Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
for the rest of society - plus the buildings
themselves are not durable. We are making
do with what's available when we could be
creating places to live and work that actu-
ally increase our sense of belonging in the
world; that give us a centred space to begin
from each day and return to at night.
as described in Chapter 1. In fact, with good
design, it's possible to build a strawbale
house that has no or almost no need for
heating. In years to come this will be an
increasingly desirable feature that will make
your strawbale home more attractive to buy
than similar houses in the same area.
This limited perception of choice, between
affordability and quality, is flawed. It is
absolutely possible to incorporate a more
positive value system into the construction
industry and still build affordable houses, as
is being proved through the development
of strawbale and natural house building.
Affordable houses are now being built, to
very high standards of thermal efficiency,
without compromising on quality and while
providing a beautiful, organic ambience to
the house that increases well-being.
In mainstream construction, it's possible
to build a modern brick-and-block house
for £700-850/m
2
(£65-80/ft
2
), giving a price
of £70,000-85,000 for a three-bedroomed
house. However, it is not fair to compare
such a house with the strawbale houses
currently being built, in terms of thermal
efficiency, comfort and durability - we have
to compare like with like. In order to build a
modern house that matched the insulation
values and quality of a strawbale house,
the price would increase well beyond the
£100,000 mark. This is why the construction
industry is complaining that government
targets for affordable but sustainable
houses are not achievable, and they
aren't
achievable by using current mainstream
materials. We need a radical change!
It is absolutely possible to incorporate a more
positive value system into the construction
industry and still build affordable houses, as
is being proved through the development of
strawbale and natural house building.
Designs for such houses have been devel-
oped over the last few years by amazonails,
incorporating the features described below.
The first house to be built like this is at
Ralegh's Cross Inn in Exmoor: a two-storey,
semi-detached, loadbearing strawbale
house for hotel staff. North Kesteven Coun-
cil in Lincolnshire is the first local authority
to build social housing out of straw: this
is another two-storey, semi-detached,
loadbearing straw building comprising two
three-bedroomed semis. These buildings
are leading the way in bringing the cost of
desirable home ownership within the reach
of the ordinary person again.
It is now possible to build a thermally
efficient three-bedroomed strawbale house
for £100,000
, with the involvement of people
who will live in and around it, which will
last upwards of 200 years - and this price
will drop as more are built. This cost is for
a house built by a contractor; if you do
some of it yourself or with friends, and run
courses to teach people the skills at the
same time as building, then you can make
further savings. This is on top of the long-
term savings to be made on heating bills,
