Resources
This is a collection of straw bale construction related documents we’ve culled from various sources, mostly elsewhere on the web and on email lists. If you have a document related to straw bale construction or which might otherwise be of interest to the members of the OSBBC please consider sending it and we will post it here for everyone.
Journals
The Last Straw
In quarterly publication since 1993, TLS is the subscriber-supported, reader-written international grassroots journal of strawbale construction and natural building, providing up-to-date news, inspiration, and information on techniques, projects, issues, materials, and more. Considering ordering the back issues, available together on CD-ROM in a highly useful compilation.
Queens University
COMPRESSIVE TESTING OF PLASTERED STRAW BALES
by Stephen Vardy and Colin MacDougall for The Journal of Green Building
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TESTING OF EARTHEN PLASTERS FOR STRAW BALE WALL APPLICATION (ABSTRACT)
by Brendon Taylor, Stephen Vardy, and Colin MacDougall
COMPRESSIVE TESTING AND ANALYSIS OF A TYPICAL STRAW BALL PLASTER (ABSTRACT)
by Stephen Vardy
Building Alternatives
REPORT TO THE ONTARIO BUILDING CODE COMMISSION
Request for Further Information
Application 2001-52, Seigel/Cochrane Residence
Kris Dick, Ph. D., P Eng
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
STRAW BALE MOISTURE SENSOR STUDY
Technical Series 99-206
STRAW BALE HOUSE MOISTURE SERIES
Technical Series 00-103
MOISTURE PROPERTIES OF PLASTER AND STUCCO FOR STRAW BALE BUILDINGS
Technical Series 00-132
MOISTURE PROPERTIES OF PLASTER AND STUCCO FOR STRAW BALE BUILDINGS
Draft Report
WOOD USAGE IN STRAW BALE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Technical Series 02-116
STRAW BALE HOUSING: A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY
Other
ASTM E84-98 SURFACE BURNING CHARACTERISTICS 001, Straw Bale
Report No. 16237-106770
Prepared for Katrina Hayes by Omega Point Laboratories
A PILOT STUDY EXAMINING AND COMPARING THE LOAD BEARING CAPACITY AND BEHAVIOR OF AN EARTH RENDERED STRAW BALE WALL TO CEMENT RENDERED STRAW BALE WALL
Michael Faine and Dr. John Zhang
A PILOT STUDY EXAMINING THE STRENGTH, COMPRESSIBILITY AND SERVICEABILITY OF RENDERED STRAW BALE WALLS FOR TWO STOREY LOAD BEARING CONSTRUCTION
Michael Faine and Dr. John Shang
PRELIMINARY TEST RESULTS STRAW BALE WALLS
John Carrick and John Glassford
LOAD-BEARING STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
A summary of worldwide testing and experience
Bruce King, PE
STRAW HOUSE
Straw bale construction comes of age
US Department of Energy
INITIAL MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF STRAW LIGHT CLAY (ABSTRACT)
Joshua Thornton
CASE STUDY – WEONA FARMSTAY
SUMMARY OF NEW MEXICO ASTM E-119 SMALL SCALE FIRE TESTS ON STRAW BALE WALL ASSEMBLIES
SASKATCHEWAN BUILDING OFFICIALS NEWSLETTER
Building Standards – January 2004
SASKATOON CITY COUNCIL MEETING CONDENSED AGENDA
Monday, February 25, 2002
STRAW BALE FIRE SAFETY
A review of testing and experience to date
Bob Theis
HEAT INSULATION PERFORMANCE OF STRAW BALES AND STRAW BALE WALLS
R. Wimmer, H. Hohensinner, L. Janisch, and M. Drack
HOW STRAW DECOMPOSES
Implications for Straw Bale Construction
Mathew D. Summers, Sherry L. Blunk, Bryan M. Jenkins
STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION IN CHINA
A comparison of obstacles between Northern and Southern rural areas for the use of Straw Bale Construction as an energy efficient building alternative
Linh Vuong
TESTING OF STRAW BALE WALLS WITH OUT OF PLANE LOADS
Kevin Donahue, SE
S-HOUSE – SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DEMONSTRATED BY A PASSIVE HOUSE MADE OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES
R. Wimmer, H. Hohensinner, and M. Drack
COMPRESSION LOAD TESTING STRAW BALE WALLS
Peter Walker
POLICY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF STRUCTURAL AND NON-STRUCTURAL STRAW BALE STRUCTURES
County of Calaveras, California Building Department
MISSILE PERFORATION THRESHOLD SPEEDS FOR STRAW BALE WALL CONSTRUCTION WITH A STUCCO FINISH
Joseph J. Bilello and Russle R. Carter
INCENTIVES AND IMPEDIMENTS TO THE ADOPTION OF GREEN BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES
Why Straw Materials have not Penetrated the Mainstream
Jay Ruskey
THE STRAW BALE HOUSE
Not for the Eastern United States
Paul Gillimore
THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF STRAW BALE WALL SYSTEMS
Nehemiah Stone
THE EFFECTS OF PLASTER SKIN CONFINEMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF STRAW BALE WALL SYSTEMS
Adrianne Wheeler, David Riley, and Thomas Boothby
STRAW BALE ECOLOGICAL HOUSING PROGRAM
Linda Zhu
STRUCTURAL TESTING OF PLASTERS FOR STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
Kelley Lerner and Kevin Donahue
STRUCTURAL TESTING OF STRAW BALES IN AXIAL COMPRESSION
Kirstin Field, James Woods, and Claudia Fedrigo
Non-Straw Bale References
DESIGN GUIDE FOR FROST-PROTECTED SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS
NAHB Research Center
FASTENER GUIDE
City of Hopkins, MN
Regulations
These regulations and rulings are based on an early understanding of how the straw bale wall system works (much of which has now been proven incorrect through testing by accredited laboratories and academic research here in Canada.) We provide these regulations only as examples of how other jurisdiction have handled straw bale construction be it good or far more often bad.
Early regulatory resistance and a confrontational atmosphere caused a number of state and local straw bale movements to push for early code acceptance of straw bale construction. The result was several local and state building codes which included and continue to include methods which not only do not add to the strength of the straw bale wall assembly but which result in a great deal more effort to build the wall system and the use of unnecessary components with high embodied energy. The Ontario straw bale movement decided early on that educating and cooperating with our building officials would do much more for straw bale construction in the province and would allow for more flexibility and greater advances in the methods and materials used than having straw bale construction added to the building code.
For information on the current state of the art in straw bale construction as it is practiced in Ontario please contact the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition and request a copy of our Information Package for Building Officials.
BCC Ruling No. 07-24-1153
Mika Jantunen Oro-Medonte
BCC Ruling No. 99-56-712
Martin Liefhebber Mississauga Co-Housing
DESCRIPTIVE GUIDELINES FOR LOAD BEARING AND NON-LOAD BEARING STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
Clark County, Nevada Department of Development Services
AUSTIN, TX CITY CODE – VOLUME II – CHAPTER 36 STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION
BOULDER, CO BUILDING CODE – CHAPTER 98 – BALED STRAW STRUCTURES
TAOS COUNTY, NM POLICY FOR EXPERIMENTAL PERMITS – JULY 13, 1993
