-Description 1 :

- In brief : straw bale building of 110 m2 net area wih annual consumption of 3000 to 3500 kwh. The building is placed on piers and studs. Two storey's.

- Wall insulation : jumbo bales (L 240 x W 120 x H 70) and rendering. The walls width is 129 cm (0,04 W/m2.K)

- Plan 1: click here

- Plan 2 : click here

-Description 3 :

- Article :

- Size : the winery building has an area of about 288m2, being a rectangular clear span space of 12 x 24m. The internal wall height is 3.8m, with six stacked rows of jumbo bales, with each measuring 2.4 x 0.9 x 0.6m. The structure is load bearing, on a concrete slab with top and bottom timber plates.

- Roof insulation : the roof above the trusses is double insulated: first with
Air-Cell above the trusses, followed by the roof battens to give an air space,and finally a 100mm insulation blanket before the roofing was screwed on.

- Rendering : the interior and exterior wall surfaces have been rendered with several coats of lime and sand render, to form a 40mm barrier. The last coat of render has had some oxide colouring added to give a natural earthen colour.

- Glaze : double glazing.

-Description 4 :

- Article (in german) :

- In brief : straw bale building of 105m2. One floor.

- Wall insulation : jumbo bales (L 250 x W 125 x H 90) and rendering.. The wall height is 3,6 m with four stacked rows of jumbo bales. The structure is load bearing.

- Rendering : the interior and exterior wall surfaces have been rendered with several coats of lime and sand render.

- Glaze : triple glazing, wood

- Roof insulation : small straw bales

- Description 5 :

- Article 1 :

- Article 2 :

- Article 3 :

- In brief : The S-HOUSE acts as an office and exhibition building and as a turntable for dissemination of information on sustainable building methods. For the project, spreading the know-how and experience acquires much importance.

- Type : According to results obtained from the fundamental studies, the facade was built as a structure made of wooden boards and straw bales that are pressed and mounted free of thermal bridging. This straw proofing was provided with a layer of clay plaster and a wooden casing. Wind-proofing is ensured by the wooden board construction. The south facade is fully glazed. Towards realisation of a passive house compatible
building shell, the necessary straw bale proofed floor and ceiling elements were also developed.
Thus, the entire building is “packaged” with straw and it provides optimum heat insulation. The building stands on a sub-ventilated building slab, which is supported by
individual footings. This facilitated a significant reduction in the use of mineral resources as compared to a conventional foundation; this construction also does not
allow accumulation of cold and humid air in the floor slab area. This optimises the degree of insulation in the floor construction. The roof has been designed as a membranous roof, which is made of a “flying” wooden construction mounted over the straw insulated wooden ceiling and covered with a rubber membrane and greened. The heat is captured by the large surface glazed south facade and distributed over a mechanical ventilation and exhaust system into the building. The air is transported by
specially developed wooden channels into all areas of the building. In the ground floor, a stone floor acts as heat retainer. These stone tiles are the only mineral material that is used in the S-HOUSE. These stone tiles are glued using a natural adhesive substance so that recycling is ensured even here. An earth commutator
takes care of temperature balancing: during winter it prevents glacial formation in the ventilation system and during summer it serves as a cooling device. Due to a centrally located (“Backbone”) supply cable very short conduction paths are achieved in the intermediate ceiling area for the electrical power supply and illumination. A day-light controlled regulating system ensures efficient operation of the illumination system.

- Heating system : For covering the thermal load peaks, a biomass storage stove has been integrated into the heating and air distribution system. This stove is a prototype of a newly developed biomass-storage stove in the low performance range (2.5 to 5
KW).Heat can be stored and delivered through the ventilation system at staggered timing. Using a simple controlling and regulating technology.This new biomass-storage stove with a large visor allows direct viewing of the heat source.

- Description 6 :

- In brief : first building and main office for Hunt Utilities Group (HUG). Surface of COB, 1 and 1/2 floors. North wall is load bearing (Nebraska style). South wall is post and beam. North wall is 3 bales high and the South wall is 6 bales high.

- Wall insulation : Jumbo bales (L 240 x W 90 x H 90). The interior and exterior wall surfaces have been rendered with several coats of cob (mixture of clay, sand and straw) and clay to form a 25 to 50 mm barrier.

- Roof insulation : tins, insulation batts, polyethylene vapor barrier under the batts, sheetrock and 2 feet of fiberglass insulation on top of the batts.

