Houses of straw – the rediscovery of strawbale building

Strawbales are a new, interesting building material: it is a sustainable, ocologically sound resource, available in abundance. Strawbale walls achieve highest insulation values and offer a healthy, beautiful living environment. This film is a trailer for a DVD called “Houses of straw”, shot in Germany. It shows the recent developments, many examples show the different possibilities of building with straw. In interviews with owner-builders, architects and experts we hear a lot of importants aspects. And: an exciting fire test shows: strawbale walls don´t burn!
The DVD “HOUSES OF STRAW” is available at www.ecofilm.de (in PAL format) DIRECT LINK: www.oekofilm.de For USA and other NTSC-countries: DVD available at greenplanetfilms.org (DIRECT LINK: greenplanetfilms.org Description of the DVD

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25 Responses to “Houses of straw – the rediscovery of strawbale building”

  1. ConstructionIRE says:

    this is BEAUTIFUL

  2. domyaska says:

    thanks a lot for sharing!!!

  3. blumgeorge says:

    what do you mean the smell you plaster it … never been inside a straw bale house whats it like ???

  4. ArkDiscoverydotCOM says:

    Nice…. lets hope these people are not greenies or tree huggers… but I like this idea.

  5. starkneked says:

    These are extremely insect proof. Termites are also not interested in straw. They build these in the north western U.S. (extremely rainy) and have no problems. I’d go for it if I were you!

  6. josvandoorn says:

    I lkive in Malaysia. Malaysia is the tropics. We have here cockroaches and ants. I’m thinking of building a house out of rice straw. Could it be done? I’m thinking or worrying about the climate and the cockroaches and so

  7. CandyandTy says:

    how do you buy this video ?? or the whole series ? i live in America and in the state of arizona :) if you could please relpy im very interested in building our own home out of staw bales
    .

  8. wsst1000 says:

    Too bad the DVD isn’t available in NTSC for viewing via Netflix or general use in the USA.

  9. ecofilm says:

    @JRBURNETTSMARKETING
    WRONG! It doesn´t smell at all. I slept in many strawbale houses and the smell inside was wonderful, the room atmosphere is great especially if it was plastered with clay (it equalizes humidity in the air)

  10. JRBURNETTSMARKETING says:

    This is a cool video but if you build a houses made out of Straw I don’t think you could stand the smell ! It would be to strong !
    Great Idea Though !

  11. wlwak says:

    Bricks are made of mud, cavemen lived in stone houses and straw is warm in winter cool in summer great sound insulation and despite what you might think it’s easy to fireproof.

  12. floydatapotata says:

    i’ll try it if i can substitute potata for the chufa.

  13. chaquito1 says:

    Hey dude, do you know what horchata is? If you do, substitute barley in place of the rice. Mmmmmmm gooooodd :)

  14. floydatapotata says:

    I have no experience with rice straw and am really more interested in claw/straw mix for infill between trusses. I think most people would use the local straw to save money, as long as it is not loaded with pesticides. Tell me about your experience with rice straw if you want.

  15. PakaNoHida says:

    rice straw is superior to both wheat and barley

  16. cityzenkane108 says:

    Shoot it.

  17. DominickBlack says:

    That’s what I was thinking, too….

    The answer is “super adobe.”

  18. LordInksworth says:

    They’ll run down the road into the house of bricks.

  19. marktopp says:

    Yes if you live next door to a farmer of course. I think i am right in saying that most farmers will happily sell you a bale for about £1 a piece.
    I was on a course this weekend run by Amazonails who specialise in this – check them out.

  20. arbonac says:

    What will you do when the Big Bad Wolf comes to call?

  21. floydatapotata says:

    very well done video. where i grew up wheat straw was the norm. farther north barley straw is the local product. call me barleyman but i love all the things that come from barley.

  22. vnbm says:

    Is thispossible in a S.E. Asian climate such as the Philippines. There is an availability of straw from rice grains. Can bamboo be used instead of wood for the structure and beans. What about Cobb housing. I know that there are still standing adobe churches in the Philippines, but how these methods be applied to the general public? Who can I contact who is knowledgeable in S.E. Asia?

  23. zebelem says:

    Fabulous! Someday I will.

  24. krystalmagic says:

    @AuntyHatred Straw bales are produced by a standard farm baling machine and could be like getting some from your neighbor if you live in farm and cattle country. Many ranchers have switched to a humongous bale rolling thing so they don’t have to hire labor to stack bales in barns. Consequently, not every farm produces square bales anymore. Regardless, many sources if trucked in. Cost per bale: $2-5 depending on factors.

  25. Whorulesnow says:

    Thanks for posting. I would love to have a home like that. Very smart.

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