Thermogram of a straw bale building in the foreground and a traditional building in the back.
The bale are 120 cm thick. The picture was taken with a thermal imaging camera to display the loss of heat through the exterior walls.
Explanation: The darker the blue tones the lower the loss of energy – the darker the red tones the higher the loss of energy. The difference to the traditional house in the back is very visible.
Imaging and material:
Werner Schmidt
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Reblogged this on learn from exprience.
Thanks for commenting on my blog.
TD
Do you sell them? Promote their construction? Are you political? Green? You must be green, right.
I’m in Southern California. I would have thought termites were a problem. But you say no. Hmm?
All very interesting. How did you come to this idea, if i might ask?
Hi Taxi Dog,
No, we don’t sell them. No, we do not promote their construction we’re building a hotel with straw bales. No, we are not political. And no we are not particularly green.
We thought we are smart, actually.
It is not very difficult to imagine where all these oil producing countries will have kicked the oil price within the next ten years.
We thought, if we build a house which needs no heating even if it is situated on 1300 meters in the Alps, it would only provoke a smile on our lips if the price for a gallon of diesel hits 15$.
The idea by the way comes from America (as so often), from Nebraska to be precise…and it is over 150 years old.
We wish you and your family a very happy New Year 2012.
Greetings from Switzerland
Louis
Straw bale construction has been popular for decades in the MidWest and Southwest. Though framing was not my trade, I worked as a sub on many homes here in the Santa Fe area before I retired.
No insect problems, very little needed to prevent that during construction. The savings on heating and cooling are more than worth the trouble of post-and-beam construction.
That’s awesome!
Our family has Nebraska roots and I suspect they built a “soddy” or two when they first settled there in the 1860′s. My friend’s great, great grandmother lived in one on the plains while her husband worked on railroad building across the Dakotas. It was very practical. Yours is a perfect design for the times. Thanks for sharing it!
That’s interesting!
Do you have pictures or documents we could post on our blog?
Nebraska is the place this kind of construction started.
Thanks
Louis
The picture from thermal imaging camera is cool! Like your blog!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I am glad you like what you saw.
I continue to be fascinated by your project and hope to, someday, visit.
Lea
Very interesing indeed. Thanks for have dropped by my blog. Very happy to meet all of you