The business members of the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition include straw bale builders, straw bale construction consultants, straw bale construction educators, architects and engineers working with straw bales and renewable energy companies.
The Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition cannot endorse the services, goods, information, or other products offered by the individuals and businesses listed on our website. Business members pay for the privilege of listing on our site. The OSBBC does not act as a regulatory body, but rather, as a resource centre for straw bale building in Ontario. Home owners are strongly encouraged to carefully research all tradespeople before hiring. Ask for references, arrange to visit other jobs your professional has worked on.
Please visit the Get it in Writing website of the Ontario Home Builders” Association for information about hiring and working with a contractor.
Please browse the Building Registry and look for the names of your potential contractors. Consider contacting home owners whose homes your potential contractors have worked on but have not provided as references.
Straw Bale Builders | General Contractors | Architects | Drafting & Design | Engineers | Education | Alternative & Renewable Energy | Carpenters & Timber Framers | Carpenters & Cabinetmakers | Plaster, Masonry, Tile, & Stone Work | Landscaping | Landscape Architects | Plumbing | Mechanical | Environmentally Friendly Products | Other | Media, Graphic Arts and Design, and Promotion | Accountants and Bookkeepers
Straw Bale Builders
Camel’s Back Construction
Tina Therrien
P.O. Box 61,
Warsaw, ON,
K0L 3A0
(705) 652-3626
strawbus@auracom.com
www.strawhomes.ca
Consulting, bale building and plastering (including earthen & lime), project management, referrals for design work, teaching, supervising volunteer bale builds, clay ovens. Ontario’s most experienced straw bale builders, Camel’s Back Construction travel across the province to build beautiful homes. They offer quality professional services and form close working relationships with their clients. They love what they do, and are inspired by the growing interest in bale building.
Fourth Pig Worker Co-operative Inc.
PO Box 10
Baysville ON
P0B 1A0
416-778-2178
info@fourthpig.org
www.fourthpig.org
The Fourth pig offers a full slate of natural and green building construction, renewable energy and education services. Our mission is to foster ecologically balanced methods of construction and energy production in order to promote more sustainable and healthy communities. Our sustainable shelter model has many features, including: Renewable energy, Natural, non-toxic and health focused materials and design, Energy conservation measures, Life-cycle management of building materials, Solar design for efficient heating, cooling and lighting, Local materials sourcing, Education and training. Contact us to discuss how we can help you achieve natural, beautiful, affordable and sustainable shelter.
Green Hammer Construction
41 Edgewater Blvd
Peterborough, ON
K9H 1A1
705-876-0569
www.greenhammerconstruction.ca
Green Planet Homes
Shawn Hayter
PO Box 95
McCord, SK
S0H 2T0
306-478-7077
www.greenplanethomes.ca
We now specialize in prefabricated straw bale panels called Green Panels. Canada’s first prefab straw bale company has been involved in over seven prefab projects in projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We can ship anywhere in western Canada or northwestern Ontario as far east as Thunder Bay. Green Panels are built indoors, out of the elements, weather proofed, and shipped, to the building site where they are assembled in days. If your project time line is short, consider Green Panels. As you get the foundation ready, we get the walls ready. This makes them ideal for General Contractors with no straw bale experience. Green Panels are built and stuccoed horizontally, you will find our walls flatter and straighter than the average straw bale wall. This makes it easier for joining the partition walls to the exterior walls, which saves you money and time. If you need consulting for your owner built onsite project, work bee leadership, milk or silicate paints, or Green Panels give us a call. It’s easy being green at Green Planet Homes!
GreeningHomes
Sustainable Designs and Renovations
299A Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M6R 2M3
(416) 532-6811
cphillips@greeninghomes.com
www.GreeningHomes.com
Sustainable designs, renovations and consultations for healthy living/working environments in the Greater Toronto Area.