- Floor insulation : floor is NOT insulated. It is concrete directly on sand. The foundation is insulated with an apron of 6 inch thick xps foam boards extending 8 feet all around the outside perimeter. The earth under the floor acts as heat storage.

- Heating system : the main heat source is Sun coming in the South windows. Backup heat is a groundwater heat pump heating the concrete floor.

- Hot water producer : little hot water is used. It is provided by an electric water heater.

- Ventilation : windows, if needed.

- Solar panels : none, passive solar from windows.

- Glaze : Surplus double pane glass from a door factory.

- Description 7 :

- In brief : This building is an experimenter's playground. Almost every aspect of it is trying materials and techniques we have not used before.

Greenhouse floor is cob with 10% portland cement.
Main floor is cob, our first try at a totally cob floor.
Bathroom floor is topped with poymer/sand.
Heating passive and active solar with electric backup.
Heat storage is earth under the floor and 700 gallons of hot water.

- Size : Inside dimensions; the floor is about 16 feet by 40 feet, plus greenhouse 7 feet by 43 feet.
height of the builfding:
Ceiling is about 12 feet high on the North wall, about 18 feet high on the South wall.

- Wall insulation : Jumbo bales of flax straw (L 240 x W 90 x H 90). The lower part of the wall is 3 foot thick bales of flax straw. The upper part is 18 inch thick bales on the outside and 2x4 wood stud walls on the inside. They are filled with fiberglass insulation. In theory the upper wall is about R 60. The lower wall is about R 100. In practice, too much air flows through seams and must be very well plastered with cob.The bales are rather uneven, so the cob thickness varies to create a more even surface. Usually the cob is 20 to 50 mm thick

- Roof insulation : The roof is made of experimental structural insulated panels with an R value of about 70.. These panels are 14 inches of expanded polystyrene foam with steel C channel beams inserted for strength. They were difficult to seal and expensive to finish.They will not be using them again.

- Floor insulation : There is no insulation in the floor. We want the interior of the building to be thermally coupled to the mass of the floor and the earth under the floor. We buried extruded polystyrene panels in the ground horizontally around the building like an apron. The apron insulation is 4 inches (100mm) thick and extends 8 feet out from the building.

- Hot water producer : Solar panels (integrated with space heating) with electric backup.

- Ventilation : windows, if needed.

- Solar panels : none, passive solar from windows

- Glaze : Small east, west and north windows are low E double glazed (available at low cost).
Entire greenhouse south wall is triple layer polycarbonate panels.

- Description 8 :

- 2 usefull videos about this house construction :

http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

- In brief : Load bearing house with 3 floors without any wood structure. The floor 1 is going to be a flat to rent The floor 2 is going to be a flat to rent as well.The last floor is going to be an artist workshop.

-Description construction 10 :

- Une vidéo très instructive sur les différentes étapes de la construction de ce bâtiment :

http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

-Article (en italien et en anglais) :

-Description sur le travail de werner Schmidt :

-Un Pdf en français (le moniteur achitecte 09/2008) parlant du travail de Werner Schmidt :

Here is a map about jumbo bales constructions in the world. The number of those buildings is getting higher and higher every year but is still very low. If you own a jumbo house and you want it to appear on this map do not hesitate to contact me, I would be pleased to add new houses here.

View Larger Map

-List of buildings made with jumbo bales-

-Building 1: house made by Werner Schmidt in Switzerland-

Werner Schmidt is an architect from switzerland. He has built a few buildings with jumbo bales during the last few years and he is highly qualified. Have a look at his personnal site:: http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

On this section I will speak about a house he built in the town of Disentis in switzerland.

Here are a few pictures of the house finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 2: House and winery in Australia-

This building was made by huff'n'puff , an australian company. It belongs to Mr Ray Nadeson and his wife Maree Collis. They own a vineyard in south Australia near Geelong. There are 3 buildings, 2 for the winery and 1 for the house. This is the largest load bearing jumbo bale building built in Australia to date.

Ray Nadeson was looking for a suitable construction for the winery which had to process and store their grapes and wine. At this day the winery keeps a constant temperature of around 17-18 degrees no matter what the external conditions are at the time.

go to: http://www.glassford.com.au/ (huff'n'puff)

http://www.technosteelaustralia.com/ (steel frames)

http://www.lethbridgewines.com/ (Owner's site)

Here are a few pictures of the house and the winery finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 3: Another winery in Australia-

This building like the previus one was built buy huff'n'puff company. It is as well a winery but situated in the Rutherglen county, north west of Victoria. The owners are Antoinette Del Popolo and Anton Therkildsen.

