[strawbale] The Last Straw would like European input

[m.ep@laposte...]

Hi Everybody,

Chris Magwood, one of the two new editors of The Last Straw would like more input from Europe for TLS. TLS is an international magazine, and therefore needs international input. Besides, the American way is not the only way ;-)
So I intend to forward his requests to this list and the French one. Could someone else forward them to the Spanish list?

Below you will find a request he put out yesterday. Please read it through and consider writing an article. Write to Chris at <cmagwood@kos...>, but also share it on this list.

I've put an '*' in front of the sections where I feel the European viewpoint/input can be of special interest. Coming back to Timothy's recent request, it could be nice to make a listing of interesting SB - natural building projects/people to visit in Europe. I know I'm not the only one that likes to travel to be inspired. And to start that one off : 
-I believe there are 2 open air museums in The Netherlands with traditional (and therefore natural) buildings, but I don't have their address. Harald?.....


Chris Magwood wrote:
I'm starting to harvest material for our upcoming TLS issue on Roofs and 
Foundations, and I'm hoping I can enlist some of you for direction, advice 
and material. 

In 1996, TLS #16 featured "Good Shoes", which gave a lot of information 
about foundation options. This issue included a large table that described 
and rated various foundations. Without repeating that same information, I'm 
hoping to garner from our collective experiences since then what foundation 
styles, materials and construction techniques have proven themselves over 
that time. 
I'm looking for: 
-actual case studies (with detailed costs and material usage) 
-product reviews (Rastra, Faswall, etc, or various concrete formulations) 
-insulation options 
-a theoretical or actual case study from an engineering point of view, ie, 
the numbers and forces at play in foundation design, in layman's terms 
-leads on unconventional foundations that have been code approved or shown 
themselves to be reliable 
*-a variety of climatic scenarios 
*-leads on interesting people/existing material for reprint 
-good technical drawings of good foundation designs 

For the "Hat" portion of the issue, I'm looking for: 
-actual case studies (again with detailed cost/material breakdown) 
-product reviews (ie, manufactured trusses, steel trusses, various 
sheathings, etc) 
-insulation options, including thoughts on bales as roof insulation 
*-leads on good people to talk to about living roofs, thatch, slate, and 
other traditional roofing systems 
-good technical drawings 
*-thoughts on the aesthetics of roof design 
*-photos of "cool" roofs 
*-leads on interesting people/existing material for reprint 

I'm hoping that we can present a lot of valuable, interesting material in 
this issue, and that it will be useful to owner/builders and professionals 
alike. 

Ready to be stunned by your responses... 


La Maison en Paille
Habitat Eco-Logique 

Andre & Coralie de Bouter
Le Trezidoux
16290 Champmillon
Charente, France 
Tel. (0)5 45 66 27 68 

m.ep@laposte...
www.la-maison-en-paille.com