Living Sol
Killaloe, ON
K0J 2A0
(613) 756-3884
info@livingsol.com
www.livingsol.com
We delight in designing and creating one-of-a-kind, energy-efficient, sustainable homes and cottages. We bring drafting skills, mechanical and technical skills, and many decades of building experience to each project. Our construction crew excels in enthusiasm and personal commitment. Our firm is qualified and registered with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Ontario Thermal Wall Systems
Ian Weir
201 Lord Seaton Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
M2P 1L1
(647) 378-1420
info@ontariothermalwall.com
www.ontariothermalwall.com
Ontario Thermal Wall Systems focuses primarily on building environmentally friendly, air-tight, highly insulated exterior walls. We work with a designer, engineer and builder to offer a full design/build package. While we have experience in traditional site-built straw bale construction we are moving towards a more commercialized system for construction by building modular straw bale wall units. By doing so, we are able to create a flatter, more consistent wall at a lower cost to the builder. These wall units are prefabricated off-site at our orangeville location according to the building plans and then shipped to the building site and loaded directly into place on the foundation. The windows and doors are then framed in between the wall units and within days the building is ready for a roof. Please see our website for more information. Ian Weir is the owner and operator of Ontario Thermal Wall Systems and is a registered Professional Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional.
Straworks
39 Edgewater Blvd.,
Peterborough, ON. K9H 1A1
705-868-STRAW (7872)
info@straworks.ca
www.straworks.ca
Straworks is one of Canada’s well established straw bale building companies. We are located in Peterborough, ON, and build anywhere you desire. We offer straw bale building, design and computer generated plans, plastering, consulting and project management services to ensure your home is built the way you want it done. We take pride in our work and have fun doing it, because when built properly, straw works.
General Contractors
Black River Sustainable Construction
1007 Loggers Rd
Bracebridge, ON
P1L 1X1
705-706-0450
strawhouse@hughes.net
www.brsc.ca
Strawbale Construction, Renovations, Additions, Studios/Workshops, Masonry Services including Masonry Heaters, Concrete countertops, Sinks, Tables and Mantles, Exterior Additions including Decks and Sunrooms. Contact us to discuss your ideas.
Evolve Builders Group
60 Manitoba St.
Guelph, ON
N1E 3B9
phone 519-265-6546
fax 519-265-6576
info@evolvebuilders.ca
www.harvesthomes.ca
OWNER-ASSIST SERVICES: Design, Planning; Permit Approved Plans; Project Management; Consultation; Bale Raising; Plastering; Stucco and Finishing.
FULL CONTRACTING SERVICES: Conventional: Slab-on-Grade Foundations, Hydronic tubing installation; Framing; Finish Carpentry; Window/Door Installation; Roof Truss Installation; Roof Sheathing Installation; Drywall hanging; Textured Drywall wall and ceiling Finishes; Specialized Paint and Natural Oil finishing; Attic Insulation Alternative: Grey Water Waste System design and installation; Roof Water Catchment and Purification design and installation; Composting Toilet installation.
HavenCraft Homes
RR#2 Bancroft, ON
K0L 1C0
phone/fax: 613-332-5872
info@havencraft.ca
www.havencraft.ca
Patrick and Sherri Marcotte, of HavenCraft Homes have been living and building straw bale homes for over 10 years.
- Contracting – we offer fully licensed and insured building services, ranging from partial builds to full turn-key homes.
- Design – we offer fully licensed design services, from concept plans and 3D walkthroughs, to construction plans, using the “cost planning” approach.
- Consultation – we help guide you through the process of designing and building your home.
s.h.e.d.
190 Dublin St. N.
Guelph, ON
N1H 4P2
905-409-2121
gavin.baxter@gmail.com
www.shedlightly.com
At s.h.e.d. (strategic, healthy, ecological, design) we provide a full range of services: planning, design, construction, project management and development consulting. Our focus is on building long-term relationships with people who are committed to creating places to live, work and play, which foster a regenerative approach to both human spaces and natural systems.
Architects
soma earth ARCHITECT
1352 Bathurst St, Suite 202
Toronto, ON
M5R 3H7
416-656-4444 (phone)
416-656-6333 (fax)
info@somaearth.com
www.somaearth.com
Ingrid Cryns, BES, B. Arch, OAA, CBT is an Eco-Architect, sculptor, canoe tripping guide and holistic practitioner. With a diverse background that has informed her great love for living, green, buildings, Ingrid is extremely flexible and a joy to work with. Whether you want to design a straw bale or a rammed earth house, Ingrid can help you sort through the vast complexity of choices of what would match your budget as well as what would be the healthiest building you could live in on all levels. Her greatest passion is to create sustainable buildings that work with natural energies to enhance the most optimal flow possible. This also includes energy balancing environments through unique design interventions that transmute the toxic electromagnetic, electric and geopathic stresses.
