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Re: [Strawbale] Brilliance is subjective
RE recent discussion about
strawbale book resources -- Small Strawbale, and the
Building with Awareness DVD and Guidebook (BWA).
I am a fan of both of these resources. While I agree with Rob
Tom that there are improvements that could be make in the BWA
building, I personally feel that this DVD is the best how-to video I have
seen on strawbale -(including my own, and some broadcast TV
programs). And the accompanying Guidebook shows in
step-by-step detail many aspects of construction I have not seen anywhere
else. The last chapter of the Guidebook in fact does mention
several things that the owner/builder/filmmaker Ted Owens would do
differently.
To be fair, Ted was building to New Mexico code, which was written in the
mid 1990's -- and the worldwide knowledge of SB has advanced much since
then. But the code has not. Thus Ted had to use rebar pins,
wire mesh, etc., which many experienced straw-bale builders now would
choose to avoid. Therein (I believe) lie Rob Tom's
criticisms.
But Ted did build a small house that incorporates strawbale exterior
walls, an adobe interior wall, earth plasters, clay paints,
cellulose ceiling insulation, a rubble trench foundation, radiant floor
heat, salvaged oak flooring, double-pane low-e windows, 900-watt
photovoltaic solar panels, rainwater catchment and cistern storage, and a
greywater system. His 830 square-foot hybrid home is powered by the
sun and collects and stores its own water supply.
Small Strawbale, by Athena and Bill Steen & Wayne Bingham
shows many inspiring examples of completed small strawbale homes, with
some, but not a lot of "how-to" information. The Steens
work in a region (southern Arizona) that has little or no building code
requirements. Thus they can experiment, and have come up with some
excellent ideas, which bear repeating.
Of course, there are many ways to build, and it is smart to research many
ways before deciding on one path, with details appropriate to your
climate. Most contractors and owner-builders will face construction
codes, and will not be allowed to build in the same way that the Steens
do in Arizona. Most Europeans will probably also choose a different
approach than Ted Owens, who is also building in a dry climate in the US
Southwest. Rob Tom, a Canadian engineer, would clearly do things
differently.
Still I think that there is much inspiration and value in Ted's
step-by-step how-to DVD and Guidebook. And the price is a bargain -
just $42 (U.S.) for both the 5 hr DVD and 152 page Guidebook (with over
300 color photos). The package is also distributed by New Society
Publishers.
regards,
Catherine Wanek
Black Range Films
At 03:56 PM 5/16/2007, you wrote:
On Wed, 16 May 2007 15:56:06
-0400, Iskon <aunkovic@inet...> wrote:
Regarding that book "Small
Strawbale" it is a really good book
But I advise you to take a look
at a small guide book "Building with
awareness",which is absolutely brilliant, full of
tehnicalials,
practical guides... a DVD is included
I've only seen the "Building With Awareness" DVD and I've have
to say that
while it is nice to look at, many of the techniques and details
espoused
therein exhibit a great deal of un-awareness as to how to make a
good
building, never mind a Green building.
In short, many of the ideas *seem* to be good ones on paper but when
those
ideas confronted the Real World at the building site, too often they
ended
up being unsatisfactory and in most instances, it could be chalked up
to
inexperience or ignorance.
Nothing wrong with either of those of course, but to suggest that BWA is
a
guide to building well is simmply erronious. What it really should
have
been called is :
"This is how I made my first building and some of
the things that I
learned not to do the next time."
--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c at C h a f f Y a h o o
dot C a >
(winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply)
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