The Strawbale winery was completed in ?????????. The owners have chosen this building material for a number of reasons. It fits in well with their focus on sustainability with a material that is renewable and clean. The insulation properties of strawbales are exceptional. They hope to have no need of additional heating or cooling within the winery as an even temperature should be maintained. Finally the finished walls look great.

go to: http://www.glassford.com.au/ (the builder huff'n'puff)

http://www.technosteelaustralia.com/ (steel frames)

http://www.valhallawines.com.au/ (owner's site)

Here are a few pictures of the winery finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 4: House in Germany-

This house was built by Peter Weber. It is situated in Germany near the town of Korligen. This a Nebraska style straw house with big jumbo bales. The size of the bales is 90 cm high, 125 cm width and 2,5 m long. Have a look at Peter Weber's personal site where you will get usefull informations like pictures and videos (just in german).

go to: http://www.strohhaus.com/

Here are a few pictures of the house finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 5: "S-HOUSE" in Austria-

Planning and realisation of the office and demo building S-HOUSE is based on the results obtained from the research work conducted by the Center of Appropriate Technology (GrAT/Gruppe Angepasste Technologie) within the framework of “Building of Tomorrow” at the Vienna University of Technology in cooperation with various partner organisations. In the course of their fundamental research studies, the technical, legislative/political and organisational scope of utilising renewable raw materials in building systems were envisaged and tangible designing solutions were developed.

The S-HOUSE acts as a centre for renewable raw materials and sustainable
technologies in the field of building constructions. The functionality of building
materials made from renewable raw materials is proven on the building itself. The components and designed structures developed for the S-HOUSE are presented for public view in a permanent exhibition. Moreover, the basic information on “Sustainable Construction” provides a comprehensive overview of a wide range of applications using renewable building materials.
As a result, traditional know-how and recent developments in this field become
accessible to a large section of the public. Besides the permanent exhibition,
technically related events such as symposiums and advanced learning
sessions with university student participation and practical orientation are also
planned.

go to: http://www.s-house.at/presentations.htm

http://www.grat.at (“GrAT – Gruppe Angepasste Technologie”)

Here are a few pictures of the building finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 6: Campus in USA (Minnesota)-

Hunt Utilities Group, LLC (HUG) is an organization started by eco-minded philanthropic entrepreneurs. Their current and planned projects include: a research campus, HUGnet, straw bale construction, buildings that help feed their occupants and heat and cool themselves (even in Minnesota), sewage reprocessing and reuse, renwable energy, permaculture, a manufacturing shop with a living roof, and related business incubation. This building has been their office and workshop, but mostly a living laboratory. Ground was broken in August of 2003 and they started occupying it as an office around August of 2004.

go to : https://www.hugllc.com

Here are a few pictures of the building finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 7: House in USA (Minnesota)-

This house is situated near the HUG main office (construction 7). This house belongs to the "happy dancing turtle" organisation. Their mission is to promote awareness and understanding of sustainable living by fostering ecological stewardship and related economic development. Projects to further these purposes include, but are not limited to the support of education, demonstrations, literary works, training, workshops, research, and business incubation. February 4, 2008 the experimental sustainable cottage was given the okay for occupancy.The cottage is the first experimental, sustainable, residential-scale structure to be completed in the south field of the Hunt Utilities Group Campus on the edge of Pine River. Goals for the building include heating and cooling itself year round with little or no fossil fuel, help feed the occupant(s), and recycle water within the building – all with comfort and aesthetic appeal.For the next 12 months, someone, of Wright On Sustainability, will act as a “live-in reporter” recording the performance of its experimental systems and how it actually feels as a home.

Go to: http://www.happydancingturtle.org/ (happy dancing turtle association)

http://minnesotaeconaut.blogspot.com/ ( journal of the first occupant of the cottage)

Here are a few pictures of the house finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 8: House in Italy-

This house is like the construction number one on this site made by the architect Werner Schmidt. This house is situated in Italy near the border of Austria and switzerland. The house particularity ? This house is load bearing with 3 floors !!! Are you still afraid about the stability of a jumbo house ? The construction started in october 2007 and should be finished in july 2008.

