House of Straw

I was very interested by the Green Architecture post from a few weeks back, so I have been looking into this growing industry and some of its ingenious building designs. I stumbled across this encouraging article about a straw and hemp-panel house that recently became the first of its kind to pass inspection. The "Balehaus", a research project conducted by the University of Bath in the UK, was a collaborative effort between White Design(Bristol, UK) and Integral Structural Design(Bath, UK). The eco-friendly house was the brainchild of a research initiative studying renewable building materials and the ways in which the can be employed in future homes. This excellent and encouraging example of green architecture is comprised of "prefabricated cells of timber filled with straw or hemp, rendered with a lime-based coat," so it is an entirely sustainable building design manufactured from wholly renewable resources.

The building has been, and will continue to be monitored and tested by researchers Katharine Beadle and Christopher Gross of the Building Research Establishment Centre in Innovative Construction Materials for the following year. Most recently, the researchers conducted a heat resistance test in which the housing panels withstood 1,000 temperatures(Celsius) for over two hours, far more than the industry regulated standard of 30 minutes. The house has also passed structural testing on load-bearing elements , so the technology certainly seems to be a viable step forward for green-architecture and a sustainable building future. Over the course of the next year, Beadle and Gross will test the house for insulating properties, humidity levels, air tightness, and sound insulation, to ensure the new house and its accompanying technologies pass all industry standards before becoming commercially available. Kevin McCloud, a TV presenter and proponent of the design, discussed the success of the research initiative, remarking on the crucial technologies which allow us to "minimize the use of highly processed materials in building and genuinely make use of such sustainable building materials." I have to say I couldn't agree more with McCloud, this is a very exciting development in an industry appears to be growing exponentially, hoping to create sustainable buildings and, ultimately, a sustainable future.