More and more people are talking about straw-bale construction and its merits as one of the most environmentally sound building materials. First of all, it is extremely available; it is a ‘waste’ byproduct of agriculture. Second of all it is biodegradable so at the end of its life it can be safely returned to the earth and will decompose very quickly. (If mixed with the garden/ kitchen waste it can even be transformed into valuable compost. Which other building material can you think of that will do that?) Thirdly, it forms the major bulk of the wall and does not require extra insulation. Also, it is extremely easy material to build with - one does not need specialised skills to build a wall made of bales. The construction technique can be learned in a week-end... And the list can go on...
I also know that straw-bale construction has short-comings. Straw can not be allowed to have prolonged contact with water and the availability of good quality bales (right density) can be an issue. As the wall need to breathe it is recommende that they are rendered either with lime of with a clay plaster. And these plasters can present some difficulties such as the slow curing of lime render and need of maintenance of a clay plaster. Finally, the bales come in a standard size and this can be rather limiting! Straw-bale construction is still in its infancy though, and it is bound to evolve quickly in the coming decades. It is my feeling that many of the difficulties that the material currently face can be easily improved on.
Having said all this, straw-bale construction remains a fringe material and it may take a long time to prove itself to the public at large. One of the main factor that may make it more popular is the energy crisis that our society is very likely going to face in the near future. As fossil fuel price will increase, energy intensive building technics may loose their supremacy and give way to more local and benign materials such as straw-bales.
I would encourage as many people as possible in the field of construction to consider this material and to experiment with it for I feel it has a lot of potential and may well become one of the most appropriate material for rural housing in the coming decades.
