Building Construction Costs For House Of Straw In The US
If you have never heard of a house of straw being considered as an energy-efficient and affordable housing option before, then you probably need to read more about the use of straw bale to minimize building construction costs for US homeowners. The 'house of straw' is a demonstration project by the US Department of Energy in the field of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. It advocates the use of building materials sourced near the construction site, as well as local labor resources. So why would you choose a house of straw? If you are a potential homeowner and you had estimates done on your building construction costs, you will probably find yourself dreading the prospect of estimating home construction costs because building costs are skyrocketing. As an alternative, you might prefer to use straw bale as a building material instead. Straw bale has the distinct advantage of being structurally sound, yet it is easy to find and use. Using straw bale helps minimize the use of forest products, straw bale houses are easy to build, inexpensive, and allows the straw to be rescued from the agricultural waste dumps so that they can be used as building materials. A well-made straw bale house prevents the intrusion of water completely. It is fire resistant, and does not attract pests. With the stucco exteriors featured in most straw bale houses, you will wind up with a classy-looking house at a fraction of the cost of equally great looking houses made from more expensive materials.
If the community is also involved with the building project and local laborers are being trained in the right straw bale construction techniques, it is possible to construct a livable straw bale house within a day. If you get your straw from local farms in the area, you will be providing American farmers an additional source of income from material that they would have thrown away in the first place. In Europe, people have been building houses from straw for centuries. These straw houses have proven to be so resilient, that some lasted for more than two hundred years. The practice was then adopted in the US, especially in the 19th century when the hay/straw baler machine became widely used and people were at a loss to find sources of good lumber in certain areas. Straw bales are made from straw which are grain stalks that are usually discarded after the harvest is done. Straw is different from hay which has leaves and attracts pests. Usually, to build a straw bale house, builders rely on rectangular three-string straw bales for home construction. For a regular house occupying 2,000 square feet, builders may employ around 300 of these types of straw-bale blocks. Straw bales may also be produced in other sizes and shapes, depending on the need. Some people expect that, if the use of straw bales gets into full swing in the US, construction-grade straw bales will be regularly produced in the future. If so, this is good news indeed for builders, farmers, and homeowners in the US. |
