
1. The Fallgren Net Zero Strawbale Home in Campo: Simple Construct designed and built this turn-of-the-last-century rancho style home. With strawbale walls, exquisite salvaged wood details, and all natural finishes, this homes is not just energy-efficient it is also a feast for the eyes. After a year of monitoring, it earned the Net Zero Energy Building certification through the Living Building Challenge, a third-party certification that verifies that the house uses less energy than it produces. In 2018, this project was honored with a Leadership in Energy Efficiency Award, watch the short video
* Earthbag courtyard wall: If you are interested in earthbag construction, you have yet another reason to visit the Fallgren home in Campo. We are in the process of building a 6′ tall earthbag wall that will enclose the future outdoor kitchen, seating area, and raised bed vegetable gardens.
2. The Martin-Lynn Strawbale Home in Jamul: Simple Construct installed the straw bales, lath, and plaster on this lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath custom home designed and built by TNT Custom Builders. The home features peeled posts, stained concrete floors, fine woodworking, and gorgeous clay-plastered strawbale walls. Though not quite finished, it’s clear this will be a stunningly beautiful, energy-efficient natural home.
3. The Ponizil-
Berlfein Green Renovation in Encinitas: Simple Construct assisted with a deep-energy retrofit of this typical San Diego home, helping to air-seal and reinsulate the roof. We also installed beautiful clay plaster in two rooms and built a cob/adobe seating area in the backyard.
We hope to see you one the Green Homes Tour!
It sounds far-fetched at first, but building with straw and other bio-based, carbon-sequestering materials can help fight climate change. We can go beyond “doing less harm” with building, we can actually do some good.
Check out this chart from Architecture 2030’s Carbon-Smart Materials Palette showing that straw bales not only cause less carbon dioxide to be emitted, they actually sequester carbon in the wall. Read more about the carbon impact of strawbale on Architecture 2030’s website.
For an in-depth discussion of embodied carbon in building materials, check out this thorough but accessible article on embodied carbon written by Ace McArleton and Jacob Deva Racusin of NewFrameworks to understand how.
Let’s do some good while building natural, beautiful, healthy homes!
The Fallgren strawbale home, recently certified a Net Zero Energy Building through the Living Building Challenge, will be featured on this year’s Green Homes Tour!
The tour is Sunday, October 21, 2018 from 10 am – 4 pm at locations all over the county. More info and registration can be found here.
*** Update: There are now 3 projects that Simple Construct worked on featured on the Tour. More info here ***
Earthbag Hands-on 1-day Workshop
Sat, Sept 29, 2018, Campo, CA
Learn about earthbag building from trained professionals in a fun and supportive environment while helping to build a real project. During this one day workshop, you will learn the whys and hows of this low-impact, sustainable building technique and have a chance to put that knowledge into action.
Spend the day on a beautiful 10-acre property in Campo, CA (an hour East of San Diego) with other natural building enthusiasts, enjoy a delicious healthy home-cooked lunch and learn while helping to build a landscaping wall around the courtyard of an award-winning Net Zero Energy strawbale home. The day will be a mix of talking about building and hands-on doing. This is a rare opportunity to participate in a real build where your safety and education are the primary focus. No previous construction experience is required. All tools will be provided for your use during the workshop.
All content © 2024 Simple Construct : ♥ kellyscurtis
