There are a lot of myths out there about straw bale construction. There are people who will tell you that homes built with straw bales will encourage rodents and other pests. They may also warn you against the high likelihood of fire in a straw bale home. Perhaps they would even go so far as to suggest that straw bale houses cannot hold their value over time. The naysayers are around, and that is not likely to change anytime soon; however, you can find out the facts for yourself by watching this video below.

Don’t rely on those who would speak false information as if it were truth. My goal with http://www.StrawBale.com is to get the truth about straw bale construction in front of as many people as possible.

The above video is a short clip about the myths of straw bale construction. It quickly sums up some of the biggest myths. Like those mentioned above, and counters them with facts about the reality of straw bale construction. At the end, there is a 3 minute (or so) slide show with music through some beautiful straw bale homes. I hope you enjoy it.

About the Author
Andrew Morison is a licensed contractor specializing in straw bale and green construction. He has shown thousands of people how to build their own straw bale projects through his comprehensive series of instructional straw bale, concrete foundation, and plastering DVDs. You can check these out at http://www.LearnStrawBale.com.

Recently I have had the opportunity to review Ted Owens Guidebook and DVD - “Building With Awareness.“

Green designer and filmmaker Ted Owens has spent much of his professional career in the field of energy and resource-efficient design.Award-winning filmmaker and designer Ted Owens guides you through the entire construction process of building his elegent and energy-efficient straw bale home. Building for efficiency requires more than just using straw bale for insulation in the walls. It is the entire house design the will prevent overheating in the hot summer months and high energy bills in the winter. “Building With Awareness” shows you how to look at the big picture and choose the proper materials and design parameters to insure your home is both comfortable and beautiful.

Beautiful design is a green building principal that is just as important as energy-efficiency. This video and book looks at a home as an entire system - the layout of rooms and windows, the materials chosen for specific areas, and how the home relates to the angle of the sun. All have a dramatic impact on how well the home performs. This video is packed with green-design and construction techniques from professionals working in the cutting edge of home building and design. Many of these concepts add nothing to the construction cost of the home, yet can save the homeowner thousands of dollars in utility bills.

Housebuilding seems complex until you break it down into simple components. By breaking the design and construction into separate elements—each one flowing into the next—the process becomes easy to understand.

Straw bale walls are like working with the oversized blocks that you used as a kid. Once you see the step-by-step demonstration by straw bale expert Stefan Bell, you will know that building your own home is within your grasp. Stefan is not only a master at his craft of straw and mud, he is also engaging and entertaining. Ted’s enthusiasm for straw bale construction is contagious. Learn each step of code-approved techniques for straw bale construction—stacking, noching around posts, window installation, code-required proceedures, how to split straw bales, plaster and stucco preparation—the whole works.

In the adobe section, Ted shows you how to build walls out of mud bricks. Placing thermal mass walls (thick, heavy walls that can absorb and store heat) within your highly insulated exterior walls, is very important—and sometimes overlooked in green building. This will greatly improve the efficiency of any straw bale home. This home stays cool and comfortable inside, without the use of an air-conditioning system, even in the hundred-degree heat of New Mexico. It does this by taking advantage of the local climate and by using adobe thermal mass walls. If adobe is not available in your area, either stone or brick can be used.

This home generates 100% of its own electricity. Wiring and electrical work for straw bale and frame construction are demonstrated by solar energy expert Joe Yarkin. Joe, when he is not working on electrical wiring for straw bale homes, is installing large photovoltaic systems in anarctica for the National Science Foundation. He brings a passion and knowledge of alternative power systems to this video. Joe wires this straw bale and adobe home for both a conventional and photovoltaic electrical system.

Stefan Bell also hosts the sequence on using an all-volunteer crew to apply the first coat of mud to the home’s walls. He demonstrates mud mixtures, application techniques, the use of tools, and additional tips and tricks. Nothing will get you up to speed faster than by watching Stefan go through the entire earth plastering process. By the end, you will want to get your hands dirty yourself. It’s fun!

The finish coat of earth plaster is demonstrated by author and master-of-mud, Keely Meagan. She wrote the original book on earth plastering, “Earth Plasters for Straw Bale Homes”. Keely will show you how to obtain a beautiful white earth plaster finish in a variety of colors—even if you have never plastered a wall in your life. She will show you how to mix the earth plaster and what tools to use. When finished, you end up with a beautiful, paint-free surface on your walls.

In the Guidebook and DVD, you will learn how to install a rainwater cistern, how to construct a rubble trench foundation to conserve concrete, and how to place your windows to maximize solar gain. You will learn how to make small spaces appear larger, and how to make the best use of the space you have.

The purpose of the Guidebook and DVD is to educate, inspire, and give you the confidence to build your own home using a variety of green building materials. This video is an engaging journey through green-home design.The Guidebook and DVD will appeal to both the casually-interested and the professional builder. Whether you are ready to start building or are just interested in the concepts, this video will inspire you to create a living environment that is truly a pleasure to live in. It will be the least expensive tool you buy for saving money in the design and construction of your home.For those of you interested in building a tiny house using straw bales, I would hightly recommend this Guidebook and DVD. You owe it to yourself to at least look it over. Go to the Building with Awareness website now.

