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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hello all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I know of several buildings using large 200-250kg
straw bales. Locations where cost per square foot/meter of land is incredibly
low, they may be useful in that they are a very common format for bulk
handling fibre but they are also over engineered and not without there
problems.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Here is a link to Huff and Puff, the Australian
SB organisation and their offer as one example.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://glassford.com.au/main/?page_id=394">http://glassford.com.au/main/?page_id=394</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>All the normal conditions are required in the
specification of these bales, bulk density, moisture, mould, weed seeds, foreign
matter etc and if this is done then the raw material is viable.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>For specific buildings (where land is cheap) that
require hyper-insulation to control the internal climate (frozen food or chill
storage, wine store, recording studio, sports halls) then jumbo
bales may potentially have a place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>In high rainfall/humidity areas procuring jumbo
bales dry <18% free moisture, keeping them dry throughout the supply chain is
an absolute must to quality control the build against all the normal risks.
Common sense stuff really! Being professional and being able to giving gurantees
that are certificated by an independent agency depends on this and is the route
we are taking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Here is a refurbished livestock barn, rezoned for
office accomodation that uses big bales, it was designed by White Design,
creators of the Modcell concept.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://www.modcell.co.uk/page/projects/grange-farm">http://www.modcell.co.uk/page/projects/grange-farm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>The sound insulation quality of this build is
exceptional but as the building was a steel frame the thermal bridging issues
need professional building design and materials, as this was a project for the
farmer client in this case was they were more than receptive to the
use of jumbo bales (they have them on farm and the kit to handle them) and the
planners required them to keep the livestock building too so they were looking
for a low cost solution!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I would be very interested in knowing
of anyone who is interested or whom would be interested in working on
developing a pan-european or even global specification for construction grade
fibre as a hybrid open source project.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Mark</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=michel_rosenberg@yahoo...
href="mailto:michel_rosenberg@yahoo...">Michel Rosenberg</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=strawbale@amper....muni.cz
href="mailto:strawbale@amper....muni.cz">strawbale@amper....muni.cz</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=max@permalot...
href="mailto:max@permalot...">max@permalot...</A> ; <A
title=mark@harrisonembrey...
href="mailto:mark@harrisonembrey...">mark@harrisonembrey...</A> ; <A
title=ArchiLogic@yahoo...
href="mailto:ArchiLogic@yahoo...">ArchiLogic@yahoo...</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:27
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Strawbale] prefab strawbale
(MR)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman,new york,times,serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV>Dear Rob Tom,<BR>Dear Max Vittrup Jensen,<BR>Dear
Mark,<BR><BR>Interesting topic.<BR><BR>I think you're all a bit right about
this. There is a market for prefab applications, but there also remains a need
(and a better solution/technique) for the self builder.<BR>In our region most
of the people don't have time to build their houses themselves, and are in
need for a short and effective building process. (but on the other hand the
prefab market is still small)<BR>On the other hand I know some people
interrupting their jobs for 1 year or more to build their house
themselves.<BR><BR>I personally think that prefabricated panels (like in
Austria for ex.) can guarantee a more professional approach to the building
process. Air tightness for example is a big problem with selfbuiling
constructions.<BR>Also the timeframe (we live in a wet climate) is important.
Although most people over here first (let) construct the roof and staple the
bales under the roof (but the walls are still getting wet
sometimes).<BR><BR>On the other hand I'm also a believer in the big bales
building technique like Max said.<BR>It's quick, stable, and you're not in
need for a lot of wood. In fact it seems to be the optimised sef-building
technique fort semi-self builders (you're in need for some
machines).<BR><BR><SPAN>In Belgium we have a few loadbearing examples, build
be architect Herwig Van Soom (<A href="http://www.nebraska.be"
target=_blank>www.nebraska.be</A>), but these seems to be build only with
small bales.</SPAN><BR><SPAN>I wonder why I haven't seen many more big bale
projects like these of Werner Schmidt (<A
href="http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch"
target=_blank>www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch</A>) over Europe (and the rest of
the world)</SPAN><BR><BR>Are these big bales more risky towards moisture,
fire, density, other problems??<BR><BR>I looked into some research projects of
Grat (S-house Austria) concerning moisture, fire and other problems... but
these were only related to small bales.<BR>Why is that? Do you know of any
research projects concerning big bales?<BR><BR>Best regards<BR><BR>Arch.
Michel
Rosenberg<BR>Belgium<BR><BR>michel_rosenberg@yahoo...<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><PRE wrap=""><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/"><BR></A></PRE></DIV></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>