Go to : http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

http://www.fliri.net/ (the owner's website)

Here are a few pictures of the house finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 9: The FUSS community hall in Australia-

This building was made by the australian company huff'n'puff. Council has built a new community hall from straw at Fairfield Showground. The 'green design showcases Council’s commitment to the environment.The hall has been built using environmentally sustainable building practices and demonstrates how green architecture can reduce the negative impact of construction on the environment. Council has used recycled materials to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. By using local materials Council is reducing green house gases normally produced from transportation.In what is believed to be an Australian first, the concrete for the slab, is made from 95 per cent recycled materials. The concrete mix includes recycled stone and sand from old pathways and other concrete structures. It was developed by MetroMix in conjunction with Council’s Sustainable Resource Centre in Hassall Street, Wetherill Park. The body of the hall is built from straw bales and is being rendered with lime.The community hall at Fairfield Showground burnt down a few years ago and this new green community hall will replace it.

See : http://www.glassford.com.au/ (huff'n'puff)

http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/ (Fairfield city in Australia)

Here are a few pictures of the building finished:

Construction step by step:

-Building 10 : holiday appartements in Italy-

Those 3 appartements were made by Werner Schmidt ( again ! :-)) and M.Schwarz. Just enjoy the originality and the quality of the job. Those 3 appartements (50 m²) and a common part (30 m²) were built in 2006. The whole project took 10 months and the building part just 4 . The cost of this building was about 500 000 euros. Those flats are situated in the town of Lana (North of Italia) and can be rented.

See : http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

http://www.esserhof.com/ (the owner's website)

Here are a few pictures of the appartements finished:

Construction step by step:

-Construction 11 : Auditorium aux Pays-Bas-

Lors des floriades de 2002, foire internationale d'horticulture qui se tient tous les 10 ans aux Pays-bas s'est construit ce bâtiment. Le travail s'est fait avec des bottes de 2,5m de long en remplissage d'une structure poteaux-poutres en bois. Le bâtiment était à la base destiné à être démonté à la fin des rencontres mais il est resté et devenu un centre de congrè avec un auditorium de 300 places pour la Rabobank (banque agricole hollandaise).

Je vous conseil de lire le livre de Tom Rijven intitulé "Entre paille et terre" où il fait nottament une description de cette construction.

-Construction 12: Maison en Australie-

La maison de Naomi et Craig a été imaginée par eux et l'assistance de l'entreprsie Huff'n'Puff . Cette maison contemporaine a été construite par Tim Williams et son équipe de Buninyong en Victoria. L'entreprise Huff'n'Puff a réalisé les murs en grosses bottes de paille.

Voir : http://www.glassford.com.au/ (le constructeur huff'n'puff)

Cliquez sur le pdf ci-dessous pour plus de photos :

-Construction 13 : Bed & Breakfast en Australie-

Ce Bed & Breakfast est en cours de réalisation toujours par l'entreprise Huff'b'Puff. Je n'ai actuellement que quelques photos du chantier qui est en cours. Il est situé à Ganmain en Australie.

Voir : http://www.glassford.com.au/ (le constructeur huff'n'puff).

Cliquez sur le pdf ci-dessous pour voir les photos de l'évolution du chantier :

-Construction 14: Un Atelier en allemagne-

Une construction réalisée en Allemagne par l'architecte Dirk Scharmer. Début des travaux en mai 2000 jusque fin 2000. La surface de ce petit atelier est d'environs 40 m². Utilisation de grosses bottes avec des dimensions (L comprise entre 1 et 2 m x l 0,85 x H 0,50).

Voir : http://www.wand4.de/ (Site uniquement en Allemand)

Pdf en anglais qui détail brièvement la construction :

-Constructions 15, 16, 17 et 18: Autres réalisations de Werner Schmidt-

Autres réalisations en grosses bottes de paille de l'architecte Werner Scmidt. Pour plus d'informations allez faire une tour sur son site.

Voir : http://www.atelierwernerschmidt.ch/

-Construction 19: Maison en Suisse-

Cette maison autonome en énergie est située à Flerden en Suisse. Chantier réalisé courant 2006-2007. Ce prototype a été conçu par la Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft. Cette maison utilise la technique des grosses bottes porteuses sur 2 étages. Sa surface est de 240 m². Des enduits à base de terre ont été réalisés à l'intérieur et à base de chaux à l'extérieur.
Architecte GUARINO Felice.

Cliquez sur le pdf ci-dessous pour voir les photos de l'évolution du chantier :

-Construction 20 : Centre de transit aux USA-

Cliquez sur le pdf ci-dessous pour voir les photos de l'évolution du chantier :