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If you are interested in straw bale construction you will want to know how to finance it. Andrew Morrison of StrawBale.com has written the following article that covers this topic. Enjoy!

Financing Your Straw Bale Project

One of the most difficult aspects of building with straw bales may be finding money to finance the project. Conventional lending institutions do not like to take big risks when lending their money. Something that is outside of their comfort zone is very quickly turned away. This has plagued straw bale builders and our clients for years. In order to be successful at acquiring funding from conventional sources, it is important to understand the common reasons banks site when turning down loan applications for straw bale construction.

Can’t Find Comparable Sales

Because there are not an excess of straw bale homes in most communities, banks can easily say ‘sorry’ simply because of this one issue. It is important to push the banker and/or the appraiser a bit further on this point. Comparable sales are exactly that, comparable. Bankers will tell you that straw bale homes are too unconventional. Great! Now you have found access to your appraisal homes. Anything that is considered unconventional is now a comparable sale that can be used for your appraisal. In most markets, this will include log homes, rammed earth, cob, structural insulated panels (SIP), other straw bales, adobe, insulated concrete form (ICF), and anything other than a simple stick framed building. Don’t let them get away with telling you there are no unconventional buildings in the area. The appraiser and banker only need three comparable homes. Do your own research to find them if need be.

Too Unconventional

This is the biggest shell game the banks have. They tell you one thing when they mean another. It is so easy for them to say something is too far outside of their comfort level. After all, how can you argue with that, it’s their comfort level, not yours? The truth is, you can argue with that and you can win. A banker once told me that when you hear this, what is really being said is that you do not have enough capital to back up the loan. The same banker said he would loan me a $1 million to build a home out of matches if I had $1 million in the bank to guarantee the loan. Of course, if you have the money to build with in the bank, you probably won’t be out looking for a loan; however, you may be able to find someone who does have the money. Friends, family, and private investors are everywhere. Find someone to guarantee the loan and you will get your financing. Perhaps a family member will gift you the signature for free. If not, you can offer a small interest rate to the private money or family money lender. They do not have to put the money in an escrow account, simply have it available if you default on your loan. Their risk is not that high and there are ways to minimize their risk even further.

Closing Dates Are Important

The date of closing on a loan for the purchase of land and the construction of a home is very important. This may not affect you as much as it does the next person who wants to finance straw bale construction. Let’s say you are buying a piece of land and intend to build a straw bale home. If you get a bank loan just for the land and close that loan before you build, you are not setting a precedent for the next comparable sale. If you buy the land, hold it in escrow, build your home, and then close escrow, you have created a comparable sale for the next person building with straw. The reasoning is that construction loans do not generate comparable sales. They are not considered sales, but rather straight financing for construction. If, however, you tie the construction to the purchase of a piece of property, you then create a sale of a straw bale home, even if you built it yourself for yourself. The more people who do this, the easier it will become to build with bales.

The Homes Are Uninsurable

Another great myth worthy of its own article! If a banker tells you that you won’t be able to insure the home and therefore they cannot give you a loan, you can confidently tell them that they are actual incorrect. Just like the banking industry, this is a snag for straw bale home builders and owners, but it is not a permanent snag. There are companies all over the United States that are willing to write home owner policies on straw bale structures. They can be hard to find, but they do exist, and they are reputable companies. In fact, there are companies in Arizona that actually discount premiums due to the high fire resistance of the structures! Do your research and you can successfully insure your home.

When All Else Fails

If you still struggle with financing and/or insurance after employing all of the ideas you can conjure, you still have one last hope. If you are building an infill straw bale structure, you can change the wording on your building plans to eliminate the words Straw Bale. Very often it is simply the words that get the bankers stuck and not the reality of the home. If your plans say “Post and Beam frame with cellulose insulation” you are telling the truth and lowering the red flag words “Straw Bale.” If you are building a load bearing structure, consider your walls to be a masonry unit. The new engineering shows that the structures are strong enough on their own to resist lateral and out of plane shear stresses with the proper construction. Therefore, your bales become the base for the masonry unit. The plaster, bales, and wire mesh constitute the masonry assembly. Work on your verbiage and this will minimize the red flags as well. Consider the difference between: “Load Bearing Straw Bale Wall” and “Approved Engineered Masonry Assembly.” Which one would you approve without question? This has been the technique employed for years. I would like to see people move away from it and be straight with the type of home they are building. Nonetheless, the immediate reality of your situation may dictate that you need to use this tactic. If so, fine. After your home is complete, the reality for the next person will be different as you will have created a conventionally funded comparable sale to help them along their way, as long as you time your closing properly!

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ABOUT THE AUTHORAndrew Morrison is the founder and owner of A. C. Morrison Construction, LLC, a company specializing in straw bale construction. Andrew has a passion for straw bale construction that is matched only by his desire to teach his knowledge to others. Andrew is the creator and builder of the Straw Bale Village, a community of 15 straw bale homes in the National Historic Landmark City of Jacksonville, Oregon. He is a skilled, licensed General Contractor (CCB License #161204) with experience in designing and building both conventional and straw bale homes. Andrew has owned A. C. Morrison Construction, LLC, since 1996. Andrew received a BA degree from Hampshire College in 1995 for Glacial Geology. He also has a degree in construction technology. Please visit his professional web site at: www.StrawBaleConstruction.net