My strawbale past revisited In 1996, I helped Bowerbird Construction build Sunset Canyon Pottery just west of the Austin. Still it is a thrill for me to pass by when taking Hwy 290W to Dripping Springs. I can still remember clearly when 50 folks gathered together for a weekend to raise the walls. We had a mighty fine time.
The site has a large strawbale building(~3000 sq. ft.) with a rainwater catchment system (40,000 gallon ferrocement tank).
Strawbales which are generally used for landscaping, erosion control and animal bedding can be used to build energy efficient, low maintenance beautiful buildings.
Although the building costs run slightly higher than standard lumber framed structures, these costs are easily paid for by the need for less maintenance and lower heating and cooling bills. In addition, when built properly, they offer excellent protection from wind, rain, and fire.
Here in Texas, our strawbales are 14 inches wide which means that a strawbale wall will have an insulating R factor of 40 to 45 which compares favorably with the standard R factor of 17 to 19 for 2 by 4 structures. With a highly insulated roof system with radiant barrier, Sunset Canyon Pottery was already ready 12 years ago for the new higher energy cost reality.
After participating in building over 20 strawbale structures of various sizes and shapes and having one of my own, I would recommend to anyone interested in “green building” to take a drive out 290W to Sunset Canyon Pottery.
Here’s a link for you:
http://www.sunsetcanyonpottery.com/building.html
And here’s a link to the contractor mainly responsible for the building and the rainwater collection system:
http://www.bowerbirdconstruction.com
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