Had the opportunity to stay in a strawbale house a couple of years ago. This was down near San Diego, CA over the 4th of July holiday.

It was very impressive. Outside temps over 100 degrees F, indoors, highs in the 70's. So long as we stayed indoors, it was great.

The insulation was very good, the bales were covered with an adobe like substance.

I could easily see using this sort of construction process on a house located in the Southwest U.S. and if things work out in the future, will probably do so when I move to New Mexico as I hope to.

The problems I see with things like alternative building processes, energy sources, etc. are that people seem to think that a "one size fits all" method will work when it clearly won't. A house that will keep you cool in the Southwest U.S. might not and probably won't work to keep you warm in a Northwest winter but there are always alternatives that will work, usually better than the standard wood frame, drywall interior houses that have become so prevalent. Same thing with solar power, will it work for everyone, everywhere? No, but when it's used properly, in conjunction with other sources, it lowers our dependence on things like coal fired electric generating plants. Same thing with my cars that run on veggie oil, they're not a panacea or a total solution to using gasoline, they're a tool, a small part of the process.

JohnE