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Hi Rikki,
Here in the UK we of course havea high
humidity pretty well year round and we have successfully built commercial
straw bale buildings using walls that are lime plastered and quite capable of
looking after themselves. I also have first hand experience of building a
livestock house (for pigs). The non-structural bales were recorded at 16%
moisture when they went in and were kept dry, lime plastered on the outside
but left natural on the inside with a close pattern wire mesh to protect the
surface from being eaten! Fungi did grow on the exposed
surface of these internal walls but we controlled them by using an off the
shelf mold inhibitor which still allowed the walls to breathe. The
buildings were taken down after 5 years of pretty continous use. I have spoken
to my colleague David Thorne and he is adamant that the bales were as good as
the day they went in though he didn't test the moisture
content.
My view is that the excellent thermal insulation of
straw bale walls is a perfect opportunity for your application as you can get a
very stable internal environment especially if you exploit straw in the roof.
The techniques to allow zero thermal bridging, managed ventilation and a
breathable envelope are key along with the ensuring the right bulk density,
moisture content and low embodied microbial levels of your straw.
Good luck!
Mark
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