I agree that one building method or material or technology is unlikely going to be the absolute best way for all situations. But the extreme thermal efficiency that is possible in these (at least in Germany) "normal" houses is really astounding. Considering how much power one of today's flat screen TV's consume, much of it going into heat. Imagine trapping that heat and being able to actually provide a comfortable living environment during the winter with that heat. Wow.

It would also be nice not to have to live in a house that looks like the home of a hobbit from Lord of the Rings, or Obi Wan Kenobi's adobe-like home from Star Wars to get that kind of thermal efficiency.

Strawbale house in in fire prone California, that sounds like a recipe for one hell of a big signal fire.

Strawbale houses are more fire resistant than many stick houses. The straw in a typical bale is packed very tight which reduces oxygen access. The surface covering is usually nonflammable (usually an adobe-like). Though I won't say that it would survive a wild fire, I would rather be in a strawbale house than a stick house in such a situation.

I don't know 'bout houses, but I have seen large stacks of baled hay spontaneously combust. Very hard for the fireguys to put out. Seems to me that if the sides of the bales were not sealed VERY well, you could be making a nice home for rodents, they love hay bales...

Need to correct something, I wrote above that "The problems I see with things like alternative building processes, energy sources, etc.", what I should have written and what I meant was the problem people have with alternative building methods and processes..."it's a people problem, not a construction problem. There's nothing wrong at all with alternatives. Quite the contrary in fact.

As for strawbales in fire, the bales are covered with adobe/concrete as I mentioned, the house I stayed in specifically is near Julian, CA, scene of a tragic fire a few years ago, the house not only survived, it came thru virtually unscathed. The house is also interesting in it's shape, it's round with a timber frame. A dome shape if you will, very efficient in it's use of space, relatively inexpensive to build and dead easy to maintain.

Doesn't look like a hobbit house...;^)


JohnE

I have heard/read that homes using tires for exterior walls work pretty well too...

Do a little research on it. There are structures here in Nebraska that are over 100 years old, and yes there are rodents here.

As far as longevity goes, aren't large sections of the Great Wall made from soil with rolls of grass acting as a kind of re-bar? Believe I saw that on Discovery or NatGeo.

HAY has been known to spontaneously combust when the moisture content is more than 22%, and the large bales shouldn't be more than 16-18% moisture.

STRAW is usually pretty dry by the time the grain is harvested, and bales for houses usually have a moisture content of about 15% or less, and you must make the effort to keep it that way until it is sealed.

Tests involving baled straw and propane torches have produced singed bales, but none of them would actually ignite.

A couple of victims of the Malibu wildfire (1990?) returned to their home to find everything was ashes except the experimental straw-bale bench they had made.

Straw bale walls usually sit on shallow concrete troughs and are completely covered with the media of choice, often concrete on the outside and lime plaster on the inside. Building this kind of home with gaps in it is just begging for trouble. If a rodent is sealed inside the wall, it is called a 'Rodent Tomb'.

If I could afford to drop-kick this mobile off a high cliff, passive solar/straw-bale is the way I would go.

Sue

My dream house, meant for Southern AZ, is rammed earth, thick walls, adobe style. Critter proof, mostly.

We owned a wood frame with wood shingle clerestory style in New Mexico, during the winter the lower sun shone through the high south facing windows, adding heat, and during the summer, the sun was higher, thus, didn't shine in and kept it cooler.

It was so warm in the back rooms (where the high windows were) that we never had to light our woodburner in the master bedroom, even during a power outage with no other source of heat. And during the summer, the windows could be opened for great cross ventilation.

Great design, except in a monsoon situation, since the windows leaked! I sold the house and moved to CA before ever addressing fully, although we did caulk them up temporarily.

We had a neighbor with strawbale, loved, it, affordable and durable.