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.
Actually, "no".As mentioned, it has been a number of years since I first saw the DVD but a few of the items that come to mind now (aside from the above) have more to do with basic building techniques/methods and basic design that would apply to buildings of any sort, not having anything to do with Code restrictions/prescriptions.
ie Foundation forming technique Concrete finishing method (aside from the acid-etched concrete choice) Framing technique Sheet metal roofing technique "Passive solar" design... all of which were done improperly and/or just plain badly and to suggest that they were done with any degree of "awareness" is simply inaccurate.
"Awareness" suggests to me that one first has an understanding of the basics and having contemplated them, implemented changes that are an improvement upon the norm .
That was not the case in the BWA DVD that I viewed. -- === * === 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)