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Hi baleheads
Can anyone give Ari some leads or help with his
quest, unfortunately the U.K has no official testing and we have to rely on you
guys for info!!
please reply to Ari Direct hi_ari@yahoo...
In peace
Chug
----- Original Message -----
From: ARI GORE
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 3:16 AM
Subject: Straw Bale testing in Europe This is Ari Gore, a straw bale
builder/enthusiast from Canada. I have been working and travelling in
the strawbale field for over 5 years and have helped on projects in Canada, the
US and Australia.
So far in Australia I've seen some
very effective low tech, simple strawbale construction from Huff n' Puff to some
of the best and most finely finished strawbale structures in the world, at the
Vipassana centre which Frank Thomas of Germany helped to build. In between
I've seen a nightmare of outdated practices (internal pinning, all-thread
compression), poor design (steel members set in the centre of the bale wall with
no regard for heights or widths of bales), and a general reliance on "The Straw
Bale House" as the "bible" of Australian strawbale construction
practices.
After working on some of these
projects, I've become very frustrated with the lack of knowledge and
communication over here. So I am compiling a consulting package with as
much of the latest information as possible as a resource for Australian owner
builders, architects, engineers and city councils.
The package will contain a range of
test results from Australia, Canada, USA and, with luck, Europe that will cover
fire ratings, render strengths, strawbale wall strengths and insulation
values. A synopsis of techniques for loadbearing, post & beam,
hybrids, flat or on edge, earth, lime and cement renders, cost effectiveness and
tips from my 5+ years of building experience will be included as well as lists
of resources from the internet, books and journals and lists of local builders,
architects and engineers.
I think that this may be the way I
can engage in the highest good in the limited amount of time I have left in
Australia.
Is there someone who could take a
little bit of time to put me onto some sources of information in Europe about
the hard data that has been collected about strawbale construction? I am
looking for fire test results, compression tests, R-value tests etc to compare
with the information I have gathered from North America and Australia. Any
information or leads would be very helpful.
Thank you, All the
best,
Ari Gore,
Straw Bale
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