After building 32 houses of sticks and bricks over the past 10 years, the Bend chapter of Habitat for Humanity is going to try something different—a house built of straw bales.

The straw house, to be located at lot 4 on Harriman Street, will be built for Eiron Green and her two boys this summer.

"We’re always looking at innovative designs, and we’ve been considering a straw bale house for about two years," said Rich Rozic, habitat’s community resource director (Bend Bulletin).

Lawrence Schechter, the architect for the straw bale project points out the rationale for this approach:  Construction with natural, non-depleting materials that are non-toxic and non-polluting supports regeneration of the environment and elimination of those that are harmful to health. That’s where straw bale construction comes in. Its main advantage is in the superior insulating values (about 2 to 3 times higher than convention construction). Moreover, the "breathing" or permeability between the indoor and outdoor environments reduces indoor pollution and supports more natural, healthful conditions.

"The bales are used in the exterior walls….which aren’t load-bearing. A wooden frame is built first…which supports the roof…and the bales are placed within that framework" (Bend Bulletin).

The exterior walls will be approximately 18 inches thick; the interior will be plastered and the exterior will be finished with a lime-rich stucco over mesh. The stucco finish coat will have an integral color, and will be sealed against moisture.

Habitat will complete five houses this year in the Bend area, according to Richard Coon, habitat construction coordinator.

Two will be conventional stick-built houses, he said, and the other two will use more advanced technology.

One house will use a panelized wall system, he said, in which the walls are pre-fabricated and assembled on the site. Another house will use a stress skin formation for the walls, he said, which uses a pre-formed insulating foam between laminated wood to form the walls (Bend Bulletin).

The project will begin in early spring with an insulated radiant heated floor slab set into the foundation. Then, the post and beam framework and roof will be built in preparation for the straw bale wall construction. Mr. Schechter will conduct a straw bale workshop, open to the public with full hands-on instruction for those interested in learning and pitching in. Registration will be limited to approximately 20 people through the Bend Habitat office. Moderate donations ($50 - $75 per person) are invited, although no one will be denied access due to funds, in leiu of a normal $200 workshop fee. Proceeds will go to Habitat to defray costs in the project. Mr. Schechter, a member of the Redmond firm, Fred J. Becker Architect, has been responsible for designing eight straw bale projects in British Columbia and Southern Oregon. A recent resident of Bend, he brings a wealth of experience in sustainable architecture and planning to this area and is dedicated to assist local efforts of more sustainable living.

A public slide presentation of Straw Bale Construction will be given by Mr. Schechter in conjunction with the Habitat project. It will provide an opportunity to learn more about the subject and to register for the hands on workshop. Times and locations of these events will be announced.

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Pantenburg, Leon. The Bend Bulletin. "Habitat to build straw-bale home for Bend family."

Internet Sites:

http://www.efn.org/~apro/strawbale.html Building a Straw Bale Dorm at Aprovecho

http://www.caneloproject.com/pages/cqc.html Casas Que Cantan

http://solstice.crest.org/efficiency/straw_insulation/branart1.html The Last Straw Article: Research and Testing Update

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/2949 Wasatch Academy Strawbale House

http://www.eskimo.com/~mpayson/houses.html International Cob & Strawbale
House Directory

http://home.earthlink.net/~williemerle/hotchile.htm Our Strawbale House

http://home.earthlink.net/~blubrd Our Strawbale House in Berkeley

http://www.moxvox.com/plp.html Peter and Lori's Strawbale House

http://www.folkecenter.dk/strawbale/straw-pictures.htm

http://vs1.channel1.com/users/kirsten/bunny.html Radius Associates

http://vs1.channel1.com/users/kirsten/strawfaq.html Radius Associates

http://countryplans.com/bbs/messages/222.html Re: Building strawbale in earthquake country

http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/frugal/feb98/msg00031.html Re: strawbale houses

http://www.trentu.ca/stuorg/tessoc/straw.html Straw Bale Construction

http://www.21design.com/prodinfo/plans.html Straw Bale Building Plans

http://users.netwit.net.au/~imagine/hilltop.htm Strawbale House; Split level modified Post & Beam; "Hill Top Cottage"

http://www.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive/9602/index.html Strawbale Mailing list Archive for February

http://solstice.crest.org/efficiency/strawbale-list-archive.old/0433.html RE: strawbale house sketch

http://www.the-home-place.com/straw-bale.html The Home Place; A Sustainable Living Demonstration Center

http://moxvox.com/house.html The Strawbale House in the Canyon; an Ongoing Diary

http://www.mit.edu/~tompalka/index.html Strawbale house Framing

http://www.skillful-means.com/indexframeset.html Skillful Means; Hello Straw-bale

http://www.yestermorrow.org Yestermorrow Build/Design School

http://stores.us.ohio-state.edu/~steen/homepower/straw.html

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/6624/index.html Of Earthships and Straw Bales

http://seattle.unl.edu/doc2/students/husker/matt/straw.htm Unfinished straw-bale house located near Keystone, South Dakota.

http://www.txses.org/epsea/straw.html Straw Bale Home Construction

http://www6.bcity.com/markmccabebuild/Page_2.html Strawbale Construction for Queensland

http://www.eren.doe.gov/EE/strawhouse/house-of-straw.html House of Straw - Straw Bale Construction Comes of Age

http://www.b4ubuild.com/photos/straw/straw_p01.shtml B4UBuild.com; Photo album