Straw Bale Construction Washington State

Discover how an ecological way of building is creating homes and structures of high quality that meet state and local building codes and regulations.

Straw bale construction washington state. Since 1996 architect phelan has worked on about 14 straw bale homes some of which are in eastern. Additionally the cost savings over time due to a straw bale home s energy efficiency will make up for the extra cost. Buy the code book for your state. We decided we are going to build an earthbag and straw bale house.

Straw bale home construction is about 15 more costly than traditional stick frame construction. Here s what i recommend you do to find out whether or not your state has a building code for alternative construction and what to do if they do not. Exterior view of straw bale library in mattawa washington taken in 2008 constructed 2002 by ironstraw group straw bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw commonly wheat rice rye and oats straw as structural elements building insulation or both. Old straw bales work well if bales are still held tightly.

However it is possible to complete some or all of the work yourself making it cheaper. These green buildings use a natural renewable resource and are very energy efficient. The 2015 residential building code has a chapter on prescriptive straw bale construction but this code release has not yet been adopted by any jurisdiction in our tri state area. Sharon o malley the choice of straw bale as an insulating material for the 11 newest homes on washington state s lopez island was an easy one for sandy bishop who as executive director of the.

Located a 30 minute ferry ride west of the seattle everett metropolitan area the small town hosts the edmonds kingston ferry and offers a quiet place to grab a bite and enjoy the views. I receive a ton of questions about building codes and whether or not a certain state covers straw bale construction in their building code. To browse through pictures and videos of some homes we have built view our portfolio. The project is near kingston on washington state s kitsap peninsula nestled between the olympic and cascade mountain ranges.

You will want a bale that is held together tightly with baling twine encircling the bale in two to three places. Locate a local source of straw bales wheat or oat straw. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or brown construction projects.