Sprout Studios
Huntsville, ON
info@sproutstudios.ca
www.sproutstudios.ca
Sprout Studios is an architectural design firm based in Muskoka that specializes in lake front properties. Sprout Studios operates under an environmentally conscious attitude and encourages use of earth-friendly materials and practices, such as the use of straw bale and solar passive design, whenever possible.
Engineers
Blackwell Bowick Partnership Limited
19 Duncan Street, Suite 405
Toronto, ON
M5H 3H1
(416) 593-5300 (phone)
(416) 593-4840
aspick@blackwellbowick.com
www.blackwellbowick.com
Bradley Engineers
1437 Webster Rd., RR#1
Norwood, ON
K0l 2V0
(705) 639-8928
www.bradleystructuraleng.com
Elfstrom Engineering Professional Corporation
David Elfstrom
#421-437 Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto, ON
M6R 3B9
(647) 235-8872
david@elfstrom.com
www.ElfstromEngineering.com
Mechanical/HVAC Design Engineer & LEED A.P.
Drafting & Design
RiverSong Design
Michael Neelin
27 Broadway Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K1S 2V4
613-294-7363
neelin@riversongdesign.ca
www.riversongdesign.ca
With more than two decades of experience designing over 170 homes and renovations in eastern Ontario, Michael Neelin of RiverSong Design is best known as a specialist in the design of handcrafted timber frame homes. He feels that a traditional mortise-and-tenon timber-framed structure using new or reclaimed wood, enclosed with plastered straw bale walls, and heated and powered with renewable energy systems is the ideal formula for a beautiful and sustainable home.
Walker and Associates
1334 Scollard Dr.
Peterborough, Ontario
K9H 7K1
p: (705) 742-3503
f: (705) 742-4031
e: walkerandassociates@cogeco.ca
www.walkerandassociates.ca
Straw Bale and Environmental Education
Chris Magwood
41 Edgewater Blvd.
Peterborough, ON
K9H 1A1
705-876-0569
cmagwood@kos.net
www.chrismagwood.ca
Alternate and Renewable Energy
Flanagan and Sun
2709 County Road 36 RR 1
Buckhorn, ON
K0L 1J0
(705) 875-3132
sean.flanagan@flanaganandsun.com
www.flanaganandsun.com
Carpenters & Timber Framers
Autumn Olive Log & Timber Framing
30941 Lakeview Ln.
Wallacetown, ON
N0L 2M0
519-852-9599
tfwhalls@gmail.com
www.autumnolive.ca
Dwellings
Kris Bailey
1431 Old brooke Rd.
Maberly, Ont. K0H2B0
613-264-8722
kris@ecobuilders.ca
www.ecobuilders.ca
We are builders working primarily in the Perth area, with occasional forays toward Ottawa, Kingston and sometimes beyond. Our aim is to build beautiful, eclectic and durable homes that will last and inspire for generations to come. Our expertise revolves primarily around wood, so we are often subcontracted as timberframers, framers and stackers for strawbale walls, stairbuilders and trim carpenters. We also act as general contractors and design consultants.
Carpenters & Cabinetmakers
No listings.
Plaster, Masonry, Tile, and Stone Work
No listings.
Landscaping
No listings.
Landscape Architects
No listings.
Plumbing
No listings.
Mechanical
No listings.
Environmentally Friendly Products
No listings.
Other
Earth Block Construction
Henrt Wiersma
3987 Timlin Rd.
Cobourg, ON
K9A 4T9
(905) 342-3666
hjwiersma@airnet.ca
Spirit Tree Estate Cidery
Thomas Wilson
1137 Bostin Mills Rd.
Caledon, ON
L7C 0N1
(905) 838-4278
info@spirittreecider.com
www.spirittreecidery.com