What about the environment?

Straw-bale is very environmentally friendly. Making buildings of straw creates a high use for agricultural waste. For very little expenditure of energy, straw returns high yields in strength and thermal performance. Of course, a lot of wood still goes into most bale houses--for instance in the roof. We try to use sustainaibly harvested woods, when possible, and have worked on innovative technical designs increase the efficiency of bale building and eliminate unnecessary wood and steel. We have tested, and are about to build, the first permited large-scale bale vault, a building virtually without wood and using minimal cement and steel yet which will be several times stronger than an average stick-frame. Besides the materials that go into a house, design can make an important contribution to energy effieiency and environmental harmony. We try to design buildings using principles of passive solar and low-impact design, to create a building which works in harmony with the environment.